#bannerpeak

[gakutravel]

🇺🇸 #analogphotography #thousandislandlake #bannerpeak #jmt #pct #hiking #filmphotography #nikonf3 #onfilm #analoguemountains #山とフィルム #釣り #inyonationalforest (Thousand Island Lake) https://www.instagram.com/p/CggIqkSP5vR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[endudesigns]

The beaches of JMT. Thousand Island Lake and Banner Peak. #bannerpeak #lensflare #thousandislandlake #alpinebeach. #saunterer #solitude #backcountry #hiker #solohiker #backpackers #triathlete #triathlon #fitness #health #wellness #endurance #johnmuirtrail #PCT #JMT #ironmantriathlon #camping #hiker #running #campinglife #backpacker #hiker #swimbikerun #alpinelake #backcountry #etsy #endudesigns (at John Muir Trail) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnPSjcMF7rC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1i7ylqfeis62m

[johnboak]

#mtritter and #bannerpeak on the upper left. #mammothmountain on the lower right. Black spot on top of the mountain: site of cocktails after nuptials of @boakstar and @emnmoore 10/14/17. I am on Mammoth Crest.

[rawwellnessinfo]

. ♡ Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world ♡. . ↠Orhan Pamuk . . . . . #outdoorlife #outdoors #naturephotography #nature #explore #hiking #outdoorphotography #backcountry #getoutside #easternsierras #summertime #summertimeadventures #adventure #mammothstories #mountainlife #backpacking #thousandislandlake #bannerpeak #love #happiness #sunset (at Thousand Island Lake)

[rawwellnessinfo]

. ívє hαd αn αmαzíng ѕummєr mαmmσth . ✌🏽σut till thє ѕnσw fαllѕ 💋. . . . #outdoorlife #outdoors #naturephotography #nature #explore #hiking #outdoorphotography #backcountry #getoutside #easternsierras #summertime #summertimeadventures #adventure #mammothstories #mountainlife #backpacking #thousandislandlake #bannerpeak #skinnydipping (at Thousand Island Lake)

[rawwellnessinfo]

. 𖤹 juѕt α quick ѕtσp σn σur вríѕk wαlk frσm mαmmσth tσ junє 𖤹 . . . . #outdoorlife #outdoors #naturephotography #nature #explore #hiking #outdoorphotography #backcountry #getoutside #easternsierras #summertime #summertimeadventures #adventure #mammothstories #mountainlife #backpacking #thousandislandlake #bannerpeak (at Banner Peak)

[ayeletinthemountains]

Mount Ritter & Banner Peak (Both Failed)

7/9/16 - 7/10/16

Ritter and Banner had been on the list for a little while now, and I had been itching to give them a shot. I had talked about them with my friend Kao in the summer of 2015, but we knew we’d had to wait until 2016 so that we could go early in summer, when there was more snow. Around May/June, we resumed these talks and settled on a weekend to hopefully take them on. The tough part logistically is that we wanted to wait until Minaret Road opened, so that we wouldn’t have to add an additional 3mi to the trailhead (with tons of gain on the return), which means we’d had to wait until late June. I was also going to be in Israel until July 5th, so that left us aiming for the second weekend of July.

A couple months before our planned date, a friend Kyle introduced me to his friend Ellise, telling us both that we had to meet, since we were both “awesome” and wanted outdoor partners. Kyle was definitely right about Ellise — and after meeting her over dinner one night in the city, I was excited to invite her along on this trip.

The three of us met in San Francisco on Friday evening, leaving the city around 6:30pm in Ellise’s new Subaru. We stopped on the drive for dinner at Chipotle in Manteca, and made it to Tioga Pass for the night around midnight. We stealth camped off Saddlebag Lake road, getting a pretty good rest for the night. The plan had been to only do the hike in on Saturday, so we weren’t in a huge rush when waking up. We stopped at the Mobil in Lee Vining for a quick pit stop, and then parked our car by the main lodge in Mammoth, taking the Devils Postpile shuttle down to the Agnew Meadows trailhead, since the road was already closed.

Views of Ritter and Banner from Shadow Lake.

