White Wing Mountain

White Wing Mountain 10,010′ and Peak 9,727′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 3:20
Distance: 4.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2300′
Crux: Class 2
Companions: Avery
Trailhead: Owens River Headwater Wilderness, no services

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Holly was spending a day in Mammoth working remotely leaving me with Avery for the day. I was given strict instructions that I was to stay below 11,000′ with nothing harder than class 2. Luckily, that left plenty of summits around Mammoth I had yet to climb, and settled on White Wing Mountain north of town. The white sandy summit is more of the east ridge of San Joaquin Mountain, appearing as a wing from the longer north-south ridge from above. Although there were no trails to the summit, there were several old roads in the relatively newly formed Owens River Headwaters Wilderness (est. 2009) that would lead me up to a saddle and the summit ridge to the west, allowing me to tag the unnamed western summit of 9727′ and hopefully avoid the loose sandy scree surrounding the summit on most sides. It was about a 30 minute drive from Mammoth to where the road dead ends at the Wilderness Boundary at a small picnic area. I parked the car and loaded Avery into my pack. Between a diaper bag worth of supplies, milk on ice, bottles with bottle warmer, food and water for myself, Avery and the weight of the pack, I was carrying close to 40 lbs as I started out, crossing over a small stream (the Owens River headwaters) and over the wilderness boundary.

I had expected the terrain to be more homogenous like the cinder cones east of the 395, but the canyon was suprisingly beautiful, with multi colored cliffs to the west leading to the sandy summit of San Joaquin Mountain above. As I hiked along the old mining road, Avery quickly fell asleep, the morning sun to our backs as I hiked up through the pines. The road quickly became single track as it climbed towards the saddle between 9727′ and San Joaquin Mountain, and it looked like I would reach the ridgeline quickly. However the road deteriorated in a stand of Aspen trees with branches hanging over the trail. I slowly pushed through, miraculously keeping Avery asleep… but only for her to awaken 5 minutes later back in the pine trees. I lost the trail in the forest but found a reasonable game trail through the knee high manzanita and cut up slope, reaching the ridgeline under and hour from starting out.

I found a place in the shade and out of the wind, feeding Avery a bottle and having some trail mix before continuing east along the ridge. I needed to crest up and over the unnamed peak of 9727′ which, with over 300′ of prominence, technically counted as its’ own summit. A small register was tucked in the rocks, placed by Bob Burd in 2019. I was only the second entry since it was first placed.

I took a few pictures from the unnamed peak and started dropping towards the connecting saddle with White Wing Mountain, losing about 300′ with about 600′ to regain. Looking over my shoulder at the saddle, I found Avery was back asleep, which I was more than okay with me as I continued east along the ridge. Although cross country had been easy all morning, this section of ridgeline would be the crux for the day, made of the loose sand I had been hoping to avoid and causing me to sink a few inches back with each step. It also made hiking at a consistent pace in an effort to keep Avery asleep difficult, although she remarkably did not wake up the entire sandy stretch.

At 9800′ the pitch lessened as I crested over a small false summit, a gentle sandy ridgeline leading up to the high point. Unfortunately, this final stretch was the only windy section of the hike for the day, and I kept to the leeward side until reaching the summit. Avery woke up just as I pulled out the summit register, giving a real “wake me up when we get there vibe.” I signed us in to the register and grabbed a few pictures, best to the south with the skyline made of Mount Morgan, Morrison, Baldwin, Bloody, Red Slate and Mammoth Mountain.

It was a bit too windy to linger, so I started back down the ridge until almost at the shallow saddle with the false summit. My car was almost directly south, and I plunge stepped quickly down the steep and loose sand, getting back into treeline in only about 10 minutes.

It was easy cross country through the forest, and I eventually picked up an old road that parallelled a branch of the headwaters of the Owens River leading me directly to the car. The outing had gone quite well with no crying from Avery (or myself), and after another bottle in the car, we headed back to Mammoth for her to get a proper afternoon nap in a crib.