live. love. climb.

Switch backing up the Horseshoe Meadow Road almost 4,000 feet brings you to one of the larges alpine meadows in the eastern sierras.  At 10,000 feet this area is a refreshing change to the dust and hot Owen’s river valley down and to the east. Most venture to this area for the access to the Golden Trout Wilderness or to hop on the John Muir Trail. It is also one of the best “flying” spots in the world, to hang glide from Walt’s Point and extremely popular for peak baggers because the 9th highest peak in the state: Mount Langley is one of the easiest 14,000 footers to summit in California.

We were there just to get a change of pace and to get familiar with our own backyard. Pleasantly surprised by the cool alpine breezes, bristle-cone pines, and the lack of the normal tourist season crowds. Hiking around in the hills there we discovered spectacular hiking trails, pristine alpine streams and fantastic vistas you could only get from the eastern sierras. As we discovered a small vertical wall Matt and I decided to head back to see if we could bag an FA on an afternoon after work.

As we approached the cliff through alpine manzanita, pride of the mountains amongst the rocks (I love these penstemons), and the chinquapins bushes,  I started to eye a line that looked like the most vertical and of course the most challenging. Since we scored new alpine backpacks from Arc’ teryx we decided to put them the test here before we ventured onto the wall with them…and let me tell you- they climbed well! The route was exactly 2- 100 foot pitches…first one ending on a ledge and the second one landing on top of the formation. It was a fun route with splitter cracks- just what I love! Pitch one: 5.10- and pitch 2: 5.7!

Below is a picture of the cliff…we do know that someone has established a smaller route on the left (found tat at the base of the cliff that looked like it obviously came from the pine tree above). This formation was separated by a gully from where we climbed. But that is all we know, no name and no beta except for what we did that afternoon. To get here…drive until you see this formation on the right- super obvious! If your looking for an escape from the heat and crowds- this is a spectacular place, climbing or not!