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Kaweah on the South Fork Trail of Big Pine Creek
Our group met by Glacier Lodge west of Big Pine, CA to embark on a 3 day outing with plans to climb Mt. Gayley and Temple Crag. We had along with us a friendly canine named Kaweah. Probably most people approach Gayley from the Palisades side taking the North Fork Trail of Big Pine Creek and through Sam Mack Meadows. We took the South Trail which heads southwest from Glacier Lodge. When our group got to Willow Lake (elev. 9,600 ft.), we abandoned the trail and embarked cross-country west and slightly north. Our route basically followed Big Pine Creek keeping a little north of it. Our destination for camp was a small unnamed lake about 3/10's of a mile south of Contact Pass. From that lake, Gayley would be southwest of us and Temple Crag northwest.
Two members of our group en route to our campTraveling cross-country as we did, Kaweah sometimes hesitated when we had to scramble over boulder fields, but with the coaxing of his owners he got over everything that our route threw in his way. It helped that he had on a rugged pair of doggie boots (he wore out two pairs on this trip).
Kaweah in his climbing bootsIt took about 5 hours to get to our campsite. The only feasible area for our tents was right by the water so we had to violate the 200 foot rule. To the north loomed Contact Pass. After setting up our tents, we spent the rest of the afternoon indulging in ease and repose. Kaweah joined us for Happy Hour and for dinner. His food probably tasted better than my meal in a pouch.
Our campsite south of Contact PassA Beautiful Day for a Climb
We awoke to a beautiful day for our Gayley climb. During breakfast, I accidently spilled my hot oatmeal on the ground. I offered the spilled contents to Kaweah, but he turned up his nose at it. Now I knew that he thought he eats better than I do.
Sunrise looking towards Mt. GayleyOne of Kaweah's owners was assigned to stay back in camp with our food connoisseur canine. The rest of us headed off due west to find our Yellow Brick Road.
The Yellow Brick Road to the Top
We navigated a fairly comfortable route only interrupted by a 30 minute back- tracking delay due to a route-finding error. The Yellow Brick Road route begins from the notch between Gayley and Mt. Sill. At that point you head north to get to get to the summit of Gayley staying below the ridge on your left. The route is 3d class, but with a few 4th class moves required.It took us a little over 5 hours from camp to the summit (13,510 ft.), including our 30 minute delay. The scrambling was fun and the views on top were outstanding. If only Kaweah could have been there!
A View from Gayley's summit
On the summit of Mt. Gayley: Patty Rambert is in yellowBack in camp, Kaweah greeted us boisterously. Before dinner, Kaweah jumped in the lake for a bath and one of his owners pulled a bathing suit out of her backpack and joined him. The rest of us demurred owing to the temperature of that lovely green tint water. During dinner, we discussed the next day's Temple Crag climb. Once again, Kaweah seemed to relish his meal more than I did mine. Go figure. I will narrate our exciting Temple Crag climb and the near heart-stopping leap across the "big step" in a separate trip report.