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Merriam Peak 6 Aug 2005 Sierra Challenge 2005 Map Thumbnails
The humidity the night before was at or near 100%, so none of my clothes or the tent had accomplished any drying. I balled up the tent fly in my trunk and layed out the clothes in various parts of the car. I chose a pair of wet socks and placed them over the defroster, running on full tilt. I had to put the windows down to cool of the car and to let the humidified air out!
After missing the boat by a critical three minutes yesterday (as I said, they move fast), I showed up 30 minutes early today. It worked out fine, since I hadn’t put my pack together the night before. Alas, I missed the group photo at the start, but oh, well. We were off at 6 am.
This was such a different trip from the last time I had come the Pine Creek Pass Trail as a backpack. Today, we passed our previous lunch spot at 7:07 am, and passed our campsite at 8:30. We were at Pine Creek Pass (3,500 ft gain) by 9. I had fallen in with the rear guard of the summit group: Glen, Rick, and Michael G. Although Jeff and David started out with us, I lost them somewhere in the switchbacks and didn’t see them again. We turned north from the pass and headed over easy cross-country to Royce Lakes. There we met the front guard: Bob, Mark, Evan, and Rick.
At the lakes the group split again. Five folk, including Bob, Mark, Glen, Rick, and Michael headed up a 3rd class chute on the east face. Looked fun, but I didn’t know if it would go so I chickened out and took the established route from the Merriam Royce saddle, following Rick and Evan. Up to the saddle we encountered some steep snow, but it was soft enough to go up without crampons (thanks to Rick in front of me who kicked steps!). From there it was a straight shot up the ridge with mostly 2nd class moves over boulders and scree. We spotted the other group at the summit when we had perhaps 400 ft left to gain. The summit register from 1997 still survived, a rarity lately. It was placed by Beth Epstein on an SPS trip, beaver stamp and all.
It was only 11:20 when we summitted, and after 6,000 ft of gain, I felt good enough to try Royce. Unfortunately, the rainstorm we had watched engulf Humphries was now starting on us. It would be the wiser choice to descend before things turned ugly. On the way back down to the saddle, I spotted Bob about halfway up Royce, with maybe 600 ft to go. I wouldn’t be able to catch him, and no one was following him. Decision made. Our descent from there was as rapid as it was simple. We retraced our steps across the plateau, getting some gusts of wind along with our rain. Glen and I rejoined the Pine Creek Pass trail, and it was off to the races until we got to Lower Pine Lake, and I needed some food. Rick joined us here as the rest of the group, sans Bob, continued by us. Rick, Glen, and I got to the trailhead at 4 pm, with no evidence of the others in sight. We had just finished cleaning up at the creek when Bob was about to drive away in his car. Everyone rolled back to their Starlight hotel, and I planned to meet with them at 7 for dinner. On the drive down to Bishop, it got amazingly hot, and I broke down and went for a hotel room myself. Ah, the air conditioning! Dinner didn’t work out as planned when I didn’t find them at the hotel. Who knew that Bishop has so many restaurants! I checked inside 5 of them and cruised the parking lot of several others looking for Bob’s vanity plate. I did spot “SNO NMPH” at one, though. Instead, I dined at Jack’s Restaurant and Bakery, since 1946, before turning in, resting for Pilot Knob tomorrow.
So this was the first official Sierra Challenge peak I completed, and I felt pretty good about the effort. Making a 3 day backpack into a 10 hr day hike isn’t bad. The accomplishment is nice, and I saw a lot of new country, but I didn’t necessarily get the chance to take much of it in. It was nice to spot Julius Caesar, Bear Creek Spire, and Hilgard (the storm obscured everything to the south), but there wasn’t much time to appreciate it. That worked out fine with the storm coming at us! I guess as a scouting trip, it works out well, and it also satisfies the list-ticker in me.
--matt
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