An August Ascent of Mt. Sill by Dave Wyman by Dave Wyman

An August Ascent of Mt. Sill by Dave Wyman by Dave Wyman

An August Ascent of Mt. Sill

By Dave Wyman
86 Photos

Close

No comments yet.

All fields are required.

Write a comment...

Comment

Comment successfully added. Add one more?

Description:
Tags:
Item information:

Next time this might be the way to go

Last view of Mt. Sill - Pano (Mt. Sill is the second peak from the left.
I returned to my car at Glacier Lodge by mid-morning on Thursday, no worse for wear. I felt 30 again.)

Sunset over the Palisades (Night was falling; it was time for me to say goodbye to my new friends and make fast trip down the rest of the mountain to my campsite, two thousand feet below. Traveling with Steve and Javier and Dan slowed me down a little, yet traveling with them meant I returned safely from the mountain, and I completely enjoyed their good company. Though I would walk out of the wilderness a morning later than I thought, I didn't mind the extra time spent with new friends and sleeping under the stars, beneath the legendary peaks of the Palisades.)

Last Light - Pano

Dan and Javier head up to their high camp (There's no obvious route up this boulder field.)

Above the lake at the base of the glacier

View up the way we had come

My turn to carry the rope (What was it like to try to climb a mountain when I'm almost 60, about 30 years after my last trip to Mt. Sill? I had thought I might not be up to the task. I was worried that I lacked the mental toughness required to force myself upward. I wondered if I would be too afraid to make the crux moves of the climb to the summit, even though I was up to the task three decades and more ago.
In a way, mountain climbing is a metaphor for life. It can make us ask ourselves what it means to push beyond the barriers we think are holding us back, ask what happens when we enter new territory.
My worries were groundless. I loved making the effort required to reach the summit, and I felt little if any loss of my strength or coordination.
I may never visit the Palisades again. I'm glad, though, that I made a return trip. And I'm glad it took me a couple of tries to reach the top of the mountain this decade, to gain the summit of Mt. Sill, for if I could climb every mountain on every trip, there )

Coming off the Palisade Glacier

Palisade Glacier and mountaineer

Looking at the Palisades Glacier, Sierra Nevada Mountains (The glacier was in retreat in 2007, when I made this photograph. I'd like to go back and see what conditions are like, especially after years of drought in California, and rising global temperatures.)

Water was in short supply

My new friends carried a lot of climbing gear

I was glad we were on the rope...

On the L Shaped Glacier, Mt. Sill, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California (This was my second trip to Mt. Sill in a week, after an absence of perhaps three decades. The previous week, some old friends and I had failed to make the summit, because we didn't have the proper equipment.
Returning alone, I met three climbers near the top of the mountain, and we became instant friends. Here, after our successful ascent, Javier carefully makes his way down a steep and icy glacier on the east side of the mountain, roped to the rest of us for safety.
More photographs of the trip are in my "Mt. Sill" gallery.)

On the L-Shaped Glacier

Dropping down the L-Shaped Glacier

Clipping into the rope for safety down the glacier

Putting on traditional crampons

Ice axe - tool of the trade

Steve is ready to descend (Mt. Galey in the background)

Looking at North Pal and Starlight Peaks

Two small climbers, one large mountain

Somehow it seemed easier coming up

Palisade peaks and the Palisade Glacier - Pano

Javier photographs me photographing him - Pano

Summit Portrait (thanks, Javier) (Making the effort to reach the summit was a great high.)

Summit Register (Many summits in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have a register, kept safely in a watertight box. Mt. Sill is no exception. As did my companions, I signed my name. I also wrote the same endearments to the same special people I'd had in my mind more than a quarter century ago, when I climbed my last big peak, and whom I keep in my thoughts still.)

Javier tops out

A few minutes more climbing.....

Dan farther along the ridge

Advancing up the ridge to the summit (After making the crux move, we found ourselves on a narrow ridge leading to the broader, west-facing slope of the summit of Mt. Sill.)

Dan is feeling good

Dan heads up the crux move, Steve belays

Steve anchors Dan

Climbing can be a colorful sport

North Palisade and Palisade lacier in reflection

Javier, Steve and Dan (We four joined together and made our way across a series of ledges and up one short, vertical pitch)

I meet Javier near the crux of the climb (At the top of the L-Shaped Glacier - and just below the most difficult part of the climb - I met Javier and two of his climbing friends. I was a little sorry to lose my solo challenge of the peak, yet I was also glad for the companionship and the sense of safety I suddenly encountered. Then again, I wasn't after safety, but it was nice to have it.)

