If you can spare a few bucks for those affected by the Pack Fire, a little bit goes a long way ❤️

Mokelumne Peak

Mount Kaweah Day 3: Exit

Mount Kaweah Day 2: Mount Kaweah

Mount Kaweah Day 1: Approach

Notes:
- Bit of a busy day today as we had to transfer to a new AirBnB which meant loading up everything into the car for today's adventure. Between that and the bit of a drive we didn't get a super early start, around 8AM.
- We intended to climb both Mount Gilbert and Mount Johnson from Treasure Col, but the 8AM start and not-great weather forecast (40% chance of TStorms in the afternoon) meant we had to just play it by ear.
- Nice hike up to Treasure Lakes on an easy trail. Hadn't been to this area before so it was nice to see. Quite a few people out and about on this Saturday.
- Above the lower Treasure Lakes the trail fades and then disappears into talus that fills the gully that the creek runs down through the lakes.
- More talus (not too bad) until the moraine below the north face of Mount Johnson.
- We were somewhat unsure about Treasure Col. Secor's description says an ice ax is required or that it's "loose and dangerous" without snow, and we knew there wouldn't be snow. However, some of his descriptions have fallen out of date, and we couldn't find much reliable new info on the internet. We brought our helmets figuring we could just take a look and see. When we got near, we could see tons of rock falling down the decaying sand slope, verifying Secor's assessment. Time to look for another way.
- To the north of Treasure Col is a cliff band that starts about 150' high and continues north with some breaks. We plotted a route up through these cliffs that went at class 3 that is described as: do not enter the moraine of the former glacier on Mount Johnson, instead stick to the north side of this gully and look for a snowfield in the northernmost depression north of the Col and where the glacier used to be. It might melt some day, at which point you can just look for the talus and sand-filled depression. From this snowfield, travel northwest up sandy slopes until some more difficult (class 3) slabs are encountered. At the base of the slabs take a 90* left turn and climb up a broken gully of slightly orange rock to the crest. There is another broken gully that is much deeper about 50' to the left, that's not the one we climbed but it might go. The climbing is more difficult for the final 50' to the crest but still class 3. The other side of the Col is easy.
- On the other side, we started traversing around the cirque southeast of Mount Gilbert before realizing it was a waste of time and then just dropped to some meadows and climbed the sand/talus slope to the summit.
- The summit of Mount Gilbert has a great view to the south especially of the Palisades and directly down LeConte Canyon. Mount Thompson obstructs most of the view to the north.
- The way down the sand slope was straightforward.
- When we got back to Treasure Col we decided to head down, not having the time or energy for Mount Johnson. We'll have to return!
- Finding the Treasure Col bypass going east is much more difficult. I relied on my watch and a little cairn I built to find it, but there are a few slabs and cliff bands that can be used as landmarks.
- The downclimbing was tough in spots but went at class 3 just fine. Then it was back across the boulders for a while before hitting the trail along the creek and heading back to the car. All in all, a good day!

Top Sports

Iain Macdonald

Mount Gilbert

11 Photos

Sign up to see the comments.

Sign up to view more activities from Iain Macdonald

If you can spare a few bucks for those affected by the Pack Fire, a little bit goes a long way ❤️

Mokelumne Peak

Mount Kaweah Day 3: Exit

Mount Kaweah Day 2: Mount Kaweah

Mount Kaweah Day 1: Approach

Want to see more?

The #1 app for runners and cyclists

Sign Up for Free. Track your progress and reach goals. Join 100 million active people on Strava.

See More from Iain