Cartago Creek formations - routes there?

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List

This thread has been locked

Messages 21 - 33 of total 33 in this topic

<< First | < Previous | Show All | Next > | Last >>

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Feb 24, 2017 - 01:26pm PT

A reliable source told me that the ridge you can get a peek of in the upper left corner of Climbnrok's photo is pretty wild.

Yeah, Guyman and I did a recon of the up front stuff from the base, all grainy and stuff.

looks easy from here

climber

Ben Lomond, CA

Feb 24, 2017 - 01:30pm PT

A few of us trudged up Cartago Peak from Cartago. Had quite a bit of fun trying to figure out which spire out of the hundreds up there was the summit. They were all third class, the rock was OK.

Looks like quite the playground.

Gary

Social climber

Desolation Basin, Calif.

Feb 24, 2017 - 01:38pm PT

Looks like quite the playground.

Took us 9 hours to trudge up there from Cartago. Took two hours to get down, it was quite the sand and scree run.

Better to take the PCT south from Horseshoe Meadows and camp at Death Canyon. It's beautiful country up there.

looks easy from here

climber

Ben Lomond, CA

Feb 24, 2017 - 08:31pm PT

At 15+ miles from Horseshoe Meadow I don't know if you'd save much time or rubber on the approach. I might just deal with the slog up, and pack a plastic toboggan for the trip down. Yeehaw! ;D

Gary

Social climber

Desolation Basin, Calif.

Feb 25, 2017 - 08:41am PT

I might just deal with the slog up, and pack a plastic toboggan for the trip down. Yeehaw! ;D

Ha! You'd be down in 30 minutes!

pile

Mountain climber

Kearsarge, CA

Feb 25, 2017 - 10:15am PT

Pyles and Ames went up there, did some now root...last year?

Echoes the words of guyzo and ksolem.....dissapointing

Stephen McCabe

Trad climber

near Santa Cruz, CA

Feb 26, 2017 - 01:43am PT

Anybody seen any Dudleya up that way. This is not one of the rare species. I just haven't seen that population yet. The roads, fences, etc. were a bit tricky and it was late in the day, so I didn't get very far. PM me with info on that or any up towards Mt. Whitney, if you don't mind. Here's a photo of some, not that far away.

goldscott

Mountain climber

San Diego, CA

Mar 27, 2017 - 12:25pm PT

Hi All,

I went partially up the NE ridge of Olancha Peak and took these photos of the south-facing wall of Cartago Creek, from an elevation of about 7200 feet.

This wall faces SE at an elevation of 6200-7000 ft, and it's actually one drainage south of Cartago Creek, see crosshairs on the topo below.

Looks like some awesome slab, splitter cracks, and offwidth. No idea what the rock quality is like, but the boulders I was at on the NE ridge of Olancha were crumbly crap.

Hopefully this is helpful for somebody. I'd like to get up there before it gets too hot this summer.

Bad Climber

Trad climber

The Lawless Border Regions

Mar 27, 2017 - 04:25pm PT

Hey, Goldscott, that's quite a trudge up Olancha, eh? I've done it a couple of times, although didn't quite summit the second go. The views are amazing.

BAd

goldscott

Mountain climber

San Diego, CA

Mar 28, 2017 - 11:31am PT

Hey BAd, I made it to about 7500 ft. I was in my ski boots (figured it'd be a good workout and I'd be able to ski the top few thousand feet) but one of them aggravated the hell out of my ankle bone. It was a last minute decision to head up there on Friday after work, and the only beta I had was the one page description from "Exploring the Southern Sierra: East Side" by Ruby Johnson Jenkins. I misread the beta and I tried to scramble up and over the exposed, class 3-4 blocks on the ridge, rather than go left (south) around them. Turning around was frustrating, but my ankle couldn't take any more abuse. GPS track here: http://www.movescount.com/moves/move148478048

I'll try again soon.