DATE 8/4/06
IDS 5495 5116
GROUP florence_n_2 vogelsang_3
PARTY Bill_Peters Evan_Rasmussen Rick_Kent Glenn_Gookin Sam_Gookin Mike_Larkin Matthew_Holliman Mark_Thomas Vlad_Sofiyev Joel_Wilson Ron_Hudson Owen_Olsen David_Wright
Continued...
No matter that today was Friday and not a weekend day, or that it was not yet
5a and pitch dark out - it was the first day of the 2006 Challenge which always
seems to draw a crowd. We had around 14 folks at the Tuolumne Meadows TH in
various stages of readiness as I drove in about 10 minutes before the 5a start.
I wandered around hurriedly trying to match names to my sheet and faces to
names, but there seemed to be more folks than I could keep track of. Many of
the faces were familiar from previous years - those were easy, but there were
some that hadn't signed up and others that didn't show up and in the end I
decided I'd sort it all out at the end of the day. I got a collection of eleven
of them to pose for <4233>a picture, then we were off.
In usual fashion, all that pent up, nervous energy since the last Challenge
showed itself in a pace that was hard to maintain, even for the seasoned
hikers. Mark Thomas was somewhere out in front giving no one the opportunity to
catch up, a few others were not too far behind, then a group of about six that
I was travelling in. The day came on quickly as we hiked up the JMT initially,
then the <4234>Rafferty Creek Trail.
The latter is about six miles long, which is
about three miles longer than it seems it should be. The sun came up on
Fletcher and Vogelsang peaks as we neared
<4235>Tuolumne Pass and the <4236>Vogelsang HSC.
Camp was open and folks were huddled around a hot drink dispenser outside the
mess tent as we passed by shortly after 7a. A few of the participants headed
up to Vogelsang Peak
<4237>on our way towards Vogelsang Pass. I figured Florence was
going to be a pretty long day and if there was any energy leftover for bonus
peaks, I'd do them after I had tagged Florence first.
Reaching <4238>Vogelsang Pass at 7:40a,
I took my first break as I tossed off my
pack and dug out some refreshment. There were a total of five of us after a
few minutes, the others having headed to Vogelsang Peak or still some distance
behind us. Rick, Owen, brothers Glenn and Sam, and myself made up the lead
group, and after about five minutes we continued on over the
<4239>south side of the
pass. Shortly after we started jogging the downhill section, I heard a shout
from Glenn behind me and we all stopped. He had rolled his ankle and it was
smarting badly. He tried to continue for a few minutes but decided the wiser
course of action would be to return and save it for another day. He and his
brother turned around, leaving us. In order to salvage something of the day,
they summited Vogelsang on their way back.
That left just three of us - Rick, Owen, and myself. Rick Kent was a known
quantity and I had no doubt he'd keep up for the rest of the way to the
summit. Owen was a new entity and we had no idea of his skills or endurance,
but so far he was doing superbly. We came across a lone backpacker, a 50ish
woman with a light pack. She asked where we were going and didn't seem at all
surprised when we told her Mt. Florence. In fact, she had just been there the
day before as one of several peaks she'd climbed in the last few days. I
didn't recognize her, but I guessed I ought to know her name. We parted
without me being brave enough to ask.
Dropping a thousand feet to Lewis Creek, we had some trouble
<4240>crossing the creek as it meandered through wet marshland.
Managing that, we continued down the trail another half mile or so until it
was time to start the cross-country portion. Our route would contour around
to upper Florence Creek without having to drop an additional 400ft on the
trail. Owen began to flag at this point,
Rick and I waiting periodically to allow him to catch up. We moved almost the
same 3mph as we had on the trail which is a little tougher over logs and
traversing across ravines. After about 15 minutes of this Owen waved to us to
continue without comment. We shrugged and continued on. Later Owen told us he
was exhausted at that point and couldn't see straight anymore. He rested and
napped for several hours and never actually climbed anything that day. So much
for his introduction to the Sierra Challenge.
Rick and I slowed down as we started the
<4241>uphill climb to a small saddle north of
Pt. 10,216ft on our way to Lake 10,541ft. All of this route was familiar to me
since it was the same I had used to climb Florence seven years earlier. That
was before I had begun the dayhiking quest and had been done as an overnighter.
So Florence was on this year's Challenge list solely because I had yet to
dayhike it - sort of like having to do penance for past transgressions. We
reached <4244>Lake 10,541ft
on the north side of Florence's West Ridge at 9:15a.
It was the last body of water before the summit push, so we paused here to
fill up our water bottles. Continuing on, we contoured around the south side
of the lake until we could head up the broad
<4245>boulder slope that reaches up to
the West Ridge. We had carried crampons and axe because I found these
necessary the first time I came here, but as we soon found out they weren't
needed today. We climbed the right side of the snowfield over the boulders,
then crossed to the left where the snowfield necked and
<4246>reached the ridge around 9:50a.
