Mike McL - Aug 8, 2024 9:05 am Date Climbed: Apr 1, 2017
Morrison ski
Skied the E face of Morrison with Frank, Willy, and Rick
Donno - Aug 19, 2021 10:28 am Date Climbed: Jun 29, 2021
North Valley C2C Solo
7hr C2C solo up N Valley and down E Slope. Beat the thunderstorm by 8 minutes. N Valley is nasty.
Diesel - Aug 24, 2020 8:16 am Date Climbed: Aug 22, 2020
East Slope
To start off the season I figured a short, lower elevation mountain as Morrison, would be great. And it was. Except for the lack of a clear trail from Convict Lake to the top of the first hill. For how many people hike this mountain, to let everyone just go up and down over vegetation at their own will, it's crazy. Another thing I didn't know was that there is a gravel road to the top of that hill (starting on the service road along 395, one exit South from the Convict Lake exit. It is clearly visible on Google Maps satellite view.) which leads right to the creek bed that is followed to the bottom of Morrison. By looking at that road it appear to me that most cars would do just fine. Also, up there were a Toyota SUV and a Nissan Altima. And it saves a lot of effort and at least 30 minutes each way. No water along the way (I needed 4 bottles). Also, the top 2/3 of the way I got tired of the scree and slog (although there is a nice use trail from the bottom of the tarn to the summit, it is a slog) and I continues on a very nice and solid class 3 to the top.
cab - Oct 2, 2016 5:58 pm Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2016
East Slope
We went up the left side of the east slope in the bowl. Some loose rock but not too bad and it was a nice class 2/3 scramble. Descended the use trail on the right side of the east slope. Seemed loose and miserable. We were glad we went up and down the way we did.
Romain - Aug 20, 2016 5:40 pm Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2016
East slope variation
Up via East Slope variation, down via regular East Slope route. The latter must be much better as an ascent route, as Secor claims, since there is a use trail most of the way up. I found the variation very loose and slow going, especially the portion just above Convict Lake. I would recommend going up the normal way. On the plus side, neither option involves much in the way of routefinding issues, and the scrambling is very straightforward (nothing harder than class 2). Trip report
BobD3 - Jun 26, 2016 8:20 pm Date Climbed: Jun 24, 2016
2nd try
Beautiful mountain to look at, tough one to climb. East slope route had one nice stretch of firm footing and that was the area noted in the approach description as a "jumble of boulders", the creek bed. There's no boulders here. Only flat, firm rock.
Further up, above the upper saddle, the route became enjoyable class 3 to skirt snowfields. That rock also was 90% firm.
I was pushed off this peak at last Oct. due to high winds, low temps. at 10,500. Really nice to make the summit this time.
Went up with Sierra Mountaineering Club. Took the East Slope Variation. Slept up at the ~11,000 ft saddle, hit the summit the next day. Perfect weather, great climb.
Fairweather - Oct 26, 2015 1:20 am Date Climbed: May 24, 1984
Via East Slope
With Mark from Convict Lake.
7 hours car to car.
slugbutt - Aug 4, 2015 9:02 pm Date Climbed: Aug 4, 2015
NW Ridge
The Northwest Ridge in my opinion is mostly class 2/3 with some class 4 moves sprinkled in. The class four seems to be concentrated in the first quarter of the climbing. The rock was of course loose, and it seems far too dangerous for much off ridge exploring. Saw some destroyed cordelette up there and couldn't imagine the party that decided to even try and protect or build an anchor in that rock.
