October 3

~7 miles, 5,400’ gain

This would prove to be the hardest day, and a relatively long day, despite the modest mileage. John, Brian and I struck out relatively early in hopes that we’d get over the Sierra crest before the storm hit with full force. This day was entirely off trail, and on very steep terrain, so steep at times I was struggling to not slip backwards, not always successfully. We would climb about 1,000’ per mile. John and Matt had scouted the route over a year earlier, so John was able to guide us up a reasonable route, though still on a steep and loose mountainside. We first made our way through wooded mountainside, and eventually more open, rocky terrain as we picked our way up a steep, dry stream bed, often one rock step at a time. When the clouds parted, we enjoyed tremendous views looking back toward Owens Valley, but as we climbed higher the clouds closed in and visibility was quite limited. We were now a far way from Death Valley as we added layers of clothing, gloves and hats and climbed into a storm.

Our objective was to cross the Sierra crest just south of Mt Langley, making our way around a small glacier we had been able to see for the past several days. As we slowly moved closer to the summit, the storms intensity grew along with high winds, blowing snow and hail, and the dark sky occasionally exploded with thunder. John suggested we consider heading back, but we came to a consensus to head up and over the crest. I was confident in our abilities and judgement, and wasn’t sure we’d get out of the storm any faster heading back down the steep, loose mountain we’d been climbing. I also knew we had multiple bail out options over the other side should the bad weather persist. We all agreed pretty quickly to keep going, and after another thunderclap shook the mountainside, we all picked up our pace and moved with single-minded focus.

Once over the crest, still off trail, John had an old GPS track he could direct us on as snow fell and blew with very limited visibility. We moved quickly downhill, and it was quite awhile before we were under the dark clouds. It was still snowing as we made our way down from the crest, a dusting of snow everywhere. It was all quite beautiful when we stopped to take it in. We’d planned to camp at one of the Soldier Lakes, but John thought it better to get even lower, so we pushed on to Rock Creek Lake.