Note: the good pictures were taken by Tyler.

I had proposed a Conness trip to Tyler M. This gets delayed for a while because of his GF situation, but we eventually schedule it. It's a quick trip: drive up Wed (when rain is forecast), then climb and return on Thurs.

I pick up Tyler and we drive to Sonora Pass, stopping at the Food Mart in Oakdale for sandwiches. Tyler gets coffee in the Subway.

We go up 108 through Sonora. As we gain elevation, there are stands of aspens at the peak of their brilliant yellow fall colors.

2:02PM

We stop to take pictures, and do a brief scramble down a hillside.

2:05PM

2:07PM

For about 15 minutes there's heavy rainfall.

At the pass, we stop and do the hike towards Sonora Peak, which Noah and I did a few years ago. There's patchy snow.

2:32PM Sonora Peak is behind clouds

The cliffs below the peak are sunlit, but as we hike the sun goes away, clouds thicken, and we hear distant thunder. Then there's a nearby peal of thunder, and we hastily turn around.

We head down 108 to 395, past the Marine Corps base and through Bridgeport. Around Mono Lake there's high overcast and no rain. We head for Panum Crater.

4:27PM

4:34PM. Historic place (Seth memorial)

4:38PM: view to the west; note golden colors

South tufa from a distance

5:01PM

We climb the historic hill and keep going, circling the central dome, then climbing up it and bouldering up the big rock at the top.

5:22PM

5:25PM. Mostly-obsidian rocks

We climbed the big rock

There were isolated large/healthy pines

5:36PM

5:37PM: Tree seems to be growing out of my head

5:51PM

5:53PM: is my butt really that big?

Tyler hasn't seen the South Tufa, but it's getting dark.

We return to Lee Vining and check in to our motels (me Lake View Lodge, him the more austere Lee Vining Motel). We convene at 7PM and eat at Nicely's. I get the Fiesta Salad and the Epic IPA.

I take an Ambien and sleep well. I pick up Tyler at 7:30AM. We get breakfast at the Mobil station; I get the traditional (and excellent) Tioga Egg Sandwich.

We drive to the trailhead. The sky is cloudless and amazing azure blue. The mountains - dusted with snow - are stunning. We admire the 3rd Pillar of Dana.

8:10AM: What a day! 3rd pillar just R of center

The Sawmill campground is closed for the season. It's about 40 deg F. We're on the trail a bit before 9AM.

We reach the stream, which you cross via some fallen logs. I step on one and realize it's coated with ice, and super slippery. Fortunately there are some non-icy rocks. We manage to make it across using poles.

The first part of the trail is mostly clear with occasional patches of 6" deep snow. I take it slow and feel pretty good. It warms up and I strip to T-shirt.

9:40AM

We reach the black rock, take a break, and head uphill. The slope is free of snow, and I move pretty well.

We make it to the grassy flat area and immediately head up the gully.

10:32AM: headed for the gully w/ brush

The trail is muddy. I slip and bang my shin on a rock, causing a small bloody wound. We reach the boulder problem, which I send using a novel butt jam.

At the top, we stay to the left and emerge onto the big plateau.

11:19AM: about to top out on plateau

11:22AM: me emerging onto plateau

This is largely snow-covered, and there various streams and half-frozen lakes.

11:22AM: half-frozen lake

We're concerned about punching through the snow into water. So instead of going across the plateau, we immediately head up the slope on the right, hoping to find a transverse trail.

11:25AM. We headed up the slope just L of this pic. False summit in background

The first couple hundred yards are good, and there are patches of dirt suggesting that other people have come this way. But it transitions into difficult boulder-hopping, and we never find a trail. I think maybe we went too high.

Behind us, there's a great view of Mt. Dana - which Tyler climbed solo a month ago - and the Dana plateau, which is completely snow-covered.

12:12PM: Looking down at plateau; Mt. Dana and Dana plateau in distance

12:13PM: smiling, but I'm getting tired

My pace gradually slows to a crawl. The bottleneck is respiration: my legs have power, but each upward step leaves me out of breath. I wonder whether being on beta blockers - which limit my pulse rate - is a factor.

We reach the ridge; the view to the north opens up dramatically.

1:14PM: North Peak at left; glacial lakes

1:23PM

1:23PM: View from where I stopped; final cliff is just R of center, w/ snow

Tyler diplomatically observes that we're going to run out of time at this pace. So - with relief - I tell him to keep going, and I'll wait. It's 1:30 and we agree on him returning by 3:00.

Tyler has a present for me: a Sierra Nevada Hazy IPA! I postpone drinking it: I'll need all my faculties for the descent.

I find a cubby-hole in the rock where I can lie mostly out of the sun. I close my eyes for a while, then finish a difficult Sudoku on my phone.

I hear voices. A group of 3 young people is coming up from the Alpine Lake direction. One of them sees me, and I wave so they know I'm not a corpse. We chat briefly.

2:05PM: Tyler on ascent to summit plateau

2:19PM: Tyler on summit plateau

2:41PM: Tyler on descent; I'm on the ridge somewhere

At about 2:45 I spot Tyler descending from the summit plateau onto the semi-cliff. There's a lot of snow and he's moving cautiously.

He arrives shortly after 3:00. He made it as far as the arete to the summit block, but turned around because of exhaustion and time concerns. There was deeper snow on the plateau, sometimes post-holing to hip level.

Big (but non-ominous) clouds are forming in the west, as they usually do this time of day. We decide to more or less retrace our steps, which at first are footprints in the snow. At my suggestion we drop down somewhat lower than where we came up. This works out pretty well. We follow a fairly easy band that comes out halfway along the plateau, and we go through some snow to the top of the gully.

From there the descent to the valley floor is long but straightforward.

4:37PM: getting close

4:39PM

I have a slip-and-fall just before the black rock, with a big impact on my butt and hands; I do 5 seconds of self-assessment before moving, but I'm OK.

It's a relief to be on more or less level ground.

5:13PM: The sun briefly re-emerges

We shift into high gear: Tyler has long legs and likes to move fast. I recite 'Casey at the Bat'. The stream crossing is easier; the logs have thawed.

The 3 young people have taken the same route down. They may have been following us; they were not happy with the Alpine Lake route. They arrive at the parking lot a few minutes after us, and we chat for a bit. They're National Park Service employees in some other part of Yosemite, maybe the valley.

We drive back. Tyler is drowsy; he takes a nap and I drive the whole way.

I discover a feature of the Impreza: if you have high beams on, and there's oncoming traffic or a car in front of you, it automatically turns off the high beams. I guess this is a good feature, but at one point there's an A-hole pickup behind me with blinding high beams. I pull over and let him pass, with the intention of then blinding him. But the car won't let me do this.

We stop at the Oakdale Starbucks and Tyler gets a decaf. I chat with the girl at the counter, who is excited to hear about our adventure. We're home at 10:30 PM or so.

Summary

Conness is demanding. Tyler thinks it's way harder than Mt. Dana, even though the latter is longer and higher (13,000').

On the plus side, my body is fine afterward. My lower back is slightly sore, but no sciatica. The next day I feel normal and do a bike ride. Also on the plus side, it was an incredibly beautiful day, it felt great to be outdoors, and it's fun to hang with Tyler.

On the minus side, I ran out of energy and couldn't summit. I could blame the snow, but my lack of conditioning and advancing age were probably bigger factors. If I try Conness again next fall, I'll a) do more training, e.g. stairmaster in the gym; b) acclimate at 10,000'+ for at least a day, preferably 2-3, and c) go a bit earlier to avoid snow: late Aug or early Sept.