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.
