After Lamark Peak, Sean and I decided to get out to the Sierras one more time before the end of the summer hiking season. Nighttime temperatures were already well below freezing, but we had not experienced any early Winter storms yet.
Starting out from the trailhead was pretty cold. I brought light gloves and quickly regretted this when I could no longer feel my hands. Fortunately, as the sun came up, the temperatures became more tolerable. The route was long, and a nearly circumnavigated the peak. When we finally reached the summit, I could see and “obvious” shorter route home. The downside of this shortcut was that it required up to descend 1,000 feet down a very steep, loose, slope. It looked doable and it looked like it would cut at least 2 miles off the trip. Sean agreed, not realizing what he had signed up for, and we started our descent.
The downside of this shortcut was that it required up to descend 1,000 feet down a very steep, loose, slope.
Halfway down the slope, Sean slipped and almost faceplanted on the jagged rocks. He banged himself up pretty good and came close to breaking his leg. My shortcut was probably a bad idea, but we were committed and pressed on. Eventually, we got ourselves off that slope and pushed to reacquire the trail before the sun went down.
He banged himself up pretty good and came close to breaking his leg.
We just made it back on the trail with 30 minutes of daylight to spare. We still had another 40 minutes to make it back to the car. In the end, our shortcut had cost us 2 hours more than the standard route. Luckily, Sean didn’t get seriously hurt, and he was a good sport. We got a good laugh out of this one – and still laugh about it a year later.
Elevation Profile
