I was going to make some reference to how getting on top of three sisters is better than just one, but that would be crude, and only pete would get the joke without some explanation. Last weekend i went down the sweetwaters and attempted to climb the three sisters (east, middle, and south). i will add the pictures when i get home, and maybe include a map or something so you can see what i am talking about.
I drove down friday afternoon after work and started up east sister, starting at about 7,000 ft, right at treeline (this is the only true locationa/elevation to start an attempt on a sub 4000m peak). I slept at about 9000 ft in a sheltered spot just below the ridgeline. For about an hour the stars were just incredible and the air was perfectly still, then the moon came out and kept waking me up since it was so bright. I woke up at about 7 (i didn't actually look, but sunrise was at 6, and it was about halfway to where it is at 8 when i wake up normally) and started up the hill. It was pretty slow going, i had to pick between deep snow with class three scrambling on one side, or super dense undergrowth and bushes that i had to bushwack through on the other. I eventually ended up choosing the snow since it got better the further up i went. You have to love sinking in a foot every step you take. It was pretty windy but the temperature was good and the sky pretty clear. I summited about 9-930.
I started down the next ridgeline to head toward middle sister. Going down was horrible, because i had to go down the south side of the mountain, which was free of snow, but completely covered in brush/undergrowth/bushes/etc., whatever you want to call it. It was all about six ft. tall and hurt really bad when you have to try to go through it, and that was the only way (can't go under it, can't go over it, can't go around it, gotta go through it, doesn't everyone remember the song). I reached the saddle at about ten. At this point i was pretty tired (i am pretty out of shape, i haven't run almost all winter) and i didn't really have a lot of motivation. Normally there is someone else to hike with so you don't want to look like a wuss or get beat so you keep hiking even when it isn't fun anymore. I ate lunch on the saddle and tried to decide if i wanted to keep going. Part of me said i didn't want to hike up middle sister if i couldn't get up south sister as well (about six miles away) and it would have been a long day if i had tried. Needless to say, i wussed out and headed down the mountain. I excused it by saying i didn't want my mom or mary to worry about me (i still don't get why they don't like me hiking by myself) and i needed to pick up mary that night, so i couldn't spend all day bagging peaks.
Of course heading down the mountain i decided to go a different way then i came up so that i wouldn't have to go back up east sister through the bushes. Now everyone remembers the hike up mt. rose where we choose a different way down than up (link). This one turned out something like that. The only time i went in straight line was when i slid for about five hundred feet down a snowed over creek bed (>45 degrees, i wished the pictures showed this better) and boy did i slide fast. Some people may say i wasn't in control, or that i was "falling", but i still claim that head first is the only normal way of preceding down the mountain (it brings balance, you go up head first). The bushwacking was pretty bad cause i came down on the wrong side of the mountain. The snowshoes finally came into a good use when i hit the flats and i headed for the car. I used the gps to find the car (that saved a ton of time) and started home at about 2. Overall it was a great hike and i can't wait to get back down the sweetwaters and hike the rest of the peaks there. At least i bagged my first Nevada peak of the season, hopefully there are more to come.
Posted by cmorton at March 24, 2003 02:20 PM