Split Mtn., Arrow Peak, Striped Mtn.

This was a multi-day solo backpacking trip to climb some of the peaks in the Taboose Pass area. I put this together after learning that there is a good route up Split Mtn. and I wanted to climb Arrow Peak after seeing it so prominently earlier in June.

Day 1:
I drove up the day before to sleep at the trailhead and get an early start. There was a lot of monsoonal moisture in the air and I saw lots of thunderstorm activity the afternoon I drove up. The forecast for the next few days had the moisture go down dramatically with just a slight chance for thunderstorms on my first day.
Hiking up Taboose Pass went a lot better than in June, probably the backpacking practice since then and it helped that there was no more snow on the trail. It was hot from the start. It never really cooled down overnight and there was plenty of humidity in the air. So I was dripping almost right away. Fortunately, I did not have to carry too much water because there are opportunities in the canyon to get some. After a brief break on the pass, I headed down on the westside, staying to the north side where the maps show a trail. Clearly, this trail is abandoned. It’s very faint to non-existent, but there is no way to really get lost since going down on this side eventually leads to the JMT. After reaching the JMT I headed north for about 2 miles. By this point, I could feel the 11 miles and 6700 ft elevation gain for the day with the big pack. I found a nice spot not too far from a well-running stream and set up camp. It was far enough from the trail (the JMT is a highway, very busy) not to notice hikers too much. There were mosquitos, but it wasn’t too bad since I had picked a place that was a little elevated and got some breeze.
Hike: 11.88 miles (19.12 km), 6750 ft (2057 m) gain

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Day 2:
After getting up and breakfast I went north another mile or so on the JMT and then aimed for the saddle north of Split Mtn. (14,058 ft, 4285 m) which was clearly visible. I didn’t aim directly for the saddle to avoid some up and downs that the map indicated. The climb up to the saddle was quick since it was on grass and the talus fields I had to cross were not too steep. The climb of the north slope of Split Mtn. was a little harder since it’s steeper and talus/scree are looser. A very typical slope for the Sierra that takes full attention to climb. Views from the top were spectacular with all the other Sierra 14ers in sight. The Sierra Club register box was of a design that I hadn’t seen so far. I enjoyed the views and some snacks, then headed back down. I briefly considered climbing Prater Mtn. on the north side of the saddle, but I only had 1l of water left. It was a very warm day for this high up and there was not even a hint of a breeze. Good thing I had started with 4l.
Once down from the saddle I pretty much aimed straight for camp, not concerned about ups and downs and I wanted to see some of the little lakes in the Upper Basin. I took some breaks just sitting there taking this spectacular terrain, sculptured by glaciers in.
Back at camp mid-afternoon I strolled around a little and found some obsidian chips. I had only recently learned that these are evidence for visits by prehistoric people since there are no obsidian deposits up here and all of it has to be brought up from Owens Valley.
Hike: 7.95 miles (12.79 km), 3,300 ft (1006 m) gain

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Day 3:
This was kind of a rest day for which I had only planned the short 6-mile, 870 ft gain hike to Bench Lake south of my location. So I took my time packing up. I arrived at Bench Lake just after noon and found a nice campsite at the western end of the lake in the forest. There was enough mosquito activity that I ended up reading in my tent rather than on a nice rock by the lake. There was just not enough breeze to blow the buggers away. There were also huge ants that kept climbing all over me. They seemed to just explore and not bite unless cornered. I had the lake all to myself except for a couple of hikers passing close by late in the afternoon.
Hike: 6.15 miles (9.9 km), 873 ft (266 m)

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Day 4:
There is a short, direct route up Arrow Peak (12,959 ft, 3950 m), but it is class 3 with some serious exposure. Not for me. So I went to the canyon between the lake and the peak and then headed south until I found a slope to a saddle that looked fairly easy to climb. I had scouted this out on the map. I crossed to the westside on the saddle, then traversed north to the sand/scree/talus slope up to the peak. It’s about a 1000 ft climb from there. I tried to stay in the more stable talus as much as possible as opposed to following the “trail” formed by people coming down. That was just too sandy to go up. It was quick and easy on the way down.
Again, I had perfect views. To the east, I could see Split, Cardinal, Striped, Pinchot, and Wynne, all mountains I’d climbed this year. Well, except Striped with I was going to climb the next day. I returned essentially the same way I had come up. It was another warm day with no air movement and I went through my 4l of water.
Hike: 6.11 miles (9.83 km), 2,920 ft (890 m) gain

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Day 5:
I woke up and smelled some smoke in the air. At first, I thought someone might have arrived in the area and built an illegal campfire, but then I noticed a smokey haze. This seemed to linger around Taboose pass, not a good thing because if there was a fire there I had no good way to get back to my truck.
On the way in I noticed a sign for a backcountry Ranger Station. It was on my way to Taboose pass and I decided to stop there to check if the ranger knew more about a fire. He didn’t and speculated that some fire must have started west of the mountains since he would have been informed about anything in the immediate area. [Later I learned that a big fire had started and was growing rapidly around Yosemite]. So I continued with my plan to hike up to Taboose Pass, make camp, have some lunch and rest, and then try to climb Striped Mtn. (13,179 ft, 4017 m) in the afternoon.
John and I had tried to climb Striped in June but were turned around by snow/ice fields. All that was gone now and I had a clear path up. Clear as far as the snow goes, otherwise, it was still tedious particularly from about 12,300 ft to 12,600 ft where the slope was rather steep and the talus tended to shift a lot. The views from the peak were not great that day because of all the smoke and haze. Even Owens Valley to the east was all hazy.
I took a slightly different route down. This one had more scree and sand, so wouldn’t have been a good choice for going up.
That night I did not put up the rain fly of the tent to get clear views of the moon-less sky with the milky way and countless stars. It was my coldest night, but my light sleeping bag was just barely able to handle it.
Hike to pass: 4.92 miles (7.9 km), 1,086 ft (331 m) gain
Hike up Striped: 4.72 miles (7.6 km), 2,175 ft (663 m) gain

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Day 6:
Hike out day. With the haze coming back I did not linger and just went down to the truck quickly. At the truck, I took a “shower” with the extra water I had brought. Then it was straight home with just a stop for a big Subway sandwich and gas for the truck. Sunday traffic on the 395 and Cajon Pass on the 15 was heavy, but then it was smooth sailing, so much better than weekday traffic.
Hike: 7.23 miles (11.64 km), no gain

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