Looking down the L-Shaped Glacier

View up the L-Shaped Glacier (Mt. Sill, still several hundred feet above me, looms overhead. Some climbers scramble up the Class 3 boulder/rocks to the right; I kept my crampons on as long as possible and made my way straight up the quite steep ice. I'm not sure which would have been easier, the rocks or the ice, but I wasn't necessarily after an easy time.
It's difficult to get a sense of scale - the tongue of the glacier ascends for a few hundred feet. This was probably one of the more difficult parts of the climb, because it took some effort to put one foot in front of the other up the steep slope of the ice. And yet, despite my fears that my endurance, given my age, would be less than it was three decades ago, I felt good as I slowly kicked steps into the glacier and made my way toward the crux of the climb.)

At the base of the L-Shaped Glacier (Ice on the left, Mt. Gayley on the right.)

Moving up the Palisade Glacier

Yes, sharp! (The sharp points of the crampons insured that I would maintain traction on the ice of the glacier.)

The crampons expand!

Lightweight crampons (After passing through a boulder field to reach the glacier, it was time to pull my lightweight "Kahtoola" crampons out of my pack.)

The Palisades (Another view of the Palisades (made on the previous week's failed attempt), including the Palisade Glacier, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Mount Sill is on the left.)

Viewpoint of the Palisades Glacier, 12,500 feet above sea level

Last wildflowers

A duck (marker made from rocks) shows the way up the morrain

Mt Galey and its glacier viewed from the edge of a glacial morrain

View of Galey and Sill (the latter in the background) (Close to 12,000 feet, and the trail has petered out. The prime directive: reach the top of the rocky ridge.)

83646676.iknTRWcw.sillpbase2DSC_5737

Above Sam Mack Meadow

Reflection at Sam Mack Meadow

Looking back toward my campsite (About ten minutes into the start of my hike toward the base of Mt. Sill, I looked back the way I'd come. My campsite was hidden somewhere in the trees. I left a few pounds of gear I wouldn't need for the climb behind, and used my backpack as my summit pack. With such a light pack, I made good time.)

Dawn in Reflection

Starry view from my sleeping bag (For this photograph, I placed my camera between my legs, which were safely ensconced in my sleeping bag. I guessed at the direction I needed to point the lens - toward the Milky Way - and I made several photos. This is the one I like the best.)

Temple Crag at sunset (Camp was several minutes beyond this view of impressive Temple Crag - Jupiter was already out in the twilight sky.)

Lake filled with glacial sediments (A series of three lakes are filled with glacial till (the outflow of finely ground minerals).)

Mini-fall along the trail

Aspens, about 9,000 feet

Bigalow Sneezeweed

Indain Paintbrush

Sections of the trail had a multitude of wildflowers

View up the North Fork (My first challenge was to surmount, via easy switchbacks, the cascades below First Lake. I started hiking about 5:30 p.m., and I wanted to reach my intended campsite - a cleared spot in the pines, not far below treeline - before dark. I kept a steady pace, without stopping - except for photographs - and made camp just as darkness fell.)

View up the South Fork of Big Pine Creek (Several peaks of Palisade reagion lie this way, including Middle Palisade and Norman Clyde Peak, which I visited about three decades ago. Maybe it's time to go back. This trip, the trail would take me up the north fork of Big Pine Creek.)

Now Playing: When Youre Falling by Peter Gabriel (Perhaps not the best choice of songs for a mountaineering trip.)

Water was easy to find on the lower slopes (I didn't bother with water purifiers or iodine tablets. Probably not a good idea, but it meant less weight, and more time to focus on gaining altitude.)

I didnt bother with cooking gear (I traveled light - no stove, no cup, mostly energy foods.)

At the start of the journey (What would it feel like to reach the summit of a 14,000 foot peak at my age (pushing 60)? Having tried the to reach the summit the previous week (and having failed because I didn't have the right equipment), I knew I was in shape. Yet there were other challenges ahead, beyond the need for endurance and the ability to use an ice axe and crampons. I hadn't used my soft hands to climb hard granite in many years, and I'd have to deal with some serious exposure near the top of the mountain.)

I have not changed much since 1975 - have I?

View of the Palisades Region from Glacier Lodge (The trail head for the high country begins at Glacier Lodge, elevation a little under 8,000 feet, where there are cabins, a campground, a little store, and a place to park a car.)

Mt. Sill and the Sill Glacier (My route would lead up from the right, over the Palisade Glacier, hidden behind the peak sticking up in the foreground)

Mt. Sill From Highway 395 (Mt. Sill viewed from the east, just outside the little town of Big Pine)

Audio Mute

Prev

Play

Next

Shuffle

Include

Privacy and cookie policy

This site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalized content, and analyze traffic. By continuing to use this site you agree to use of cookies and stewardship of your data.