My score card for Banner Peak is 0 for 2. It's okay though, I still got out to see the great high Sierra. Besides, I have some great excuses for not summiting. But who needs excuses when the grandeur is all the same.

My second trip to visit Banner and Ediza Lake begun when I was with a group last month on a hike to Lake Catherine. On that trip my objective was Banner or Ritter, that didn't happen either. Well all those views of the twin peaks inspired me to return, I just didn't think it would be so soon. Before you know it I had packed my car for a three hundred mile road trip to Mammoth and a stay overnight in the back of the Xterra at the Minarets Summit, just like last month.  The notable difference was a big change in temperature, I basically froze my butt off while trying to sleep. At about six-thirty on Thursday morning I got up and drove the fifteen minute stretch to the trail head at Agnew Meadows and prepared for my hike.

The trail to Ediza Lake follows beautiful Shadow Creek

Even though I had scheduled two nights away from home, I wasn't too thrilled with lugging overnight camping gear up to Ediza Lake. My freezing night in the back of the car was enough evidence for me to know a tent-less  camp at the lake would not be much fun. So I took a little gamble - lighten the load and attempt Banner Peak as a dayhike. I know it can be done, I have read other reports of it being done (I kind of overlooked the super-human powers of the other guys reports). I made the choice at the trail head to leave my sleeping bag and pad in the car. I did take the bivy bag simply as a matter of last resort to keep from freezing to death if I got caught up high on the mountain with no immediate way out.

A log bridge spanning Shadow Creek

As I huffed it up the trail I begin to consider my options for getting to Banner in a day. Of course the last leg of the trip is off trail. High on my priority list was getting back to the trail under daylight and not being caught in the dark. I figured a good turn around time was three-thirty in the afternoon, giving me ample time to get back onto the main trail with plenty of daylight. In the past when I have set turn around times, I have generally cheated when my destination is within grasp and the terrain is easy to follow and safe. When traveling solo, I do my best to make conservative calls so I can come back and do it again if I desired. Anyway, getting to the summit by three-thirty for me is aggressive at the very least. If I get to the first landmark, Shadow Lake, early enough I know I'll be on track.

Beautiful Shadow Lake reflecting the views of Ritter and Banner

I got to Shadow Lake faster than I expected, a good sign. Next is Ediza Lake a little over three miles away and not much elevation gain. As I worked my way up the trail I came across a few others going the opposite direction. At one point I came across a camp where eight or nine tents were set up next to inflatable boats, a full-on dinner table and enough stuff to put an RV park to shame. I was going to take a picture but thought I might offend the occupants.

Ediza Lake and the Minarets
(Click to enlarge image)

Soon I arrived at Ediza Lake. Funny thing, even though I thought I made good time getting to the lake, some guy at least 20 years older and twenty pounds heavier showed up right behind me. He just whizzed on by and I never saw him again? I paused upon arrival at the lake to take in the views and to assess which way to get around the lake. On my right the lake was partially lined with boulders, obviously no trail. On the left was an obvious use trail but it was a less direct route to get to where I wanted to be. I always opt for the trail, so I started moving again.

I needed to get to the inlet of the lake, roughly on the south-west edge, and follow the creek off-trail to get above the lake and west towards Banner Peak. I scouted for a use trail but didn't see one. Rather than waste time, I just made a direct line from above the lake to the unnamed lake above and west of Ediza.  I found out later that my choice was better than the existing use trail taken on my way down.

Looking back at Ediza Lake en route to the base of Banner Peak

After walking thru a small forest and hiking up and over a ridge, the views of Ritter and Banner opened up. This made the walk a little easier, especially since this segment was taking longer than I had expected.

Views of Mount Ritter (L) and Banner Peak (R)

Even though I had some distance between me and the snow fields below Banner, this was a good vantage point to assess the route to the saddle between Ritter and Banner. One thing in particular I noticed was the big gap between the upper glacier and the upper snowfield below it. From my perspective, the distance between the two didn't look too bad, but I was to find out differently when arriving there.  As I got to the lower (and mostly frozen) unnamed lake I bumped into a nice couple from Mammoth. They were camped on the other side of the ridge (near Nydiver Lakes I presumed). We chatted for quite some time and among other things I learned is that they named their son "Ritter" after the mountain.

The "unnamed lake" below Ritter-Banner

Soon another person emerged apparently having walked up from Ediza Lake. At this point I realized that I had burned up way too much time socializing instead of climbing. So off I went. I began to focus on where to enter the upper snowfield (the lower snow field can just be walked across), since there was sufficient room to navigate around much of it via the talus and scree on the right side of it. I scrambled up about half way and got tired of the scree and stopped to put on my crampons and helmet. As I stood up to proceed, I could see the three others keeping an eye on me from below.

Observers from below

Turning my attention back to the mountain, I noticed the gap between the upper snow field and the glacier to be much larger than perceived earlier. Putting on my crampons, then taking them off, and putting them back on again is a royal pain. So I kept looking  for the shortest route to close the gap to avoid the crampon hassle. 

My route across the lower snowfield, upper snowfield and glacier

Ascending the upper snowfield was easy, even thru the super-sized sun cups. Occasionally I'd look back to see if the other three people were still looking my direction but soon they were too distant.

A view back from the upper snow field

At this point I was still making good time, confident I'd get to the summit before my self-appointed turn around time. So much time I thought why hurry, why not stop and take a couple of goofy mug shots on the side of the mountain.

Too much sunscreen, not enough time

When I was done wasting time with my camera some serious winds were manifesting. Once or twice I about got knocked off my feet and I kept reminding myself to "lean forward" to prevent myself from becoming a human toboggan. My energy level was still okay as I reached the gap between the upper snow field and the glacier. It was at this time I realized I am playing a game of beat the clock - the rubble pile of scree in the gap was more than I bargained for. I chose to leave my crampons on, in hindsight a time consuming mistake. Climbing over talus and scree with crampons is fine, it's just a time consumer since every step has to be examined twice. Getting up the thru the gap took me way too long and now I felt hurried.

As I got to the glacier my mind begin calculating the duration from the saddle between Ritter and Banner, to the summit of Banner and back down. I trudged on and took one last picture of the saddle as the winds continued to get stronger and I formed the conclusion to relinquish the summit for a daylight exit to the main trail. A hard fought decision after coming so far and getting so close.

My turn around point was just below the shadow of the notch

Of course sitting in a nice cozy chair writing this trip report causes me to re-think my decision to turn around on the mountain . It's always easier to make the "go for it" decision at home, but I have learned to inherently trust my conservative decisions in the mountains since they will always be there should I choose to return. I did have ample time to continue to the saddle, but frankly just didn't feel the need, so I took some more pictures and headed down. If I ever need a benchmark for a back-country excursion, doing Banner in a day will be it for me.

The view east from just below the Ritter-Banner saddle
(Click to enlarge image)

Again the mountains have kept me a humble man. The only thing I have to brag about is coming home to a wonderful wife and a warm bed. Far better in my view than a cold bivy at 12,000' or down climbing a 3rd class scree pile in the dark. Still, a 19.5 mile hike with about 3,700 feet of gain isn't really a bad day after all. Guess I'm just spoiled.

Map depicting my route