Mount Russell 14,094′ and Mount Carillon 13,553′
Sierra Nevada
Archival Series (statistics approximate)- Climbed 6/20/12-6/24/12
Total Time: 5 days
Distance: 54 miles
Crux: Class 3+
Trailhead: Whitney Portal, full services
For my second archival series trip report, I wanted to visit my first ever solo backpack, attempting to climb 5/6 of the 14,000′ peaks in the southern Sierra Nevada over 6 days. It was an ambitious itinerary for even a seasoned backpacker with significant cross country portions, and wound up being cut a day short after tweaking my back on Mount Williamson. For ease of reading, I’ll split the backpack into 3 separate posts- Mount Russell and Mount Carillon, a failed attempt on Mount Tyndall and success on Mount Williamson, and Mounts Muir and Whitney on the final day.
I awoke from a run down hotel in Lone Pine early to pick up my permit at the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center. I was in a hotel because when I pulled into Lone Pine the night before, I was so overcome with a sense of impending doom looking up at the jagged skyline illuminated by the moon, that I wanted one last night in a bed before my first solo backpack. Luckily the mountains looked far more friendly in the daylight, and after acquiring my permit, I drove up Whitney Portal Road and started out. I had 6 days of food with me, my backpack coming in at about 32 lbs to start.
About a year had passed since the first time I was on this trail, conditions dramatically different with the Sierra Nevada having a fairly poor snow year and the majority of the snowpack completely melted by the early summer. I quickly reached the junction with the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek, back then a bit more hidden and obscure than it is now. I was fairly well acclimated having climbed Mount Dana the day before, so although it was steep and my pack heavy, I made good progress as the trail steeply climbed through the willows.
I had researched the route fairly extensively before the backpack, and was on the look out for the cairned turn off for the Ebersbacher ledges, a class 3 route that avoids some of the thicker willow patches and a few short waterfalls. The ledges were easy enough to find and not too difficult to follow, although it was the first time I was scrambling class 3 with a full pack. The ledges weave back and forth through a few third class weaknesses before a wide catwalk brings you back into the bottom of the canyon, keeping right of the creek leading to Lower Boyscout Lake. I took a break here, my goal for the night being Upper Boyscout Lake not much further up canyon. Beyond Lower Boyscout, the trail follows cairned slabs, slick in spots from water running down. The impressive East Face of Mount Whitney dominated the view ahead, and I was happy not to be tackling any of the routes on the imposing cliff on this trip. It was mid afternoon when I reached Upper Boyscout Lake and found a spot in a cluster of boulders, very few other campers in the area with most continuing on camping at Iceberg Lake and climbing the mountaineers route on Whitney.
I was a bit unsure of what to do with the remaining daylight hours, and briefly considered climbing Thor Peak to the south. But I didn’t want to burn myself out on the first day of the backpack, and wound up exploring the area around the lake before turning in early at sunset.
I woke up early the next day ready for the first 14er of the trip. This was also the first time I would be hiking cross country on the backpack, working slowly up the steep and sandy slopes to the col between Russell and Carillon. The view of Russell from the col is both striking and terrifying. The fin of granite drops over 1,500′ on both sides, dropping to Tulainyo Lake to the north and towards the Whitney-Russell col to the south.
I dropped my pack and started up. The scrambling starts out fairly easy but the exposure quickly intensifies. I passed a climber on his way down. It was his second attempt, turning around years ago afraid of the exposure. He didn’t make it on this second try either. This upped my nerves even more, as I felt like I was already near my limit. The psychological crux came before the lower east summit as I scootched across a narrow ledge on my butt. To gain the actual summit, you must cross a class 3 gap to the higher west summit although the exposure had improved since the central portion of the east ridge. I was quite elated at the summit, my second California 14er and incredibly only my fourth SPS peak. I signed into the register, a very popular summit with nearly daily entries in the summer months. Mount Whitney to the south looked absolutely massive, and it hardly felt like I was on a 14er looking across at it.
Slowly, I retraced my path down the ridge, passing a climber from Colorado just before I got back to the narrow scoot ledge. It was here that I learned the definition of “sandbag,” as he told me these old Sierra routes are often harder than their agreed upon rating, and the east ridge of Russell would be considered a fourth class route in Colorado. I was glad to learn this after the fact, as I probably would not have went for it otherwise. I made it back to my pack without incident, happy to find marmots left it alone while I was gone. Mount Carillon directly east was basically a chip shot after Russell, and I dropped my pack once more, hiking up sandy class 2 with a little bit of class 3 to my second summit of the trip. The views were similar to Russell, but gave another interesting perspective on Mount Whitney as well as Russell’s east ridge that I had just climbed.
I quickly dropped back down to the col and shouldered my pack. I had read that dropping to Tulainyo Lake was class 3, and I was able to find a route down to the lake to treat some water for the first time since leaving camp that morning. As the highest named lake in the Sierra Nevada, there was still ice floating across the surface, with the Cleaver standing above the eastern shores and Tunnabora Peak to the north.
I skirted the lake along the left side, and considered tagging Tunnabora Peak for my third SPS Peak. But I was feeling tired and it had been easy enough to make it this far, I would just come back later for it. It would take close to 9 years to finally make it back on a very cool and snowy December outing. At this point I had only a loose plan of where I was headed next. My main goal was to eventually get to near Shepard’s Pass to basecamp for Tyndall and Williamson. Looking at the map, I considered going up and over Mount Barnard and Trojan Peak, but seeing it in person, I dismissed that idea as far too exhausting.
So I boulder hopped from Tulainyo Lake down the upper Wallace Creek Basin to Wallace Lakes, having no beta at the time if it would actually work, but finding it mostly class 2 and nothing harder than dropping off the Russell- Carillon col to Tulainyo Lake. Around Wallace Lake I picked up a use trail, keeping to the right side of Wallace Creek and eventually hitting the PCT. There were a number of great campsites at this junction and with it being late afternoon, it seemed like the perfect spot to call it a night. Unfortunately, a soon as I had my tent erected, I was swarmed by a mob of blood thirsty mosquitos. I had to pace around the meadow to try to try and evade them while my dinner cooked, and dove inside my tent as soon as I was finished eating, not to emerge again until the following morning.
