Mount Abbot, Mount Dade

27-Aug-83

By: Graham H. Breakwell & Ron Jones

An early wilderness permit application had provided a trip for ten. Thirty-five applied, twenty were turned down, three cancelled, one no show and for a day hike; this left us with eleven on Saturday and ten on Sunday.

After an unexpectedly cold night we set off from Mosquito Flat campground at 7 AM, reached Treasure Lakes where we camped that night, and set off for Dade (13,635') at about 10 AM. The weather was beautiful and despite hard snow, icy in places where steps had to be cut since we had no crampons, we reached the summit of Dade without much difficulty in time for lunch. Terry Rivera and Dick Akawie achieved their 6th and 185th(?) SPS peaks respectively. A stroll back to camp, with a little care taken on the icy spots, allowed us to enjoy the happy hour for at least three [hours?]. An absolutely magnificent array of cheese, meats and canned fish helped us enjoy the sunset.

A visit from nearby campers at 9 in the evening informed us of their unreturned friends who had left for Bear Creek Spire at 6 that morning; tired footsteps through our campsite at 11:30 PM told us of their return - apparently delayed due to route finding problems.

An early start allowed an uneventful climb of Abbott (13,715'), having chosen the relatively easy northeast chute and ridge, reaching the peak at 11 AM. We had anticipated a leisurely break to celebrate Don Cook's emblem status but since the sun and blue sky were betrayed by a near freezing temperature we scurried down. We rejoined Evior Nillson, Adrienne Knute and Rick Little at camp, who had sensibly stayed in bed and enjoyed the lake that morning, and reached the cars at 3:30 PM.

The Copper Kettle in Bishop supplied all ten participants with a hearty dinner before our long drive home.