Mountain Project Logo

Sierra Scrambles

Original Post
EricF · · San Francisco · Joined May 2012 · Points: 120

Hey all, looking for peoples favorite scrambles in the high sierra 5.4 and under.

I was looking at the north Ridge of Conness, any other favorites out there?

Medium approaches are fine, long ok, nothing to deep in there, looking for things that won't take more than one night out, looks like teh company I'm working for may be going under and don't have a lot of partners out here so August could be full of peak bagging, thanks for the help!

Ryan Watts · · Bishop, CA · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 25

Mt Emerson - SE Face
Tenaya Peak - NW Buttess

Both totally doable in half a day even at a pretty lazy pace and both awesome IMO.

N Ridge of Conness is also cool and relatively short. For a slightly longer day maybe look at the W Ridge as well?

EricF · · San Francisco · Joined May 2012 · Points: 120

Thanks Ryan any thoughts on the NE ridge of Bear Creek Spire?

Paul Zander · · Bern, CH · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 739

NE ridge of Bear Creek Spire would be very much in line with what you are seeking I believe. Incredibly scenic!

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318
Ryan Watts wrote:N Ridge of Conness is also cool and relatively short. For a slightly longer day maybe look at the W Ridge as well?
These are both rated 5.6, although the cruxes on the N Ridge may be rapped.

+1 on the NE Ridge of Bear Creek Spire
The N Ridge of Lone Pine Peak is rated 5.4, but the crux is a bit stout for the rating. The E Arete on Humphreys is 5.5. For 3rd class recommendations W Chute on Cloudripper (ways to make it harder if you stay to the side of the chute) or the E Arete on Russell. Also, Agassiz is worth doing for the views alone.
Stevee B · · Oakland, CA · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 5

I like Unicorn Peak, Cockscomb, Echo #4 and #6, N & S Tressider, Columbia Finger. Junction Peak. Many of the Kearsarge Pinnacles.

Brad in the bay · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 30

Good suggestions, though IMO tenaya is much much shorter and easier than the others.

vincent L. · · Redwood City · Joined Jan 2005 · Points: 560

North Ridge of North Peak to. North Ridge of Mt. Conness is a fun day .

The down climb on the North Ridge of Conness is very do able , not even 5.6 . Or just bring a 120 ft. section of rope and you're good...

The scramble up to the summit of Cathedral via the descent route is classic , and first done by John Muir back in the day . It was the hardest route in the Sierra for like 50+ years ....

EricF · · San Francisco · Joined May 2012 · Points: 120

That rap on Conness is only a 60 ft rap? I was wondering how long of a rope was needed for it, been question in my mind if it was something I would want to down climb, really would rather not carry the rope

SirTobyThe3rd M · · Salt Lake City · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 2,100

East Ridge of Carl Heller
East Arete on Humphreys
Cockscomb/Unicorn/Echo peaks/Cathedral/Tenaya
Laurel

Ryan Watts · · Bishop, CA · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 25
Eric Fernandez wrote:That rap on Conness is only a 60 ft rap? I was wondering how long of a rope was needed for it, been question in my mind if it was something I would want to down climb, really would rather not carry the rope
If in doubt bring a rope, but honestly I thought it was surprisingly easy and secure. Like someone else said I don't know if I would even call that 5.6 (although the book does).

YMMV as always.
kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608

South ridge of the Crystal Crag by Mammoth Lakes has mostly good rock, great views of pretty mountain lakes, and a non-long approach.
The Aretes of Crystal Crag direct variation substitutes low class 5 moves to get a larger amount of interesting fun climbing and stay more on the crest of the ridge. I expect I'll do it again in the next couple of weeks, and lots more times in the rest of my life.

Ken

kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608
Eric Fernandez wrote:That rap on Conness is only a 60 ft rap? I was wondering how long of a rope was needed for it, been question in my mind if it was something I would want to down climb, really would rather not carry the rope
It helps if you spend lots of time practicing down-climbing (like as part of your single-pitch cragging) -- the "dues you pay" in order to not have to carry the weight of a rope.

Actually there are two rappels on the N ridge -- that is, two rappel anchor stations, and two rappels are described in the most recent SuperTopo guidebook (one is shorter). The navigation of the down-climbing to avoid them could be a bit tricky the first time -- so I've tried to explain some details in my Comment on the MP page for the N ridge.

I think the North Ridge of Mt Conness is more fun than many parties experience, because roped parties higher up start looking for the easiest fastest line (off the ridge) which misses lots of fun climbing sequences. When you're soloing you feel you have lots of time to seek out and play on the most fun ridge sections.

Ken

P.S. Two ways to game the "bringing a rope" thing:
1a) bring only enough rope for the actual length of the rappel (not for double to retrieve it after rappelling). If none of the climbers can work out the moves to solo (or lead) the down-climb, then tie one end of the rope to the anchor, rappel on a single rope, and just leave the rope behind.

1b) First try to work out the down-climb moves on belay. With luck, you discover you don't have to sacrifice your rope. If this doesn't work, then at least you get to finish the route without carrying the weight of your (non-doubled) rope.

2) first hike to the summit of Mt Conness, and do the N ridge in the overall downward direction, then figure out the rappel sections by climbing up them - (hopefully easier?). If you can't work it out, just climb up the N ridge back to the summit.
kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608
SirTobyThe3rd wrote:Cockscomb/Unicorn/Echo peaks/Cathedral/Tenaya Laurel
Yes the ridge-top granite of the Cathedral range on S side of Tuolumne Meadows is great. I'm looking forward to getting on it again in the next couple of weeks.

