2017/07 Sequoia National Park

For Ryan's birthday this year I went on a slightly longer camping trip than I have in the past. On the first day, I started from the South Lake Trailhead and setup camp near Bishop Lake. I then tried to make a quick climb up Mt. Goode before dark. Unfortunately, there was a fairly steep snowfield covering the last couple hundred feet of the climb, and I didn't quite feel comfortable crossing it on my own, even with microspikes and an axe. I spent the second day crossing over Bishop Pass and Knapsack Pass, then downclimbed and set up camp at the very snowy Lower Barrett Lake at 11468. My goal for the next day was Mt Sill. From camp I scouted what looked like a reasonable route up to Potluck Pass crossing the outlet of the Upper Barrett Lake at 11523. When I arrived, the outlet stream was completely covered with a snow bridge, other than the roaring falls section emptying into the narrow lakelet below. Neither option seemed remotely safe, especially since I was solo, and so I decided to make my way around the upper side of Upper Barrett Lake. I made decent progress, and I was able to stay on rock rather than crossing any of the steep snowfields. However, I finally reached a point that required either semi-technical rock climbing or crossing one of the snowfields, and so I decided to turn around. Since I was already pretty high, I decided to contour around and summit the high point SSE of Isosceles Peak before heading back to camp. I then recrossed Knapsack Pass and setup camp near the highest lake in Dusy Basin. After two failures, I was determined to summit Mt Agassiz the next day, and after an early start I reached the base of the peak near Bishop Pass, where I saw another human for the first time in almost 48 hours. I then started up what looked like the best chute, eventually reaching a point that I felt confident I could climb up, but I wasn't sure if I could climb back down. So, I descended a couple hundred feet, and then crossed over into a parallel chute. Fortunately, that one was easily climbable all the way to the summit! I then returned to Bishop Pass, collected my bag, and hiked down to a nice campsite above Ruwau Lake (where I spent a night with a LOT of mosquitoes). The next day was a short hike back to the trailhead and then a long drive home.