Quick Stats: 16.6 Miles & 5,403′ gain via SE Face from Onion Valley Trailhead.
I’ll start this trip report off by saying I will never climb Mount Rixford from a South facing route again. I’ll also add that this was a delightful adventure.
Jaskiran and I were planning on climbing Mount Shasta on this particular weekend. We had planned this well in advance, and were monitoring the weather very closely to see if we would have an appropriate weather window to try and climb to the summit of California’s only 14er in the Cascades. As it came closer to the weekend, the weather was looking clear, but the winds were looking pretty insane. After a bit of back and forth up to the wire, we decide it was better to be safe than deal with insane gusts and high sustained winds.
I needed something, though. It was a bit of a weird week for me, and I needed a trip to the mountains to try and bring myself back to center. When we canceled the trip, I immediately began looking for available wilderness permits to run off on a trip to the mountains– I was open to going with someone, but at this point, I was kind of in a head space that maybe I needed to be alone. I saw that Kearsarge Pass had available permits, I had just learned the day before that Onion Valley Road has officially reopened, and there are plenty of mountains there I would love to climb (either for the first time, or as repeats).
Jaskiran had expressed concern about mixed climbing on the route, and I ended up getting a permit for 1. I had already packed for a 2 day trip to Shasta, but now that I didn’t need as much snow gear, nor a 4 season tent, I repacked with less layers, less gear, and my lighter 3+ season tent.
I set out from my home a bit after 5 AM on Thursday. My goal was to be leaving the trailhead by 9 AM; leaving camp at Big Pothole Lake by 12 PM; and I had set a turnaround time of 4:30 PM. Starting out on the Kearsarge Pass Trail from Onion Valley, the trail was basically dry until you get to Gilbert Lake. It was then patchy (with some icy / halfway decent quality snow) until Flower Lake, where it became a bit of a snow climb up until you’re approaching Big Pothole Lake, which is where I had planned to set my camp. At this point the snow was soft enough for me to rely on my boots rather than getting out my crampons, which was happiness because I tend to keep my pack on when it’s fully loaded until I reach camp.
When Big Pothole came into view, I was a bit disappointed– the lake was still frozen solid. As much as I’m coming to prefer winter (or at least, early season) mountaineering, I’m kind of over melting snow for water. More on that later. Big Pothole didn’t offer much in the way of decent camping spots. I’m not sure if I was too low in the bowl toward the lake, or if the far end that was still covered in snow had the good spots, or if it’s just not a good place to camp. . . but I eventually found my little patch of heaven and set camp. After that I made my way down to the (frozen) lake with my ice axe, empty canteen, and water filter. I brought an extra can of fuel in case I needed to rely on snow melt, but I really didn’t want to go there. Luckily, close to what would be the shoreline, I was able to hack through the lake a bit with my ice axe to procure some less than clean water.
After filtration and sterilization, it made for some delicious water! After I had loaded up on water, it was time to go– and just in time! I left camp just before noon, which was my goal! I made my way up the trail to Kearsarge Pass, a familiar landmark from the last time I was here; except this time I wasn’t racing a snowstorm to the summit of Mount Gould. At the pass I could see Mount Rixford in the distance, along with some secondary goals (because I always go to the mountains with an ambitious itinerary): Glacier Spike and Falcor Peak. Then came the climb up the South Slopes. You can keep to climber’s right toward the bottom of the route for some fun third class scrambling (with a little mixed climbing in there where there was still some good quality snow), which I obviously did because why wouldn’t you?
Then the route continues up a seemingly never ending talus slog peppered with some large boulders that you would think are firmly a part of the mountain.
This continues for a long time until you get toward the top, and the talus / boulders get ever so slightly more stable. . . and then eventually you end up with a fun little (light) 3rd class ridge that could be mostly bypassed, but I came all this way and I intended to do as much scrambling as possible!
It’s worth noting that Frankie was watching my progress on my Garmin MapShare, and sent me a message right around this point saying she wished she were approaching the summit with me. That was a fun pick-me-up right after the slog and before the scramble. Getting to the summit from this point was an absolute blast, and I spent a while at the top taking it all in before thinking about my next move.
It was 3:15 PM, which meant I was an hour and fifteen minutes from my turnaround time. Looking to the East I could see Falcor Peak was very close, but there was some rotten snow (visibly faceted) covering the saddle between Rixford and it; to the West I could see Glacier Spike, but definitely more than 2 hours of climbing away. I then sat back on the summit for even longer and decided that Rixford was enough. Part of my itinerary included an attempt up the North Face of University Peak the next day, and I began rethinking that as well. It was a good day, and looking at the North Facing slopes of the Eastern Sierra, it looked like I may be contending with less than favorable conditions. I decided it was a decision that didn’t need to be made then, and then started to make my way down that ridge, and down the loose, gross talus slope. This is why I’ll never ascend Rixford this way again.
Eventually I found myself at the base of the route, and took a while to take in the view while stocking up on water from a small stream.
I made my way up my last major incline of the day to get to Kearsarge Pass, which gave me a glimpse of my home for the night.
Back at camp I started settling in. I made my dinner, got more water, put my “Warm Teddy Bear” in my sleeping bag, and did some journaling before getting some pretty stellar sleep. I didn’t set an alarm for the next morning– I was still waffling and forth on what to do the next day: Would I go attempt the North Face? Would I just end my trip? Would I backpack out and decide at Alyx? I ended up waking up at 2 AM, sitting up, and deciding I wouldn’t attempt the North Face (which, if I had wanted to, this would be a great wake up time to do that). I went back to sleep until 4 AM, when I decided I would backpack out of there and decide at Alyx.
I enjoyed some oatmeal perched on a cold granite boulder watching as the earliest dawn light began to fill the basin of Big Pothole Lake.
I then broke down my camp and made my way back to Alyx; however along the way the idea of climbing another mountain sounded less and less appealing. That morning was so relaxing, and the entire trip just gave me that calm and inner peace that the mountains often do.
I started to reflect on how I’m happy with where life is, but also that I’ve been neglecting certain parts of my life. I was still open to the idea of climbing something, but was thinking more and more that heading home and taking care of things would be a better option. After setting my pack in the back of Alyx, I sat down on her bumper and started stretching. I was staring directly at Independence Peak, and to it’s right was University Peak. Directly in front of me was one of my favorite climbs (so far), and to it’s right was something I haven’t done yet. . .
I chose to stick with the feelings the mountains gave me. I chose to go home. After spending the day getting caught up on tasks that had fallen to the wayside and spending time with the animals, I found myself going out to WeHo for a fun night of dancing, climbing (I’d say “don’t ask,” but there’s an Instagram Reel about it), and having a great night to cap off a great adventure! There was something pretty wonderful about having oatmeal at 4 AM by a frozen lake and then being at The Abbey dancing the night away at midnight with my girlfriend.
Climb on with love.