Car to car in 5 hours.
compeanja - May 19, 2015 9:46 pm Date Climbed: Feb 28, 2015
N.W. Ridge Failure
Did not study the route beta enough and tried gaining the ridge from the North cirque instead of lower down. Ended up in what I believe is the famed "Death Couloir." Climbed the majority of it before ditching; deep, unconsolidated snow was making it nearly impossible for us to get onto the rock and finish the route. We had enough time for another attempt via a shallower couloir, however snow had begun falling and the winds were starting to whip, so we retreated back to the relative warmth of Convict Lake.
calipidder - Aug 24, 2014 6:06 pm Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2014
Fun fun fun
It's hard to ignore this prominent summit when driving down 395. It's been on my 'want' list for quite a while, and I'm so happy to finally have summited. The class 2-ish scramble is fun with some tricky routefinding along the way. Lots of dead ends in steep terrain, but very rewarding once figured out.
jdmorehouse - Jun 16, 2014 2:05 pm Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2014
Bonus Peak
An unexpected bonus while on a trip with a DPS group finishing on Glass Mountain the day before. The last time up there was in 1970!
Deb - Oct 4, 2013 11:42 pm Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2013
White Fang
Had intended on climbing Baldwin but I think I had food poisoning, so decided to just crawl up the west slope. And no idea it was White Fang until I looked over the east side. Fun traverse from north rock cropping to true summit - this is not choss, it's CHALK!
pdx2lax - Aug 21, 2013 1:44 pm Date Climbed: Aug 17, 2013
Underestimated East Slope..
Reading the descriptions online is misleading with this peak, we did a lot of research and ended up underestimating it. It is only 3 mi from Convict Lake, but that last mile is a lot of altitude gain and either class 2/3 or choss. Around 11200' the route finding becomes quite difficult, a lot of the cairns up there are misleading and we ended up doing some unexpected Class 3 when we followed the wrong ones. With some luck we were able to summit, but ended up getting down a lot later than expected. There were some afternoon T-storms in the valley that concerned us (I didn't like the idea of trying to climb down that rock when its wet) however they never came over to Morrison. All that being said, I had a blast and would do it again, just would probably leave a lot earlier so I could take my time on that last part and not have to worry about weather.
I did not particularly enjoy this route, and if it weren't for the obvious beauty and prominence of this peak, I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The approach up to the Hanging Valley from Convict Lake was hellacious without trekking poles. Also, after the saddle between Little Morrison and Morrison, I headed too far south before attempting to ascend the East Face and missed the line designated in red on the photo in the route description. I think I ended up ascending somewhere in between the red and blue lines on that photo. This was a bad mistake. I've never climbed so slowly--and out of cautious fear and trepidation, no less. The rock here was extremely loose, and the runout behind me involved big drops over the steep side of aretes and/or cliffs. I was so glad after I finally made the summit to see an obvious use trail below it. This was the standard route I missed on the way up, and I followed it back to the saddle. This route was far less stressful. If you're going to attempt the East Face for the first time and want some beta, my advice is to make every effort to locate the cairns and follow the use trail to the summit; getting off route on this mountain greatly increases your risk of a fatal slip.
Definitely got to do some bushwhacking but a great day out, anyway.
Deb - Jul 20, 2013 5:29 pm Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2013
East Slope but on Rock
From day use parking lot, headed straight uphill and met the dry creek. I just make a bee-line. Found myself in some Class 4+ territory cuz I wasn't interested in a mile of scree. A little tense for a moment but I pulled it off by climbing 2 different rock formations. Beautiful day up there. Was drinking a beer at the Convict store 7 hrs later. :)
Deb - Jan 25, 2013 4:00 pm Date Climbed: Jan 22, 2013
Baby Morrison
Crotch-deep powder to barely front-pointing on thick 6" crust...we climbed NE face of Mono Jim and had a splendid ski descent....until we got to the frecious bushes and rocks barely covered in powder. AARRG!
Did not find the use trail on the way up, so I stayed on the ridge all the way up. It was a good choice since rocks were more solid than the loose. Found the used trail on the way down.
krrt2000 - Feb 26, 2012 8:27 pm Date Climbed: Dec 5, 1995
East Ridge
Solo first time 95, with Brent, Francisco, Jesse 98, baptism in tarn following climb.
