Elevation: 13715 Ft
Trailhead: Mosquito Flat
Route: Northeast Couloir
Difficulty: Basic snow climb, Class 3
Mount Abbot was one of the first big climbs I did in the Sierra and one of the first times I got into some trouble up high. We were looking for an easy snow climb after learning how to use crampons and an ice ax on Mount Shasta. I fell near the top of the couloir and slid some distance on my back before "arresting" in some sharp rocks. I've harbored an uneasiness on steep snow ever since. I've included our original trip report below. I suspect that Mount Abbot is a fairly moderate climb, but it seemed like an epic at the time.
Traditionally, mountain climbers begin very early in the morning so they can climb when the snow is still firm or before melting snow and ice can cause rockfall on steep slopes. We begin very early because in our minds, miles walked in the dark don’t count. We prefer to stumble out of our tents at two in the morning, sleepwalk the approach, and become truly conscious just at the base of the real climbing. Later when we walk out we are appalled at the distance covered but have no choice but to retrace our steps if we ever want to reach those cheeseburgers that are at the end of every mountain.
So we woke up to the quacking of our alarm at three in the morning and scrambled to dress. Every trip one of us puts an article of clothing on incorrectly in the dark and this morning it was me with an inside-out-backwards long sleeve. I suffered through Greg’s mockery and we somnambulated up the trail to Ruby Lake.
At Ruby Lake the sun came up and we were jarred into consciousness to find ourselves on the first of many boulder fields. This last winter, we found ourselves on the descent from a mountain on a boulder field lightly covered in snow and ice, which forced us to invent the new discipline of “crampon boulder hopping” which entails jumping from icy rock to icy rock with spikes on your feet. So we were less than thrilled with the endless loose rocks stretching off towards the base of Mt. Abbot but grateful that it had been a light snow year.
The route once we reached it was straightforward; a snow climb up a couloir followed by class 3 rocks to the summit. On the descent, I recklessly stepped from the rock section back onto the snow couloir without putting my crampons back on; my boots slipped in the soft snow and for about ten feet it looked like I was going to arrive at the bottom of the couloir rather quickly. Fortunately some rather sharp rocks stopped me and I collected another attractive set of abrasions.
However that concluded the excitement for the day, and we retraced our steps through the infinite boulder fields. Towards the end Greg began whingeing about the state of his feet/legs etc. etc. but this was remedied by sandwiches and milkshakes in Lee Vining later that evening.
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