Pretty much immediately after stepping off the bus, the mosquitos appeared — which was to be expected early season, but still disappointing. It was then that I learned that Kao and Ellise hadn’t heeded my warning to bring face mosquito nets, so I looked the dorkiest by far, pulling mine out. We got a move on, so as to make it a bit harder for the mosquitos, and started down the River Trail towards Shadow Lake.

The trail heads by Agnew Meadow, and then through the forest for a little while before descending down the valley. A heartbreaking start, losing a few hundred feet, but so it goes. From there, the trail continues through the valley for a while before crossing the San Joaquin River, and then immediately starting back up the other side of the valley. This was our first section of uphill, and I definitely felt that I wasn’t in as great of shape as I’d like for a trip like this. I sat down briefly to take off my pack and grab my hat, and then continued up. Until this point, I’d had our maps and printed out route descriptions folded up in my pants pocket, but a few minutes later, I realized they were gone. Not exactly ideal. These were new hiking pants (my first time wearing them), and they didn’t have zip pockets. I told Kao I’d go back and get the map, thinking it must have been where I had sat down, a few minutes back down the trail. I dropped my pack and hiked back down.

As I searched the area where I had sat down, two women came upon me and asked if I was looking for something. I told them I’d dropped our map, but I was certain it must be around here somewhere. They helped me search a little, but we had no luck. We chatted and they asked me about our plans, and then insisted that I take their Tom Harrison map of the area, since they were hiking out. I told them I couldn’t do that — those are nice maps and cost $10 a piece. But, they insisted, telling me I should pay it forward. If either of them ever come along this blog post again, a huge thank you!

I hiked back up the trail and told Kao and Ellise what happened, and then we continued up. Soon enough, some waterfalls from the outlet of Shadow Lake came into view, full of water. Just a few minutes after that, we arrived at to Shadow Lake. Feeling like we had all the time in the world, already nearly half way done with the approach, we stopped on some rocks by the lake for a snack. The snack then turned into a nice long nap… In all, the break itself must have been an hour or more — something I rarely do these days. All rested and ready to go, we got back on the trail, headed towards Lake Ediza.

Shadow Creek crossing.

The next few miles of trail were beautiful, mostly paralleling Shadow Creek, which was full of water. It made the going quite enjoyable, and before long we found ourselves at Lake Ediza. Here, we took another snack break, enjoying the extra time on our hands. From here, we’d finally get off maintained trails. We had to cross the outlet of Ediza Lake and cross around the north side of the lake. Being early in the season, the water levels were, and the current was strong at the outlet. We all took off our boots, nervous to attempt the crossing. I had trekking poles, which definitely made it a bit easier. For Kao and Ellise, who didn’t have trekking poles, a friendly swimmer nearby came over and escorted them across, giving each of them a hand (literally). Back on land, we put our boots back on and hiked around the north side of the lake.

Kao crossing the outlet.

At the west end, we started to look for a route to make it up to the bench below Ritter and Banner, where we’d planned to camp for the night. Kao was in the lead, following a use trail. I figured we’d have to abandon it at some point and set out cross country, but, miraculously, it took us the entire way to the bench. I was thrilled. Who wants to deal with bush-whacking and route-finding when there’s a far easier alternative?

The bench below Ritter and Banner definitely feels like it’s in the alpine. There are no trees, and very little vegetation. The area is very rocky, making it hard to find a good spot to camp. We must have searched for at least ten minutes before finally finding a reasonable spot, though it was far from great. We set up the Z-Packs tent I’d borrowed from Leo for Ellise and me, while Kao found a nearby spot more sheltered from the wind to set up his bivy spot. The wind had definitely been going all day, which had been a relief, because of the respite it gave us from the mosquitoes.

Tons of water everywhere on the hike up to the bench.