Mike McL - Aug 8, 2024 9:05 am Date Climbed: Apr 1, 2017
Morrison skiSkied the E face of Morrison with Frank, Willy, and Rick
Donno - Aug 19, 2021 10:28 am Date Climbed: Jun 29, 2021
North Valley C2C Solo7hr C2C solo up N Valley and down E Slope. Beat the thunderstorm by 8 minutes. N Valley is nasty.
Diesel - Aug 24, 2020 8:16 am Date Climbed: Aug 22, 2020
East SlopeTo start off the season I figured a short, lower elevation mountain as Morrison, would be great. And it was. Except for the lack of a clear trail from Convict Lake to the top of the first hill. For how many people hike this mountain, to let everyone just go up and down over vegetation at their own will, it's crazy. Another thing I didn't know was that there is a gravel road to the top of that hill (starting on the service road along 395, one exit South from the Convict Lake exit. It is clearly visible on Google Maps satellite view.) which leads right to the creek bed that is followed to the bottom of Morrison. By looking at that road it appear to me that most cars would do just fine. Also, up there were a Toyota SUV and a Nissan Altima. And it saves a lot of effort and at least 30 minutes each way. No water along the way (I needed 4 bottles). Also, the top 2/3 of the way I got tired of the scree and slog (although there is a nice use trail from the bottom of the tarn to the summit, it is a slog) and I continues on a very nice and solid class 3 to the top.
cab - Oct 2, 2016 5:58 pm Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2016
East SlopeWe went up the left side of the east slope in the bowl. Some loose rock but not too bad and it was a nice class 2/3 scramble. Descended the use trail on the right side of the east slope. Seemed loose and miserable. We were glad we went up and down the way we did.
Romain - Aug 20, 2016 5:40 pm Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2016
East slope variationUp via East Slope variation, down via regular East Slope route. The latter must be much better as an ascent route, as Secor claims, since there is a use trail most of the way up. I found the variation very loose and slow going, especially the portion just above Convict Lake. I would recommend going up the normal way. On the plus side, neither option involves much in the way of routefinding issues, and the scrambling is very straightforward (nothing harder than class 2). Trip report
BobD3 - Jun 26, 2016 8:20 pm Date Climbed: Jun 24, 2016
2nd tryBeautiful mountain to look at, tough one to climb. East slope route had one nice stretch of firm footing and that was the area noted in the approach description as a "jumble of boulders", the creek bed. There's no boulders here. Only flat, firm rock.
Further up, above the upper saddle, the route became enjoyable class 3 to skirt snowfields. That rock also was 90% firm.
I was pushed off this peak at last Oct. due to high winds, low temps. at 10,500. Really nice to make the summit this time.
ianb - Apr 8, 2016 5:12 pm Date Climbed: Apr 3, 2016
Early Season AscentWent up with Sierra Mountaineering Club. Took the East Slope Variation. Slept up at the ~11,000 ft saddle, hit the summit the next day. Perfect weather, great climb.
Fairweather - Oct 26, 2015 1:20 am Date Climbed: May 24, 1984
Via East SlopeWith Mark from Convict Lake.
7 hours car to car.
slugbutt - Aug 4, 2015 9:02 pm Date Climbed: Aug 4, 2015
NW RidgeThe Northwest Ridge in my opinion is mostly class 2/3 with some class 4 moves sprinkled in. The class four seems to be concentrated in the first quarter of the climbing. The rock was of course loose, and it seems far too dangerous for much off ridge exploring. Saw some destroyed cordelette up there and couldn't imagine the party that decided to even try and protect or build an anchor in that rock.
Car to car in 5 hours.
compeanja - May 19, 2015 9:46 pm Date Climbed: Feb 28, 2015
N.W. Ridge FailureDid not study the route beta enough and tried gaining the ridge from the North cirque instead of lower down. Ended up in what I believe is the famed "Death Couloir." Climbed the majority of it before ditching; deep, unconsolidated snow was making it nearly impossible for us to get onto the rock and finish the route. We had enough time for another attempt via a shallower couloir, however snow had begun falling and the winds were starting to whip, so we retreated back to the relative warmth of Convict Lake.
calipidder - Aug 24, 2014 6:06 pm Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2014
Fun fun funIt's hard to ignore this prominent summit when driving down 395. It's been on my 'want' list for quite a while, and I'm so happy to finally have summited. The class 2-ish scramble is fun with some tricky routefinding along the way. Lots of dead ends in steep terrain, but very rewarding once figured out.
jdmorehouse - Jun 16, 2014 2:05 pm Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2014
Bonus PeakAn unexpected bonus while on a trip with a DPS group finishing on Glass Mountain the day before. The last time up there was in 1970!
