May 8, 2006, Parchers Hidden Gully,Sierra
5/8/06
US elsewhere
1859
0
We spent the evening at a campsite in the Buttermilks. Looks like another RVer found Bryans site first! It was a cool and clear evening with pleasant temperatures compared to the 80 plus heat in Bishop down in the valley floor. Early the next morning we headed up highway 168 and took the left fork towards South Lake. As we passed the base of Table Mountain, aka Bardini Canyon, the approach gullies were all melted out. No can do this year. Just past Parchers Fishing Resort at 9400 ft. we found the road gated and locked! Surprise, surprise. Although gated, it was obvious that the road was plowed to South Lake at 10,000 feet. Frustrating! We could have hiked the road approximately one mile to the lake, but that would be a violation of our Sierra Skiing Rules. We had originally planned a couple of tours in the Treasure Lakes area, but they can wait until the gate is open. We pulled out the topo and studied the approach that we had noticed behind Parchers. We found a couple of ski tracks in the trees near the gate and also noticed ski crampon marks. We decided to follow the tracks. We traversed a wooded area that led to an open slope that was about 1500 vertical at approximately 30 degrees. It had a northwest aspect and was firm, providing a great ski crampon surface.
The route had old avalanche debris on climbers left, but the remainder of the slope was smooth and firm. Just past the saddle were Bluff Lake and an unnamed peak with another 1500 vertical. Unfortunately the slope had a six-foot avy crown that went all the way to ground. Past the avy slope a large valley ascended another 2000 vertical as it meandered towards Cloudripper Peak and other peaks in the Inconsolable Range. We hung out on the gigantic boulders above the saddle and waited for the sun to ripen our ascent/descent route. There are numerous tour options from the lake which could provide days of touring. After an hour we felt that it was time to start our descent and found perfect Sierra corn on a firm base. We meandered down the face through a gully, around boulders and stopped midway to admire our tracks. We looked uphill and noticed two excellent skiers following close behind. We restarted our engines and snaked our way down to the valley floor. Once within closer range of each other, a voice said 'Dont I know you guys?. Sure enough, the other skiers were Dave King, a local guide whom we had met during our Sierra touring in 2004, and a friend (Rich, also a guide) from Driggs, ID who is one of the owners of Yostmark Mountain Equipment. Rich was checking out a route that he planned to take clients on the following day. We hung out on their tailgate and swapped local beta and ski war stories. Later that night we had pizza and beer with Dave and swapped more tales.
After departing South Lake we went back to the junction of 168 and took a left to Lake Sabrina. About a mile before Lake Sabrina the road to North Lake was gated and locked which is standard at this time of year. We continued to Lake Sabrina where a major construction project was going on. The lake/ reservoir have been completely drained and crews are working on the wooden face of the dam and the concrete below it. The shoreline on lookers right of the dam is completely melted out. The left shoreline is partially snow-covered, but will probably require a hike around to the inlet in the near future. It has been very warm in the Sierra and the snow pack is melting rapidly below 8000 feet.
Zap & Jill
The route had old avalanche debris on climbers left, but the remainder of the slope was smooth and firm. Just past the saddle were Bluff Lake and an unnamed peak with another 1500 vertical. Unfortunately the slope had a six-foot avy crown that went all the way to ground. Past the avy slope a large valley ascended another 2000 vertical as it meandered towards Cloudripper Peak and other peaks in the Inconsolable Range. We hung out on the gigantic boulders above the saddle and waited for the sun to ripen our ascent/descent route. There are numerous tour options from the lake which could provide days of touring. After an hour we felt that it was time to start our descent and found perfect Sierra corn on a firm base. We meandered down the face through a gully, around boulders and stopped midway to admire our tracks. We looked uphill and noticed two excellent skiers following close behind. We restarted our engines and snaked our way down to the valley floor. Once within closer range of each other, a voice said 'Dont I know you guys?. Sure enough, the other skiers were Dave King, a local guide whom we had met during our Sierra touring in 2004, and a friend (Rich, also a guide) from Driggs, ID who is one of the owners of Yostmark Mountain Equipment. Rich was checking out a route that he planned to take clients on the following day. We hung out on their tailgate and swapped local beta and ski war stories. Later that night we had pizza and beer with Dave and swapped more tales.
After departing South Lake we went back to the junction of 168 and took a left to Lake Sabrina. About a mile before Lake Sabrina the road to North Lake was gated and locked which is standard at this time of year. We continued to Lake Sabrina where a major construction project was going on. The lake/ reservoir have been completely drained and crews are working on the wooden face of the dam and the concrete below it. The shoreline on lookers right of the dam is completely melted out. The left shoreline is partially snow-covered, but will probably require a hike around to the inlet in the near future. It has been very warm in the Sierra and the snow pack is melting rapidly below 8000 feet.
Zap & Jill
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