5.3-5.4.2008 eastern sierra – black mtn.

Black Mountian south face, Parker Lakes basin, Eastern Sierra, CA. 5.3-5.4.2008

two years ago this very weekend i was up in the same area and looking at the above mtn thinking how sweet it looked. it stands alone at 13,289 and is about the highest peak in this little slice of the sierra. its pretty far back there, but still looking on the map it forms part of the sierra crest.

well originally i HAD planned to go up division creek for the weekend to check things out but i changed my mind at the last minute. my new plans had nothing to do with bg going there on fri 😀 … thats the beauty of rolling solo, if you suddenly decide on something else well it doesnt take much to change the plan.

the overnight load felt heavier than usual. watching the sun slowly awaken over the inyo mtns helped to take my mind off it.

the oak creek fire did lots of damage, this place was also burned pretty badly. i remember 2 years ago when i was up here it was completely different. oh well.

there was a rather large herd of elk hanging out in the south fork oak creek drainage.

i really enjoy hanging out in alpine meadows. at least the fire spared this area. the area above the meadow is called “little onion” on the maps. there is nothing little about this area. that peak is the south side of mary austin, it looks like i will have to come back here in winter for that one.

stopping for lunch this little critter decided to join me, the only company i had on the whole trip 😀

finally the line comes into view. it did snow for a bit on sat eve but nothing to write home about. the snow in the pic at top from 2 years ago at the same time shows how big a snow year that year really was.

home sweet hole in the snow.

definitely got an early start sunday. lots of nice lines in this parker lakes basin.

that chute in the middle there is what i was climbing 2 years ago when i 1st saw black mtn. its a nice north facing line off dragon.

looking down the route on black. i climbed the main chute up the middle. the sharkfins were in full bloom 😀 luckily one side was smoother and once it softened up it was good riding.

the snow pretty much ends 300 ft off the summit so there was a nice little scramble to finish the peak. i bet in winter it goes right from the top.

insane views from up there. i just added about 60 places to my list.

north facing line on university

good luck getting back there.

ok when i posted my TR on university i mentioned rae lakes but i was misatken. maybe i should consult a map more often. i “think” this was the rae lakes area i was looking at but now im not sure.

anyway there was a long wait on top for things to soften up as it was colder on sun. i think there are about 300 more pix of the sierra i took that i will not bore you with. overall it was another great adventure and i look forward to returning to this area again mid-winter.