What's your fun way of doing the Cockscomb?

SirTobyThe3rd wrote:East Ridge of Carl Heller
Isn't it kind of a long hike into Carl Heller?
You do that as a day-trip?
Sirius · · Oakland, CA · Joined Nov 2003 · Points: 660

Laurel is ok, it's fine for a short front country outing, but if you have limited number of days on your trip, skip it for something else. Doesn't have the spectacular elements that most Sierra scrambles have.

Tenaya is also front country and very close to your car but is many times better than Laurel.

BCS is an incredible outing. That Valley is a wonder.

N-Ridge on Conness is fantastic and I agree with others that the downclimb was tranquilo. I liked it better than the W-ridge.

If you haven't been up to Temple area of the Pallisades, I'd say the golden brick road route up there (forgetting both proper route name and peak name - Alice?) is worth it for the hike and the views and the swim in the lakes.

Carl Heller and Emerson are both high on my list. Report back if you do 'em!

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318
SirTobyThe3rd wrote:East Ridge of Carl Heller
kenr wrote:You do that as a day-trip?
Sir Toby does Evolution in a day.
SirTobyThe3rd M · · Salt Lake City · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 2,100

"Isn't it kind of a long hike into Carl Heller?
You do that as a day-trip?"

In summer I would, especially now that I climbed for a few years. I did it in winter less than a year after I got into mountaineering. Had a pretty epic time. Spent a night at 13K without a sleeping bag. Great trip though.

vividrea1ity.blogspot.com/2…

"Sir Toby does Evolution in a day."
Got lucky with route finding and right level of stoke. Wouldn't do it car to car now lol.
vividrea1ity.blogspot.com/2…

Contrast between these two trips from two different years is interesting. If someone asked me what was harder, I would probably have to say Carl Heller. I was much more scared in a few spots, traversing over a void with powder collapsing under my feet. True winter conditions make a huge difference in difficulty of climbing.

kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608
Sirius wrote:Carl Heller and Emerson are both high on my list. Report back if you do 'em!
I did Emerson SE face a couple of days ago. The summit ridge is really great. There's an interesting sequence at the start, and some other interesting "gully" sequences along the way (but also lots of less-interesting easy scrambling and hiking on less-interesting rock between start and top of climbing section).

The disadvantage is much more work than several other routes mentioned here. Like around 4000 vertical feet from the official day-visitor Parking. And the obvious descent includes 2000 vertical feel of rather un-fun sand and scree (so be sure to check the MP beta for ideas of non-obvious descent).

Comparing:
Mt Emerson: say 1100 ft of interesting ridge climbing (including top section of descent) plus say 600ft somewhat interesting (out of 1800 vertical ft of face/gully climbing), so let's call it 1800 ft of climbing for 4000 vertical feet of total uphill work (approach and climbing).

North Ridge of Mt Conness: say about 3000 vertical feet from Sawmill Parking up to summit of Mt Conness. Say 2000-3000 feet of somewhat-interesting climbing (for parties who stay on the ridge, instead of dropping down W side for faster finish). Way better ratio of climbing to work.

Which ignores the option of also traversing North Peak before starting the North ridge of Conness - (Lots of people do this).
Also ignores another option: Down-climb the whole North ridge for another 2000-3000 ft of climbing (with little additional uphill "work") - (People report having done this, and I'd be glad to do it.)
My opinion is that Mt Emerson SE face is not much fun to down-climb. I've never heard of anyone trying it.

I bet the analysis of Aretes of Crystal Crag Direct would show a similar result of overwhelming bigger ratio of climbing to work.

West ridge of Conness is different because usually do a (non-fun) hiking descent to reach the bottom of the ridge. But if combine with first climbing up the North ridge (also North Peak?) and/or down-climbing the North ridge afterward, then I'd guess West ridge also beats Mt Emerson.

And I feel confident that a well-selected "enchainment" of Cathedral Range peaks (S side of Tuolumne Meadows) would have a much better ratio than Emerson.

Emerson is good, but there's other stuff to do first.

Ken
kenr · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 16,608

Little Lakes Peak above Rock Creek. Today I climbed up the NNW ridge then down the NE ridge.

I tried it because I heard LLPk had great views - Yes it did. Surprise for me was how much interesting fun climbing there was on those routes. And though the traditional rating was class 4, I had no trouble finding lots of interesting class 5 moves - by taking most of the gendarmes direct, and trying to stay on the crest of the ridge as much as possible.

Felt like quality and difficulty similar to North ridge of Mt Conness (if taking that route fairly direct and on the crest, which many parties do not). I felt LLPk had a larger amount of climbing, and more sustained. And if add down-climbing the NE ridge (again taking a fairly direct line on the crest), then substantially more climbing.

That for a bit less work than Mt Conness. Total upward around 2800 vertical feet from parking (including ups+downs). Because Mosquito Flats parking is higher than Sawmill parking for Conness (though Little Lakes Peak is slightly higher than Mt Conness summit).

I'll be doing that one again.

Liked it so much, I added a route description .

Ken

Sirius · · Oakland, CA · Joined Nov 2003 · Points: 660

Hey kenr thanks for the awesome posts. Good info to have.

johorn · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 35

Yellow Brick Road is on Mt Gayley, between Temple & Sill. Good clean fun.

L to R, Temple/Gayley/Sill:

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northern California
Post a Reply to "Sierra Scrambles"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.