Mount Carillon, Mount Hale, Mount Russell, Mount Young

17-Jul-92 (Private Trip)

By: Dan Richter

Myself, Devra Wasserman, Bob Sumner, Erik Siering, Tom Randall, Ellen Holden, Asher Waxman, and Christina Galuga met Friday morning at Whitney Portal. Asher, Ellen, Tom and I were scheduled to do the East Face of Whitney. The rest hoped to do the Mountaineer's route led by Bob.

Weather had been our worry for days before, and our concerns deepened at Lower Boy Scout Lake as rain clouds formed and the thunder rolled. We made camp early at Upper Boy Scout Lake in the rain. The weather being very erratic, we decided to cancel the East Face and opted for Russell with an early start in the morning so the we could be down early should the weather start up. As the afternoon cleared we set up a top rope and Tom, Ellen, Asher and I did some climbing while the others relaxed and watched.

The morning was clear and we set out for Russell at five-thirty. Bob, true to his nickname of "El Grandissimo", set off alone over the Whitney-Russell Pass above Iceberg Lake to climb Mt Young and Mt. Hale.

We made the Russell-Carillon pass in good time and good cheer and after a brief stop to rest, have a bite, and fill our bottles with snow, we set out up the East Ridge.

It was a good group and I tried to keep us moving as quickly as care would allow to avoid getting closed in should weather develop. We had two small snow traverses but the rock was clean, the climbing went well and the rope was not needed. The Polemonium and the blue of Tulainyo Lake were particularly lovely. We made the summit in 2 hours and as the sky was still fairly clear we relaxed and Christina took some of her wonderful photographs.

The way back was uneventful and after lunch at the saddle we followed Erik to the top of Carillon. As we were reaching the top we watched and chatted with a fellow on a hang glider who circled Erik's head.

All were back in camp by three. "El Grandissimo" had arrived back at two-thirty. He found the pass above Iceberg easy class two and had found Young and Hale pretty easy from the slopes west of Arctic Lake. He came back over the col into the cirque above Upper Boy Scout Lake. He found it to be a bit messy and had to search a bit to stay off fourth class terrain.

After a good rest that night we returned to the Portal Sunday morning and all agreed it was a fine weekend.