Mount Carillon, Tunnabora Peak

13-Jul-91

By: George Toby, Al Conrad

Participants in addition to the leaders were Bob Sumner, Paula Peterson, Rosina Mueller, Keith Martin, Donne Potter and Mario Gonzales. There was a permit problem. On Mar first I applied for a permit for 8 and sent in a check for $24.00 ($3.00 per head fee). The Forest Service would only issue a permit for 6 and insisted the other two must be obtained on the morning of the start of the hike. Also they did not refund the overpay of $6.00. So Mario and Donna had to practically sleep on the Forest Service doorstep in Lone Pine to be first in line Sat morning to get their permit.

It turned out the hike in was more of a problem than climbing the peaks. From Whitney Portal we backpacked up the Whitney Trail for about 1/2 mile to the junction with the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek. At this point there is a trail on each side of the creek. We took the new trail on the North side. It is a good trail, rather faint in spots, but it by-passes the large granite blocks on the South side of the creek, When the canyon narrows the trail disappeared under water in tangle of brush. We crossed the creek to the South side, went about 200 feet, then recrossed to the North side near a big pyramid shaped rock and a small waterfall to emerge just below the sheer North rock wall. The trail now was in bad shape. We scrambled over roots and tree branches to emerge just below the "Ebersbacher Ledges". A large pine tree marks the beginning of the ledges. Then up the ledges to Lower Boy Scout Lake and on to Upper Boy Scout Lake and a fine base camp.

Sunday the climbs of the peaks were straight forward. We ascended the talus and scree slopes to the Russell/Carillon saddle, then jogged right to pick up Carillon. We returned to the saddle and descended the steep talus slope (keep right) to the West side of Tulainyo Lake and up to Tunnabora Peak. The lake was still well frozen. 7 climbers made Carillon and 6 made Tunna- bora. On the route out, after descending the "Ebersbacher Ledges" we crossed to the South side of the creek and decided to stay on the old..route out. The large granite blocks proved to be quite an obstacle, We climbed over, around, and even under the big blocks; quite a chore with back packs. The better route would have been to cross back to the North side and out on the new trail. But these were easy peaks and a good time was had by all, especially several people new to an SPS trip. Happy Climbing.