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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 3, 2009 - 02:19pm PT
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I hiked up to Mt. Hoffmann from the May Lake trailhead this past Saturday, just as a little acclimatization outing, and to look at some of the routes Secor lists.
Instead of picking up the south slope trail, I headed up some slabs to the talus below what I think is called the approach face -
As I got closer, a lot of this looked like fourth class or easy fifth, but Secor mentions a 5.5 route ("the route is reportedly somewhere on this face"), FA Vern Clevenger & Virginia Wallblom, 1974.
I contoured around a bit and looked at the east face -
East Face (5.7) supposedly goes up cracks to the right of an obvious left-facing open book, followed by a ramp up & left. FA Steve Williams and Richard Doleman, 1970. Looks like it could be fun..
Ooh, clouds coming in -
I headed up a gully between the approach and east faces to the plateau beneath the true summit -
Hoffmann's Thumb looked interesting. Secor's notes about Regular Route (5.6) are to start on the SW face, to a sloping ledge, then traverse to the exposed east face.
FA Jules Eichorn, 1932. There looked to be a fourth class route around on the NE side, and what looked like a rap anchor up top (upper right) -
I could see the fire off in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, but the plume was nothing compared to the haze on 108/120 from the fire up there ..
I decided it was time to get moving, those clouds were getting bigger .. ran back to the car and got a couple of drops while heading over the pass. Can't imagine what was going on atop Conness.
btw Next day was pretty nice down around Rock Creek. Dayhiked Mt. Abbot via the NE Couloir. While preparing for my 5am start, a couple of parties headed out for Bear Creek Spire at 4:30 :)
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squishy
Mountain climber
sacramento
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So ironic dude, I was up there all weekend (climbed holdless). Anyway we had the book out and we were talking about going up there for the approach route, but had no idea were it was, we read the same passage you quoted so we decided against it, thanks for these pics, it looks like a cool place to check out and I haven't been up Hoffman, so I may do it the 1st time in style (5.5)..
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Nice rhyang!
I like the Mt. Abbott pics too.
Zander
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Fletcher
Trad climber
a buttery white sand beach... I wish!
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Thanks for the photos and recon report. I'm thinking of some of these routes for later this month... that helps.
Eric
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10b4me
Gym climber
Happy Boulders
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thanks.
going to be there in three weeks
was thinking of climbing on Mt. Hoffmann, or its thumb
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Gene
climber
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"the route is reportedly somewhere on this face"
Roper in The Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (1976) has a similar level of detail.
The Approach Face. II, 5.5. A climb has been made on the most obvious face to the right of the summit when viewed from the Snow Flat parking area. It is an enjoyable route and can be used as an approach to the upper slopes of Hoffman.
Also from Roper:
Middle Summit, East Face. II, 5.7 This is the formation which faces May Lake. Begin in cracks just right of a prominent, left-facing open book capped with roofs. Another diagnostic feature is a rib just left of the book. Climb the cracks to a recessed ramp which cuts left to the top of the formation.
Hoffman’s Thumb. This striking spire is found part way down the southwest ridge. The upper side can be climbed by various moderate class 5 routes. A harder route has been made on the west face. The standard route lies on the side away from the summit of Hoffman and is 5.5. All of these routes are about 75 feet in length.
Hoffman’s Turret. At the end of the northwest ridge of the peak, overlooking the lake north of the top, is a sharp pinnacle. The route lies on the northeast face. Climb the right-hand crack of two jamcracks and gain a V-shaped opening. Continue above this to the top. 5.5, A2
Sounds like a fun weekend Rob.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2009 - 03:58pm PT
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Thanks Gene ! Secor lists the NE Face of Hoffman's Turret as 5.9.
I also scrambled around looking down the north side -
I think the Merle Alley Route (5.7) is on the latter side .. 200' west of the summit block in chimney / cracks with three overhangs, about 500' worth. Have to ascend a snowfield to get to it. I wonder if this would interest the wide crew :)
Apparently Bob Burd came up with a class 4 route on the NE ridge -
http://www.summitpost.org/route/166570/ne-ridge.html
Gonna have to try that one too :)
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micronut
Trad climber
fresno, ca
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Super cool. Thanks fer postin.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Exciting opportunities!
Make thousands of pics!
Don't call if you don't want to make pics!
All from the comfort of your own Tuolumne!
Act now!
ok, I'm sold on the high country! :)
Wait! THAT'S NOT ALL!
drive now and we'll throw in a free Grating!!!
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2009 - 07:10pm PT
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Did you say you wanted more pics ? Hokay :)
Ruby Wall near dawn
Thin sheet of ice between Mills and Ruby lakes
Looking up the couloir from the moraine
Heading up the ridge on Mt. Abbot
Feather Peak, from the summit
The Feather Couloir looks good ! Climbed it in October 2005 in full ice conditions. But that's another story ..
Mills Lake on my return
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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sahweet!
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there rhyang... say, more nice shared scenes from you... very very nice... lovely pics and glad you had a great trip...
nicely done notes, here, too...
thanks for the share...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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DAMN nice pictures Mr. RHYANG !!!
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Fletcher
Trad climber
a buttery white sand beach... I wish!
