Mount Lyell

[Andrew F]

After a long winter, it's good to be back in the High Sierra…

Mount Dana

Helen Pass

Cathedral Range

Kuna Peak

Ritter Range

Crampons on, heading up the Lyell Glacier

The low snow year meant there was only 4-5" of snow on top of blue glacier ice. Good thing we brought the crampons.

From the summit, towards Hutchings Creek drainage

Maclure Lakes

[Andy Duncan]

Beautiful photos, the alpenglow on Kuna is amazing! Thanks for the quick look at some familiar scenery. What type of crampons do you use (or recommend)?

[Dave T]

Beautiful! Thanks for the report and pics. Making me want to get back up in the High Sierra….

[Andrew F]

Yeah, the sunset that evening was outrageous. There were some weird high altitude clouds that turned bright pink shortly after that, but I didn't get a photo.

I had the Kahtoola K10 crampons. They are overkill for your standard "go over a pass in the afternoon" kind of stuff, but for light duty mountaineering they are great. They take the sketchiness out of high-angle snow in trail runners. You can't really frontpoint with them, but that's more a limitation of light shoes than the crampons. Steel crampons are nice because you can walk over rocks without trashing them. When Chris S and I were going to do the Rae Lakes Loop in early May, I was planning on bringing them; that's a perfect application for these.

[Ken Helwig]

Great pics Andrew! Jealous for sure…one day I'd love to summit Lyell

[Author]

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