Deb - Oct 4, 2013 11:42 pm Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2013
White FangHad intended on climbing Baldwin but I think I had food poisoning, so decided to just crawl up the west slope. And no idea it was White Fang until I looked over the east side. Fun traverse from north rock cropping to true summit - this is not choss, it's CHALK!
pdx2lax - Aug 21, 2013 1:44 pm Date Climbed: Aug 17, 2013
Underestimated East Slope..Reading the descriptions online is misleading with this peak, we did a lot of research and ended up underestimating it. It is only 3 mi from Convict Lake, but that last mile is a lot of altitude gain and either class 2/3 or choss. Around 11200' the route finding becomes quite difficult, a lot of the cairns up there are misleading and we ended up doing some unexpected Class 3 when we followed the wrong ones. With some luck we were able to summit, but ended up getting down a lot later than expected. There were some afternoon T-storms in the valley that concerned us (I didn't like the idea of trying to climb down that rock when its wet) however they never came over to Morrison. All that being said, I had a blast and would do it again, just would probably leave a lot earlier so I could take my time on that last part and not have to worry about weather.
CWessels - Jul 31, 2013 12:30 pm Date Climbed: Jul 25, 2013
East Face VariationI did not particularly enjoy this route, and if it weren't for the obvious beauty and prominence of this peak, I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The approach up to the Hanging Valley from Convict Lake was hellacious without trekking poles. Also, after the saddle between Little Morrison and Morrison, I headed too far south before attempting to ascend the East Face and missed the line designated in red on the photo in the route description. I think I ended up ascending somewhere in between the red and blue lines on that photo. This was a bad mistake. I've never climbed so slowly--and out of cautious fear and trepidation, no less. The rock here was extremely loose, and the runout behind me involved big drops over the steep side of aretes and/or cliffs. I was so glad after I finally made the summit to see an obvious use trail below it. This was the standard route I missed on the way up, and I followed it back to the saddle. This route was far less stressful. If you're going to attempt the East Face for the first time and want some beta, my advice is to make every effort to locate the cairns and follow the use trail to the summit; getting off route on this mountain greatly increases your risk of a fatal slip.
lizklevy - Jul 22, 2013 9:18 pm Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2013
East Slope VariationDefinitely got to do some bushwhacking but a great day out, anyway.
Deb - Jul 20, 2013 5:29 pm Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2013
East Slope but on RockFrom day use parking lot, headed straight uphill and met the dry creek. I just make a bee-line. Found myself in some Class 4+ territory cuz I wasn't interested in a mile of scree. A little tense for a moment but I pulled it off by climbing 2 different rock formations. Beautiful day up there. Was drinking a beer at the Convict store 7 hrs later. :)
Deb - Jan 25, 2013 4:00 pm Date Climbed: Jan 22, 2013
Baby MorrisonCrotch-deep powder to barely front-pointing on thick 6" crust...we climbed NE face of Mono Jim and had a splendid ski descent....until we got to the frecious bushes and rocks barely covered in powder. AARRG!
mengbo - Sep 4, 2012 2:48 pm Date Climbed: Sep 3, 2012
East RidgeDid not find the use trail on the way up, so I stayed on the ridge all the way up. It was a good choice since rocks were more solid than the loose. Found the used trail on the way down.
krrt2000 - Feb 26, 2012 8:27 pm Date Climbed: Dec 5, 1995
East RidgeSolo first time 95, with Brent, Francisco, Jesse 98, baptism in tarn following climb.