Meysan Basin Traverse

Candlelight Peak (1x)
Mount Irvine (3x)
Mount Mallory (2x)
Mount LeConte (3x)
Peak 3985 (1x)
Lone Pine Peak (5x)

6/21/08

After summitting Denali a couple weeks earlier I was eager to get back to the Sierras. Not any hike would do. What I really needed was to get my hands on good ol Sierra granite. I didn't have a lot of time before the weekend for research so I decided to hit a couple peaks around the Meysan Basin that I had yet to explore. This would include Candlelight Peak and Peak 3985 sw of Lone Pine Peak. I knew Bob Rockwell was the expert with respect to the Whitney region so I took a quick look at a few of his photos to see if I could locate a route up Candlelight. I had no beta of any kind but from the photos it appeared a class 3 route went up from Lone Pine Lake. I also assumed there were other routes (probably easier) but a comment on one of the message boards from Kent Ashcraft indicated the route up from Lone Pine Lake was the best. The other peak (Peak 3985) was a bigger mystery. Secor says class 3 on the NE side and class 4 on the SW side. I also knew that Bob Burd had a rather adventurous time going over this peak. Another quick search popped up a short report from Bob Rockwell. The report didn't offer many specifics but the brief description of a traverse around the Meysan Basin captivated me and in an instant I knew I wanted to do it. I am frequently inspired by Bob Rockwell and this occasion was no exception. Thus, a traverse it would be.

I decided to make a few changes. Bob's group did the loop over 3 days in a clockwise direction starting with Lone Pine Peak. I decided to do it the other way around and to just do it as a dayhike. Though it would be a bit more work I wanted to hit the best route on Candlelight on my way up. It would also mean I would be doing the class 4 on peak 3985 going up instead of going down. Finally, I knew the sandy descent off Lone Pine Peak down to Grass Lake would make for a rapid descent.

With my course now plotted I set out from the Whitney Portal just after 5am Saturday morning. It didn't hurt that this was also the longest day of the year. I wasn't sure if I would still have any acclimation left over from Denali but I felt pretty good.

As I hoped, for the day, I got plenty of scrambling (mostly class 3 and a little class 4/5). There were plenty of small challenges along the way and I chewed up a significant amount of time in route finding. It took a little longer than I hoped (16 hrs 9 mins) but I was pleased to get down before it got too late. As I expected Peak 3985 had the best scrambling of the day. This peak really deserves a name.

Besides peak 3985, the traverse from Irvine to Mallory provided some interesting climbing as well.

Peaks:

Candlelight Peak (9:17a)
Mount Irvine (11:14a)
Mount Mallory (12:50p)
Mount LeConte (2:41p)
Peak 3985 (5:19p)
Lone Pine Peak (6:30p)

Log:

05:06a - Whitney trailhead
05:21a - North Fork creek crossing
06:01a - Log crossing
06:14a - Attempt at an alternate start
06:37a - On regular route
07:10a - Start of ramp to the west
07:39a - Reached the slabs
08:27a - North peak?
09:17a - Summit of Candlelight Peak
09:34a - Left summit
09:44a - Reddish notch
11:14a - Summit Mount Irvine
11:35a - Left summit
11:52a - Irvine/Mallory saddle
12:50p - Summit Mount Mallory
01:03p - Left summit
01:36p - LeConte memorial plaque
02:41p - Summit Mount LeConte
02:50p - Left summit
03:46p - LeConte memorial plaque
05:19p - Summit Peak 3985
06:30p - Summit Lone Pine Peak
08:51p - Start of Meysan Lakes trail
09:14p - Return to car at Portal

Stats:

Total time: 16 hrs 8 mins
Time from Portal to Candlelight: 4 hrs 11 mins
Time from Candlelight to Irvine: 1 hr 40 mins
Time from Irvine Pk to Lone Pine Pk: 6 hrs 55 mins
Time from LeConte Pk to Lone Pine Pk: 3 hrs 40 mins

Other Reports:

Burd: http://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_reports/lone_pine_2.html
Rockwell: http://www.climber.org/TripReports/2004/1272.html

Thread:

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/49079/page/1#Post49079