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Thanks for all the pics, Rob... purty!
Hey 10b4me... if we're both up there, maybe we should do something together, eh?
Eric
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scuffy b
climber
Sinatra to Singapore
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heh, you made an ambiguous caption
Well, to someone as suggestible as myself, anyway.
"thin sheet of ice between Mills and Ruby Lakes"
So Mills is the white one on the left?
Thanks for the report.
Sounds like a great excursion to Hoffman.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 4, 2009 - 05:57pm PT
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Thanks all !
Heheh, Steve. It was tad cool that morning. The trailhead @ 10300' was around 41F at 4am. That pool of water was between Mills Lake and Ruby Lake, probably around 11500' and still in the shade when I passed it.
Saw something similar early last July .. I camped in Sam Mack meadow around 11000' -
Around 4:30am the next day I cramponed up the rightmost snow gully and started towards Winchell's east arete. Here's what I saw on an unnamed lake at 11800' above the gully -
The surface ice was all melted by the time I came back down in the afternoon of course.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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I could look at threads like this one all day long. Thanks for the pics
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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What le Bruce said. Me too..
I love Hoffmann.
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scuffy b
climber
Sinatra to Singapore
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Hey, that looks like a fun glissade there, if it's 110F.
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 4, 2009 - 06:52pm PT
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It was a fun glissade ! :D
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Man, Rhyang, those pics transport me. I spent a summer in tbe Wind River Range as a kid and I'm remembering now . . .
Thanks.
JL
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 5, 2009 - 12:29pm PT
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Thanks John. No need to go all the way to Wyoming .. these are from our very own Sierra Nevada !
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Jun 11, 2014 - 09:31am PT
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Easiest bump of my life.
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Gerg
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jun 11, 2014 - 11:13am PT
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That is the gorgeous scree slope i have ever seen!
O.P.'s pics #2 and #4
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Aug 29, 2014 - 11:23pm PT
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Two pretty spots! Thanks for planting the seeds of adventures for others (specifically me).
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j-tree
Big Wall climber
Typewriters and Ledges
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Aug 30, 2014 - 01:33am PT
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Beautiful.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Bump again!
I took the kids for their first real backpacking trip this weekend, up past May Lake and we camped on the saddle between the 2 peaks visible from May Lake, and the proper summit. had Hoffman's Thumb silhouetted outside our tent window. Stayed in the tent with a rainfly because we'd froze our butts off sleeping under the stars on the shore of a significant lake in the region the night before.
This morning we scrambled around on all the peaks (well, we skipped the middle one on the saddle that you can't see from May Lake, but did do the obvious two lower peaks and the main high point with the antenna, with the geo stamp for Mt Hoffman.
Since I lugged up a rope and a rack of hexes and nuts, we also went to Hoffman's Thumb and my son belayed me up that. I started on the west face, wrapped around to the north face. It was sketchy enough (huge loose blocks, airy stemming where I can't be close by to coach them, some traversing) that I didn't feel comfortable having the kids come up. I haven't really hopped through a progression of things to think it was a good idea to cut then loose on it. But my daughter was pretty mad for a while that I didn't let her climb it. Honestly, if we had more time, I probably would have let them go for it. But I had decided the night before that we had to start hiking out by noon to get them on track for normal bedtime on a school night. Still missed the mark by 30 minutes even without them climbing it, but overall it seems the kids are hooked on backpacking now and more interested to learn the climbing prereqs to do stuff like this.
So thanks again rhyang, for planting this seed. A few days ago, I had no idea where Mt Hoffman was, let alone Hoffman's Thumb. I'll post a separate report with pics at some point soon.
Edit: I didn't even look at the downhill side of the thumb which is supposed to have the standard route. Somehow it didn't occur to me :(
Teaser:
Whoever heads up there first gets a huge booty prize: almost a dozen brand new biners and a handful of hexes. I rationalized that the cost of leaving the gear behind to save time was similar to if I had paid for campsites. Lame, but one of many compromises in the life of a parent having an otherwise awesome adventure with the little ones.
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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Hey Nut,
There was a summit entry from a guy who wrote something to the effect of "what's up with all the hexes". :) I knew it was your gear from reading this thread a while ago.
The regular route is really fun and the best views in Tuolumne. We did it in two pitches to avoid rope drag. First short pitch out, around the airy corner and up a bit to a belay ledge with a old pin. second pitch is good fun and maybe a 5.7 move or two on it.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Glad someone found the hexes and had a good puzzler moment to wonder why :)
I have to reignite that magic with the kids- they go hot and cold in terms of their interest for doing stuff like this. It always requires me providing the energy to coax/trick/push them into it at least a little bit. It's a fine line for deciding how much is encouraging them to do stuff they will look back on fondly, versus pushing too much and having them resent it, or pushing too little and having a very uninspiring passage of time doing nothing.
For cross-reference, here was that trip report:
http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Hoffmans-Thumb-Mt-Hoffman-w-kids-added-part-2-vid-still-need-to-add-part-3/t12549n.html
Looks like I still need to add the last bit of pictures to it!
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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the rap could be the scariest part for kids. Even adults were scared until they found the feet as they weighted the rap slings. ;)
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