So far so good. Clouds were making their appearance by this time, but not
enough to feel threatening. We would be off the summit long before they could
become a problem. Knowing there was a deep notch along the West Ridge that I
wanted to avoid, I led us around the southwest and south side of the peak in
a spiralling ascent. It took us another hour to reach the summit, probably
five or ten minutes longer than it should have as I overshot the summit and we
came up on the southeast side. But it wasn't quite 11a and we had reached the
summit in less than six hours - better than I had expected.
Curious about the woman we'd come across earlier, I pulled out the register.
Even before I looked at her name I told Rick I bet that was Tina Bowman. And
so it was. Tina has been climbing Sierra peaks longer than most of us, and is
very active with the Sierra Club climbing section. She was with Patty Rambert
on Mt. Mendal earlier in May when Patty had her fatal accident. I've seen her
name in countless registers and in many trip reports. I wish I had asked her
name!
Heading back after a short break, we
<4255>met up with Matthew on the boulder climb
leading to the West Ridge. I didn't think anyone else was going to make it up
to Florence after Rick and I, but that was not the case. What we didn't know
at the time was that four others were already on their way to the summit ahead
of Matthew, including Joel, Vlad, Mark, and Bill, all of whom had gone first
to Vogelsang Peak. They had taken a more direct
route along Florence's West Ridge while Rick and I had traversed down around
the south and southwest side as we had done on the ascent.
Mark would continue on to
Simmons Peak while Bill went to Parsons Peak. These were ambitious guys!
Matthew's knee was hurting a bit, but not enough to turn him around - just
enough to slow him down a bit. To save him some suffering, Rick and I took his
axe and crampons, lightening his load a bit. We bid him goodbye and continued
down.
It was 2p when we finally finished the last of the climbing up to Vogelsang
Pass. I then asked Rick if he planned to continue to Vogelsang. Not having been
to the summit before, he was really torn. Tired on one hand, not wanting to do
the Rafferty Creek hike again in the future on the other. I told him I had no
interest in climbing it myself and planned to go back. Finally his ambition
won out and he decided to do Vogelsang. I immediately changed my story and
agreed to join him. You see, I didn't want him to get a peak up on me, but I
didn't want to let him know ahead of time I'd join him since that might have
made his decision easier. I was really hoping he'd leave it be. We
<4261>dropped our packs
near the trail and taking only camera and water bottle (Rick only brought
a camera) we headed up the slopes to the East Face under the summit. Once the
talus portion in the lower half was dispensed with, the class 3 climbing on the
<4262>East Face
was pretty enjoyable despite our tired states. Taking slightly
different lines, we reached
<4263>the summit in less than half an hour - had I known
it would be that easy I wouldn't have been as reluctant as I had been.
We returned
via the snow gully off the SE Ridge, glissading as much as possible and taking
advantage of <4264>the snow where we could to beat a path back to the trail.
About the time we reached Vogelsang HSC, the developing weather finally began
to take a turn for the worse. We passed a
<4265>pack train on the way to Tuolumne
Pass, then as we started down the east side of the pass the thunder and
lightning show began over the Sierra Crest. Safely to the west by several miles,
we were spared the brunt of the thunderstorms for most of the afternoon. But
the closer we got to Lyell Canyon, the more rain would fall. Rick dropped back
somewhere by the pass and I found myself alone for the next hour. I put on my
rain jacket and did my best to keep water out of my neck. Hail fell and
accumulated in places to make a soft blanket on the ground. Much of the hail I
saw had fallen before I got to it, and I was thankful to have been spared a
good soaking. The others who had gone to Simmons and Parsons were not so lucky
and found themselves accosted by the afternoon storm. Shortly before I reached
the bridge across the Lyell Fork, I came across others on their way back,
mostly a
handful of fishermen who had had enough trying to wait out the weather. One of
the folks I came across was Mike Larkin on his way back from climbing Vogelsang
and Parsons. He had a rain jacket on similar to mine, but was considerably
wetter and in a considerably more somber mood. His hands were numb and he was
cold throughout. We hiked out together as he described a very different storm
in Lyell Canyon than the one I had experienced coming down Rafferty Creek.
Near the trailhead, we crossed the bridge over the
<4266>Dana Fork and we paused to
view the cement gray color the normally clear stream had taken on. It looked as
though it were filled with glacial till. Mike smiled weakly for the camera,
then we continued on. By 5:45p we were back at the cars. A couple of hard
lemonades helped brighten our spirits, as did a large bag of salty chips. Rick
was only ten minutes behind us. It had
been a hard outing, and I knew the next day would be similarly difficult. All
I could think of was a quick dinner and then to bed. I left Mike in the parking
lot - he would have to wait an additional 6hrs before Bill returned from
his epic outing - and drove off to Mammoth. I stopped briefly at the Whoa Nellie
to see if additional participants could be found there. I found only Eric Lee
(who had climbed Lyell/Maclure instead of Florence) and a long line at the
register. I passed on dinner there and drove to the Motel 6 in Mammoth.
KFC sufficed for dinner, though it tasted pretty bad. I swore off the Colonel
for the rest of the trip. Rick and I didn't get to bed until sometime after
9p - it would be a shortened rest since we had to get up at 4a for the next day.
Hoo boy - just make it past these first two days and it'll be clear sailing
after that, I told myself...
Continued...