And so the saga goes. This is the second time I made an attempt on either Ritter or Banner and did not achieve a summit. The last go around, I simply aborted the trip high on the mountain because my turn around time limit had been exceeded. This time I was stronger and fitter, but the last stretch was scuttled due to a broken crampon. What a great way to get exercise and keep humble!

All kidding aside, it was a great day to be out in the mountains. The temps were in the warm-to-hot zone, even high up. Not a cloud in the sky, and once I left the trail no one else was to be seen. Here are a few photos and some notes from the day.

An early morning view of the first lake out of Agnew Meadows

I arrived in Mammoth and parked at the "Minaret View" above the trail head for the night. Just my luck, it was "astronomy night" in the parking lot with many astro-hounds ogling objects in the sky. Thank goodness for a new iPod to cover the noise, I dozed off quickly. I awakened at first light and made the ten minute drive to the Agnew Meadows trail head.

First light coming up the valley

The first stage of the "River Trail" is down hill, which is great going in but a pain on the return. I passed thru the valley and ascended the other side quickly.

The outlet of Shadow Lake

Sooner than I would have expected, I arrived at the outlet of Shadow Lake. While I had walked by a few tents, no other humans have yet to be seen on the trail.

Classic view of Ritter and Banner over Shadow Lake

When I arrived at Shadow Lake it occurred to me how warm the temps were for such an early hour. I had hopes that some elevation gain would provide cooler temps; this didn't happen and it stayed warm to hot all day. One lone fisherman was seen as I passed by the lake.

The colors of Shadow Creek

Mountains and rocks aside, the fantastic colors of the area provide stunning views. Shadow Creek is beautiful and can be seen most of the way up to Lake Ediza. In the view above, there's a waterfall at the top of the picture which was quite loud against the otherwise quiet morning.

Meadow scene along the trail

At quite a few places along the rail, Shadow Creek widens among serene meadows. It is about this point I donned the sun glasses and had them on continuously for the next ten hours.

Log Bridge over Ediza outlet

Anyone that's been here before knows they're about to reach Lake Ediza when they get to the log bridge. It always seems worthy of a snapshot.

View of the Minarets and Mount Ritter upon arriving at Lake Ediza

Okay, now I know it's warm and not getting cooler or windier with elevation. The first two things I noticed beyond that when I arrived at Lake Ediza is the terrific view (as always) and the obvious lack of snow on the mountains.

First good view of Ritter and Banner

I chose to take the long way around the lake, turning it on hikers left. By this time I had observed multiple other hikers in the area. While walking around the lake, it became evident that the amount of snow leading up to the notch was nil. This would later prove to be a major hassle.

The notch between Ritter (L) and Banner (R)

After exiting the trail, I ascended above the lake and picked up the use trail to get below the notch. I was really disappointed to see the lack of snow, knowing good and well a snow climb in crampons is far easier and less demanding than a talus and scree slog. Regardless, I marched onward figuring I had made such good time that the delay via talus should not be much of an issue. 

Mr. Marmot says "hi"

No one was seen above Ediza, except for a fat Marmot looking for hand-outs. I tried to explain that gels are not in the Marmot diet - I don't think he was listening. 

View of Iceberg Lake while ascending the scree slog below Ritter and Banner

The scree slog was really a royal pain in the arse. I basically willed myself from point A to point B all the way up. All I could do was daydream about snow covering the mess up. Yet somehow my time remained good.

Talus and scree taunts me

As I got closer to the little bit of remaining snow below the notch, I remembered a message I received from a fellow Summit Post member on July 7, 2008 "there was snow pretty much all
the way to the small use trail above Ediza." I was kind of hoping to see a little more snow coverage but two weeks time has taken it's toll.

Arriving near the saddle of Ritter and Banner

So I arrived at the end of scree and at the base of the snow field below the saddle. Finally time to break out the helmet, ice axe and crampons for an easy walk to the saddle. Unzip the backpack, grab crampon case, put on left crampon, put on right....what the? Something is wrong with my right crampon. It can't be I thought. Yep, the mechanical connection for the right heel/strap is broken. For a while I tried to "MacGyver" the thing into working. Next I tried no crampons, then I tried just a single crampon and walked out to have a look at the steepest part of the notch leading to the saddle. I knew inside that the ad hoc efforts to make do without crampons were just tempting fate. I was at a road block and soon realized the only safe way was down. Twice I have been at the same place, turning around for distinctly different reasons. It's a hard way to learn about checking equipment before leaving the house (duh!). With a big sigh I packed up and headed down. 

Still smiling

I snapped photo of myself, slathered on some more sunscreen, and headed down the talus and scree field. Phooey.

View from above

Not knowing if I'd return, having been here twice, I took a good look around and a few extra snapshots to remember the beautiful views above Mammoth. 

Butt prints

At least on the way down I exploited the opportunity to avoid a few hundred yards of scree with a glissade down the snow fields below. Not too steep, and it wasn't fast, but the cold snow felt good on a hot afternoon. The walk out seemed particularly long after getting jinxed by a broken crampon. Still, I was out in the mountains getting lots of fresh air and exercise, better than 99% of other things most urban dwellers were up to at the moment.

A brief shade respite along Shadow Creek

Now well into the afternoon the temps were clearly in the hot range. I met many other hikers on the way out, actually kind of feeling like a back country ambassador answering many questions and so forth. Since I had been moving without a break for eleven hours straight, I was one happy camper to have arrived at the  trail head where iced down beverages awaited me in a cooler.