Glacier Pass Day Hike

June 4, 2005

See photos below

Once again I got the urge to go for a hike. Conveniently, Mineral King road opened last weekend so back up the windy road I went. Unfortunately I got a later start than I would have preferred, so I didn't arrive at the trail head until 7:45am or so (sunrise would've be ideal). Just after I parked my car, a Ranger appeared and warned me of the Marmots in the area (aka - car eaters). I acknowledged her concern for my vehicle, but pointed out that I had not seen one Marmot since my arrival. Right on queue, one of the biggest and fattest Marmots in history appeared, so I adhered to the nice Rangers' wishes and parked my car one mile down the road at the Ranger station. She nicely gave me a ride back to the trail head.

With all of the snow this year I didn't really have any expectation of getting very far, after all the trails were buried under all of the white stuff. I brought along snow shoes, crampons and an ice axe. A few miles up the trail (~8800') the snow appeared in earnest, it was solid enough for the crampons so I ditched the snow shoes for retrieval on my way out.

The snow at Monarch Creek provided a nice snow bridge to avoid the raging water. It was here that I looked straight up and then at my map and selected Glacier Pass as a reasonable goal for the day. I thought if I topped out on the pass early enough I could traverse over to Sawtooth Peak - a location that has dogged me before as it did again this day as it became shrouded in clouds. Guess I'll let Sawtooth go, I've now been in the area three times without getting over to the summit.

As I started up the valley I crossed paths with a father and son team of back country skiers. Their objective for the day was to climb to the top of Empire Mountain and ski down. I watched them accomplish this feat, and also connected later with a group of six other guys skiing down the slope of a mountain adjacent to Monarch Lakes. Must be back country ski day?

The views from the pass were spectacular given the abundance of snow that remains. On my way out I remembered to retrieve the snow shoes and had an uneventful exit. The last mile on the pavement back to the car just got me more fired up for one of those Silver City cheese burgers!