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Album:
gallery:20060825 Cloudripper
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Cloudripper (13,525') - August 25, 2006
Robin and I hiked into the North Big Pine Creek area after she got
off work on the 24th of August. A friend of mine from work was camping
up there with his son, and we figured it would be nice to meet up. He
inadvertently found us the next morning, and, after chatting for a
while, Robin and I hiked Cloudripper via its South Slope to East Ridge
route. The South Slope was nearly 1000 feet of loose, unpleasant
talus, but the East Ridge wasn't so bad. The views from the summit
made the slog well worth it, and the loose talus made the descent very
fast (sand surfing).
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Looking East from the Summit
The view from the summit was incredible. In this view to the east, it's possible to see over the White/Inyo Mountains into Nevada for quite a ways. In the midground is Baker Lake and Hidden Lake, near Coyote Flat, and just past them is Sugarloaf to the right and Round Mountain to the left. The ridge on the right of the photo leads from the East Ridge of Cloudripper, past Peak 12668 to Sky Haven, and below that is the long talus slog up the South Slope.
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Looking North from the Summit
The mountain immediately north of Cloudripper (and accessible from the 13,000' plateau) is unofficially called Vagabond Peak. Past that is the Wheeler Ridge, on the left, the Glass Mountains, in the center, and the northern White Mountains, on the right.
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Looking down the Endless Scree Slope
Finally on top of the endless scree. Robin's still down a little ways. Past her, Sixth and Seventh Lakes are visible.
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Robin Pondering the Endless Talus Slope
Robin was already wondering if we were there yet, and we had only just begun starting up the loose South Slope. This photo was taken while there was still large talus, just before we found ourselves in the loose scree.
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Third Lake
We passed by Third Lake on our way to bag Cloudripper. The unreal color of this lake comes from the glacial silt which is dissolved in the water that flows off the Palisade Glacier.
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Robin and Jon on the Summit
There just happened to be another party on the summit when we got there, and they were nice enough to take our gratuitous summit shot.
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Cloudripper from the East
Cloudripper doesn't look terribly imposing from the East, but it does rise almost 4,000' from where we camped, making for a long day hike.
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Starting the Descent
Robin descending off the summit. We're at the very south edge of the large 13,000' foot plateau that separates Cloudripper from Vagabond Peak.
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Looking West from the Summit
To the west of Cloudripper is the South Lake Basin. Chocolate Peak is in the center of this photo. Long Lake is just past it on the left, and South Lake is toward the right of the photo.
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Looking into the Nor..Big Pine Creek Basin
East of the summit is the valley where we camped. In this photo, Third through Seventh Lakes are visible, as well as Summit and Black Lakes in the upper left. The dark peak on the right is Temple Crag, and just left of that are Mount Alice and Kid Mountain, the largest and second largest piles of rubble in the Sierra, respectively, at least according to Secor.
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