[TR] June Lake - Horsetail Falls 2/17/2008

[chris]

Trip: June Lake - Horsetail Falls

 

Date: 2/17/2008

 

Trip Report:

Climbed Horsetail Falls (60m+ WI2-WI3+) at June Lake on Sunday with MontanaPup. The hike isn't the 45 minutes that Parker reports in his guide book - its a little less than 30 minutes. A big team of 5 were climbing the WI2 flow around the right corner from the flow proper - I suspect they were from the California Alpine Club. Otherwise, we only had to share the four possible climbs with a guide from Sierra Mountain Center, who happily shared the wall with me, even taking a lunch break with his two clients to coincide with me leading the route he had set a top-rope on.

 

We would have pictures if we had remembered to charge the battery camera before leaving home. Duh!!!

 

In the end we climbed the Central Flow Right Side (WI2/3) and the Right Flow Right Side (WI3+). The climbs are a little longer than reported in the guidebook, mostly because the belayer needed to hang back to avoid falling ice. The CFRS ended up being about 80m long and broken into two pitches, and the RFRS was a solid 60m. There is some spontaneous ice falling from cauliflowers that formed the night before, and some of the debris at the bottom of the fall is quite big. We didn't witness anything though. The water is flowing strong through the Central Flow, and the Left Side is mostly snow on the upper half but a good lower half.

 

The guidebook recommends two ropes for rappelling, but you can get down with one 60m (70m is better). From the rap anchor at the top of the Central Flow, descend down and climbers' left to two trees. A 60m will reach the upper tree with a single-sling anchor, and a 70m will reach the lower tree with a multiple-sling anchor and rap rings. There's also a piton anchor to the right of the trees, but needs slings or cords to equalize it.

 

We had hoped to climb Tatum Falls, but found it rotten right now, and the first step is mostly gone. Wait until a good cold snap before getting on this classic WI3. Roadside Wall has one good ice and lightly mixed route still in, and several other lines that are probably good mixed top ropes or solos.

 

The main falls at Lee Vining were reported in good condition but a lot of the periphery climbs were unformed this year.

Edited February 21, 2008 by chris

[syudla]

Chouinard @ LV is fat-fat-fat. Main Wall is relatively low flow this year but is forming nice pillars instead of wide curtains. Some of the ice on Main Wall has thinned out considerably since mid Jan.

Cave Man on Main Wall