Mt. Ritter Summit Report (Long with Lots of Pics)

[MTBMaven]

Background
Over the past 4 years a group of friends and I have been hiking in the Sierra. Hiking and backpacking has been a passion of mine since my days as a Boy Scout. It has been wonderful experiencing the outdoors with such close friends. This year's goal was Mt Ritter. The following is a description of Mt Ritter from Summit Post:

Mt. Ritter is the highest peak in the Ritter Range, a volcanic ridge west of the Sierra Crest, just outside Yosemite's southeast boundary. The Minarets, a set of more than a dozen fantastically sharp pinnacles in this range, together with Mt. Ritter and Banner Peak make for a striking skyline when viewed from the Mammoth Lakes area. According to Secor, "Mount Ritter is perhaps the most prominent peak in the High Sierra, and can even be seen from certain summits in the southern portion of the range." It is easily recognizeable (in conjunction with its neighbor Banner Peak) from as far north as the peaks around Sonora Pass, and far into the southern parts of the range, from the Palisades to Mt. Goddard, and some points even further. For highpoint seekers, Mt. Ritter is also the highpoint of Madera County, one of the more arduous of the 58 county highpoints in California.

The Journey North
We departed Thursday night about 6PM. The group converged at the In and Out in Santa Clarita on our way north. We arrived in Mammoth around mid-night stopping at the National Forest office to pick up our permit from the night drop box. From there we drove over Minaret Summit and down into Agnew Meadows Campground to get some sleep for the night. The campground was empty so we had easy pickings finding a suitable camp site. Some time after 1:00 AM and a few requisite sips of Jagermeister we hit the hay for a few short hours of shut eye.

Day 1 - Approach to Bacecamp
Dawn arrived much too early as it always does. Very shortly the campsite was a flurry of activity as we broke camp, cooked breakfast, sorted through piles of gear and food, and packed our bags for three days on the trail.


Sometime close to 10AM we started out on the River Trail heading to Shadow Lakes. This hike is one of the most beautiful in the Sierra I have hiked. The trail starts out with a gentle descent into Olaine Lake then follows the river for a about a mile before crossing the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. Arriving at the river one is greeted by beautiful Alders.

After crossing the river the trails steepens significantly before reaching Shadow Lake. The distance from the river to Shadow Lake is about 1 mile and 700 feet of gain and is traveled on outstanding trail with beautiful vistas.




Shadow Lakes is one of those rare gems in this world.


From Shadow Lakes we hopped on the John Muir Trail for a short while (go right, do not cross the bridge) before veering off to Ediza Lakes. The trail rolled through some more stellar terrain along a stream with many fishing and swimming holes and meadows.






Ediza Lakes was the end of the road for our approach to base camp. Yet another stunning lake.


The trail goes around the south side of the lake, however there is no camping on this side of the lake. Rather than walk all the way around the lake we opted to hike across a boulder field to the north side of the lake where we could camp, thus saving 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile of hiking.


Finding a spot for 9 people and 5 tents is no easy feat in the Sierra. Yet we managed to find a nice place with plenty of flat ground and in close enough proximity to the lake for water. In camp we relaxed in the shade of some small trees, reconnoitering for the next days climb, and took a very gratifying group swim in the lake. The water was in the upper 50's, about as warm as one will find considering the lake is fed from snow melt. We replenished our stomachs with tasty (and in a few cases not so tasty) dehydrated meals, cookies, chocolate, and tea before drifting off to sleep at the late hour of about 8 PM. The next day was to be a very long and difficult day with a dawn sunrise.

Day 2 - Summit Day
When most people head into the backcounty they travel on well maintained foot paths from the trailhead their destination and back again. This makes for rather mindless travel (compared to what was in store for us). Most also have a nice topo map with dashed lines indicating their path for the day. This was not the case for our little adventure (for this is not the MTBMaven way). The trail ends at Ediza Lake on topo map. The trip logs from Alan Ritter consisted of photos with lines drawn on them and descriptions that only make since to those who have actually hiked the area before.
http://www.climber.org/Feature/lucky7/routea.html

We luckily found a use trail (think unmaintained footpath) leading out of camp in the general direction of where we needed to go. Shortly outside of camp we ran into a couple starting out their day as well. We would run into Greg and Rena many times throughout the day. At some magical moment we collectively agreed to depart from the comforts of the trail and set off up a bolder strewn gully.


When looking at the route from afar it seems impossible, 'there is no way to get up that!' you think. Yet the closer you get the more the route unfolds in front of you. There are some advantages of going straight up. Every step gains nearly 2 feet of elevation. The only problem is every step is hard earned. One never knows if the rock you rely on for forward momentum will hold firm or slip out from under you. Forward progress requires excellent balance (which is even harder to achieve with 10-20 pounds of gear on your back). After what seemed like forever we felt as if we past the infamous "tree rock" (see Alan Ritter's route description). This meant we could begin our traverse towards Ritter and the Southeast glassier.




Our route became a bit less clear from this point. One source indicated we continue up through a saddle and the other suggested we traverse around a large massif to the base of southeast glassier. We ascended a bit towards the saddle because the topo map suggested this route would be easier. Unfortunately upon inspection this route appeared to be above our pay grade. From here we had a downward traverse across another bolder field.

(bit of a Where's Waldo photo, trust me there are people in there.)


(Krisztian negotiating the bergshrund).

