Thunderbolt Peak, 14003 ft. Aug 6, 2016
This climb was very similar to last week's jaunt up North Palisade: arrive at South Lake trailhead at 1015 on Friday night, nap from 1030 to 0030, wake, eat oatmeal, pack, and hit the trail at 0130 with Julian and Sarah. It was a clear, warm, windy day with no chance of precipitation.
We went a little slower on our way to Bishop Pass (I was tired from lack of sleep). The nice thing about hiking in the dark is that time goes by pretty quickly and you just focus on the spot in front of you. With dark skies from a new moon, the Milky Way above us was brilliant. I need to remember to bring a nice camera with me... but it's too much weight. I'm all about the light-is-right mentality when it comes to big hikes.
From Bishop Pass, we again stopped at the unnamed pond for a water and food break. This time, we chose a better route to Thunderbolt Pass, staying lower and avoiding some of the tedious talus hopping. We managed to find some grass, plants, and flat dirt to traverse across. From Thunderbolt Pass, we ascended the first chute (described as Southwest Chute No. 1 in Secor's "The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails" - this is the bible of Sierra guidebooks), which was loose, with shoebox-sized rocks ready to roll over one's feet and ankles. After 1500 ft of climbing up the chute, we ducked under a large chockstone and made it to the notch between Thunderbolt Peak and its subpeak, Lightning Rod.
We roped up here and Julian free climbed a steep, cracked face to a comfy belay station (a slung boulder with a quick link attached). He dropped a 50 ft cord down to Sarah, who tied in and climbed up, then I followed. From here it's a short but exposed class 3 scramble to the summit base. Julian and I each gathered about 30 feet of rope and lassoed the summit, just like guide Jed Porter does in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuvDGkZqfc0. Julian put on his climbing shoes and carefully climbed to the summit, with just a bit of aid on the rope. Sarah tied in and I power-belayed her up. After signing the summit register, I lowered Sarah and Julian rappelled off. On top rope, Julian belayed me as I tried to climb up in my blown-out boots (there's no toe rubber left and I've blown through the rand - time for a resole!). I hang-dogged the first move, but made it to the summit and signed the register. I then lowered off and Julian gave it one more shot on toprope. We spent a while on the summit block and saw people on the summit of Sill and at the base of U-Notch. I was hoping it was people from Rim of the World Climbing Club (ROWCC) who climbed Sill that day via the Swiss Arete and some members were also planning an ice climb in one of the U- or V-Notches.
We had originally planned on traversing the ridge to Starlight and bagging it as well, but it was noon, too late in the day to make the traverse. And AMS had decided to catch up with me due to my lack of sleep and acclimatization. Lesson learned - I need to sleep and acclimate longer than two hours!
As always, I puked, then we scrambled down to the rappel station and rapped back to the notch. I went first because I wanted to descend as soon as possible. Sarah and Julian followed. While Julian was cleaning up the rappel, I continued down the chute, slithering under the chockstone and made my way down through the loose stones. I stopped and rested here and there, taking brief naps while my partners caught up and passed me. We took a long break at Thunderbolt Pass and I dried my sweaty socks as the afternoon sun beat down on us. The talus-hopping slog back to Bishop Pass felt so long - I was exhausted, moving like a crippled turtle, and trying hard not to vomit any more. We stayed between 11800 - 12000 ft but my body wanted to be lower. The short ascent up to the pond at Bishop Pass was brutal for me. I couldn't wait to be back on the cruiser trail down to South Lake. Julian and Sarah had been there a while and were ready to continue on. Julian helped me refill my water bladder, and we got back to hiking. I started feeling better as I descended, and we got to see all the scenery along the trail (last week it was dark as we descended the switchbacks from the pass). The lakes and flora are so pretty - this is a strong rival to my favorite place in the Sierra - the North Fork of Big Pine Creek to Sam Mack Meadow. We even saw some young bucks near Long Lake.
I tried to keep a quick pace to finish without a headlamp, but it was not to be. With less than a half mile to go, I dug my headlamp out of the bottom of my pack and finished less than ten minutes later. We said goodnight to each other, I brushed my teeth, and passed out in my car. Another awesome adventure with great company. Thanks guys!
Timesheet
0132 Start
0440 Bishop Pass
0713 Thunderbolt Pass
0945 Notch between Thunderbolt and Lightning Rod
1055 Base of summit block
1200 Summit 14003' Thunderbolt
1235 Base of summit block
1325 Notch between Thunderbolt and Lightning Rod
1540 Thunderbolt Pass
1833 Bishop Pass
2103 Finish
Some photo credit goes to Sarah and Julian.
Sunrise over Dusy Basin
Six minutes later, the glow appears
Julian and Sarah start up the SW Chute
A steep scree slope with directions to always branch to the right up the chute
View down to the Palisade Glacier from the notch
View southwest from the notch
Short climb from the notch to easier scrambling
Almost done with the short climb
Starlight's milkbottle summit from the summit area of Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt's summit
Rope toss
Sarah and Julian at the top
Julian rapping
Me climbing
Me on the summit
It was my mom's birthday
Summit selfie
Me descending to the notch
Mt Winchell
Back on the cruiser trail, lots of fun water crossings
Beautiful scenery, crappy photography
