Author Topic: Clyde Minaret : the Rock Route  (Read 5053 times)

rhyang

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Clyde Minaret : the Rock Route
« on: August 06, 2012, 07:15:13 PM »
Clyde Minaret (12281') is in the Ritter Range, ancient volcanic mountains near Mammoth in the Sierra Nevada.  In 2009 I'd hiked up to the base of the Rock Route with a friend who was new to class 4 scrambling.  It was not to be though, and we decided to bail.  We enjoyed a nice hike out to Devil's Postpile and took the shuttle back to the car.


(but not before getting a look at the SE Face .. someday maybe)

The peak remained on my to-do list for a few years.  At the end of July I headed up to the Cathedral Lakes trailhead and warmed up on a few of the Echo Peaks in Tuolumne.



Sunday I did the SE Face of Mt. Emerson (5.4) from North Lake -



This route had been on my list of fun routes to solo, and IMO it was worth the short approach.  I then hurried up to Mammoth from Bishop and spent the night at the vista.  By 6:30am I started hiking from Agnew Meadows (8300').  After about an hour I got my first glimpse of the Minarets as I passed Shadow Lake.



A little later I got a nice view of Ritter and Banner from Lake Ediza (9200')



A pleasant use trail heads up from there past Iceberg Lake (9700')



The trail disappeared into a talus field briefly as it ascended to beautiful Cecile Lake (10200').  By now I'd hiked about 9.5 miles and it was a little past 10am.  Fast I am not.



The approach to the route from the lake is a thousand feet of class 2-3 slabs.



The lakes were fantastic viewed from up there -


(Cecile, Iceberg, Ediza -- nearest to farthest)

(Cecile, with Volcanic Ridge behind it)

After some additional scrambling there is a nice ramp which intersects with the route, just above a 5.5ish chimney (or so I'm told).  The Rock Route proper goes up some exposed third class for a while.



The route crosses over into the next gully, passing a tower.



There were a few moves that seemed borderline class 4, and finding the easiest way took some time.  I got to the summit ridge in early afternoon.  Great views.




The summit was in view, but first I had to downclimb 10' of fourth class that offered some adrenaline :)




From there it was a short scramble to the summit.



Hooray !  I had a chocolate bar and carefully made my way back down.  The routefinding was nontrivial and a couple times I backtracked.  My weak left leg was getting fatigued, but it wasn't so bad yet.  By the time I made it down to Cecile Lake it was nearing 6:30pm and I still had 9.5 miles to go.

Let's just say I was glad for the almost-full moon :)



Around 9pm my headlamp turned on, and it was another hour before I got back to the meadows.  A group was just setting out for Shadow Lake, headlamps and all.  I guess they figured a full-moon hike might be nice.

Brad Young

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Re: Clyde Minaret : the Rock Route
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2012, 07:38:59 PM »
Super trip report Rhyang. Not many climbers travel in the Minarets these days. That's a long, hard car-to-car.

skully

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Re: Clyde Minaret : the Rock Route
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2012, 08:37:01 PM »
We have another name for that, Brad. Not a long & hard car to car.
That's "full value".  8)
Oh, yeah.  That's sweet.
Holy crap! oh, please little hook stay, please stay, that's right you're fine........And  Yes! off THAT manky shit. Whew.