After the traverse we reached a snow field. Having carried crampons and ice ax this far we figured it would be a perfect opportunity to dawn our cool mountaineering gear.


The snow field was pretty short but a great place to practice snow travel in a safe environment. In hind sight we should have saved this effort for the much larger southeast glassier. We opted to travel around the parameter of the glassier. This was the most hair raising portion of the day (especially on the down climb).




After passing the glassier and the "three toed buttress" we rounded the corner and entered Owen's Chute.

(Owen's Chute looking down from about 3/4 of the up)

Towards the top of Owen's Chute is the crux of the entire day. A 20 foot section of exposed Class IV climbing (my rating BTW). There were excellent foot and hand holds but the exposure could be a bit too much for some.




We met up with Greg and Rena again at this point. I think they were considering heading back at this point. Our group reached a decision point. It was close to 1:00PM. The bolder field up Owen's Chute was a beast of washer sized boulders. And the slope got steeper as you went up culminating in the Class IV crux. The group split in two. All but Tom, Krisztian, and I decided to head back.

We helped Greg and Rena get past the crux. Rena was a real tropper. When asked if she wanted to continue to the summit she replied "after doing that...hell yeah!" One of the most demoralizing points of the day was realizing that after passing the crux we still had what seemed like a whole other mountain to climb. We were still close to 1,000 feel below the summit and we had a steep boulder field climb left to reach the summit. Luckily the weather could not have been better. This was the point in the day when thunderstorms can end a summit attempt. However we were blessed with deep blue skis filled with only but a few puffy clouds and <5 MPH winds.

After reaching deep down inside for inner motivation I reached the summit. The Mt Ritter summit is something to behold. Small and craggy, with room for only a few souls. I wasn't entirely sure I was on the real summit when I arrived at what appeared to be the summit until I spotted the summit registry box. I let out a war hop heard by the ascending summit party. What a gratifying moment. A 6 hour journey culminating in an endless view of our surroundings.



(Half Dome and Clouds Rest can be seen in the backgound of this photo)


(Summit team)


(heading back down)

We followed Greg and Rena back down as they took a more direct route to the summit. They were welcome company on our descent. As always the descent is 10 times worse than the ascent.








We finished our day after dark by a dip in the lake under moon light. Research shows that ice cold water is good for recovery. While this may be great in the lab, in the field it results in near hypothermia. Luckily Tom and I shared a 4 person serving of Mountain House Beef Stew dehydrated food for dinner; getting my caloric engine working again and ended my uncontrollable shivering.

Day 3 - The Hike Home
Mike injured his ankle on the descend the previous day so he left camp about and hour and a half before the rest of the group. The rest of us slowly broke down camp and prepared for the journey out. Again the descent is always hard on my body, luckily the scenery was beautiful. All in all the hike out was pretty uneventful. Well except for Mike who had a group of pack animals break free and stampede down the trail right in front of him.

We departed Agnew Meadows, stopped for a group photo at Minarets Summit, and headed straight for pizza at Nick and Willies in Mammoth. We arrived back home about 7:30PM. I was hardly able to walk by this point. The pain will quickly subside and all I will be left with is great memories of beautiful mountains and great times with 8 good friends.

[art23rockpile]

Good job on bagging Ritter!

Over 25 years ago, a variation on your route was the last 'major' backpacking trip I ever did. A number of friends and I started-out at a lake just past June Lake (i think). I know we went past Shadow Lake and camped at Ediza Lake. It's amazing that 25+ years later, it looks exactly the same.
A few of our group made the summit, the rest of us spent the day fishing in the lake (the fishing was great) and exploring.

Thanks for the "HR"... it brings back some great memories!

[dirtvert]

good job, lads. great pics. the minarets is one of the most beautiful places in the west.

[Tedroy]

Great job! I hiked that area back in the 80's. Similar route but no peaks like that! We hit Thousand Island lake at the base of banner first and then over the ridge to Shadow Lake.
The best 5 days of my life. Thanks for all the great pics and memories!

[Red Ryder]

Great climb report! It brought back memories of my Dad and I climb up the north face of Ritter many years ago. We camped at Thousand Island Lake, went up to Lake Catherine, up the ice field, then straight up! My hands sweat just thinking about the exposure. What a climb!

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by Red Ryder

Great climb report! It brought back memories of my Dad and I climb up the north face of Ritter many years ago. We camped at Thousand Island Lake, went up to Lake Catherine, up the ice field, then straight up! My hands sweat just thinking about the exposure. What a climb!

Damn that is one hell of a route. The north face of Ritter demands respect. That is a no joke route for sure!

[Piranha]

Cool HR, that sounds and looks like it was an awesome trip. Thanks!

[jasonmason]

Great trip report!

I went to do Ritter from the north approach a few years ago, up the coliour from North Glacier pass and got shut down by early fall weather. Looked at your approach later doing a loop trip up minaret creek and then x-country behind shadow and ediza to garnet - looked vaible at the time, but my group wasn't up for it. Great shots of the approach, climbing, and summit!

[mtbski]

I got to get out there! Thanks for the great report!

[OMR]

I love the Eastern Sierras... I've done many an epic myself up there ... and you're right, some of the exposure on class four climbs blows your mind. Sometimes you wonder why you're doing this unroped. Thanks for all the pictures ... brings back many memories of similar climbs ... and again you're right... swmining in those lakes is quite an experience in its self! Brrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

Reports like this makes me want to go in and dust off all my peak bagging gear again! My wife says thanks a lot for that!