the sphinx/mt. davidson area

[rat]

at the risk of ruining someone's adventure, here is some recent info on this area. some of this may be on bivouac.com but i am not a member.

 

1. mclane's approach times seem pretty accurate.

2. winged evil awaits at gentian pass. there are more scenic and less buggy sites along polemonium ridge.

3. mclane's instruction manual is far off the mark for the sphinx. the north ridge is only 170 meters long. it might have been 6 pitches of "sustained" climbing in 1973 with mountain boots and a 30m glacier rope. for most people it will not be worth the walk but is an excellent route if you are traversing the range. unfortunately, we weren't. do not descend to the southwest col---instead, it's best to traverse back to the start of the ridge via 3rd class terrain under the east face. seems like the only people who climb this (or, at least sign the register) are park rangers.

4. the col nearest castle peak has better rock than the one near phyllis' engine if you are heading to mt. davidson. the crux of the n.e. ridge might be getting to it---we didn't, but we didn't try too hard either. the glacier outflow has changed---stay closer to the north/northwest face than is shown in the photo. the route looked nice from above.

 

a beautiful area.

[fern]

the park rangers climb it because they have a boat to cross the lake. The overland approach keeps the crowds away, like you say, 3p not worth the walk unless you are doing a longer traverse. Sometimes spring snow conditions make it feasible to ride a snowmobile up high on Brohm ridge then ski-tour a high route around to climb the Sphinx. My memory is fuzzy, but maybe a 14hr R.T to squamish is what I was told?

 

It is definitely a beautiful area, year round.