It was still somewhat early, so we relaxed a little, staring at the route and discussing our plan for the next day. As we were staring at it, we saw someone descending just below the couloir up to the Ritter-Banner saddle, which was more than surprising to see this late in the day. We watched him for quite some time, eager to see his route and to ask him for any beta once he finally got done. As we were waiting, we put on our crampons and pulled out our axes to do some self-arrest practice. Ellise had worn crampons before, but only on a grassy hill, so we wanted to do some explanation for the next day. As we walked over to the snow, we finally encountered the lone climber we had been watching. This guy seemed like an interesting character. He was out here solo, with no crampons. He had done Ritter the day before solo, and Banner that day — but only having started from camp at 11am. He was wearing tennis shoes, and seemed to not think much of the route, slow to answer questions and not changing his expression much throughout. It was definitely after 6pm by now, but he still planned to hike out, seeming very casual about the whole thing. We thanked him for the info (especially given that I’d lost our route descriptions) and said our goodbyes.

Ritter and Banner just before reaching the bench.

From there, we spent 15 minutes going over the basic steps you can do in crampons, and talked about self-arresting and glissading. She seemed to catch on quick, and I figured she’d be fine, given her experience as a rock climber. We headed back to camp, made dinner on Kao’s stove (which isn’t exactly the most efficient one I’ve seen), and got into bed. While it had been windy all day, the wind had picked up a lot more by now, and I was eager to get in bed. It was a bit after 8pm by now, and we planned to get up at 5am.

Practice on the snow.

Kao boiling water at camp.

The Z-Packs tent is a pretty loud tent in wind, flapping around tons with a crinkly material. It made it hard to rest, with all the noise, but I figured the wind would die down eventually. Sure, there has been wind in the forecast, but nothing crazy. So, I did my best to sleep, having faith that it would calm. Well, that didn’t happen. The winds stayed crazy literally the whole night. I barely slept, maybe a few hours across the 9 hours I was in bed. I just kept waiting for the tent to collapse on us. Around 4:30am, one of the stakes finally came out, so I crawled out of the tent to stick it back in (since I was most definitely awake, nervous about how the heck I was going to climb these tough mountains on little to no sleep), and I looked up at the peaks. I was shocked to see that they were completely covered in clouds.

This was not your typical Sierra weather. Typical Sierra weather has clear mornings, with afternoon clouds. But you can almost always count on a clear morning in summer. So, I was pretty taken aback when I saw the sight before me. Even though it was before sunrise, it was still beyond clear that the peaks were covered, and the clouds were pretty ominous. I got back in the tent, and tried to rest until 5am. When the alarms went off, Ellise and I chatted, and she shared my experience of the night — little to no sleep. I told her what I had seen outside, and she didn’t like the look of it either. I really didn’t want to get out of my warm sleeping bag and go out in the cold wind to talk to Kao, so we decided to wait until 5:30am before chatting with him. Well, about 10 minutes later, the tent finally collapsed, so I figured I might as well get up and go chat with Kao.

Ritter and Banner covered in clouds.

He’d definitely slept a bit better than us, not having been stuck in an incredibly loud tent all night. He also didn’t feel great about the clouds, so we agreed we’d wait an hour and see if they passed — because we weren’t going up in those clouds (in addition to the crazy 40mph winds). I went back to the tent, and Ellise and I just threw our sleeping bags on top, rather than setting it up again. The next hour was so much better — we should have done this hours ago — I was actually finally able to sleep. After an hour or so, I woke up and saw the first rays hitting the mountains next to us. I basically screamed to Ellise to wake up and look — I had been so awed by the gorgeous colors, but hopefully I didn’t scare her too much.

Incredible morning light.

We rested a bit more, and then regrouped with Kao. The clouds hadn’t lifted at all, and the winds were still extremely strong. We discussed it, and no one felt good about going up. It was crazy — all this weather out of nowhere, when the forecast had predicted beautiful, clear skies. Just a reminder of how small I am and how strong nature can be.

Starting the hike out.

We packed up, and went back to the car the exact way we came, not taking any real breaks at all this time. It’s always a bummer hiking out without your summit — especially when you didn’t do anything wrong. But, what can ya do. We managed to catch the shuttle immediately upon making it back to the trailhead, and were all happy to sit down. We started the drive back, stopping for a snack at the Mobil, and then for dinner at Priest Station. Even though we hadn’t done nearly as much hiking as I’d planned, I was still exhausted when we made it back from so little sleep the night before.

[thesouldrifter]

26 and still set on being an explorer for the rest of my life.