What:
   Brown Mountain (9,958')
   Kern Peak (11,480')
   Templeton Mtn (9,960')
   Monache Mtn (9,400')
   Deer Island (8,270')
   Anderson Point (8,510')
When: June 21st to 23rd, 2013
Where: Golden Trout Wilderness, Sierra Nevada
Who: Matthew Hengst, Amin Faraday, Jen Blackie
Pictures: [Matt]
GPS Track: [Map]

The 4th Annual Memorial Day Massacre was a beast of a trip.  5 days, almost 100 miles and 20k of gain, lots of bushwhacking, and a final day involving 26 miles and more blister milking than I ever hope to do again.

While it could be called a very successful trip a few minor factors kept us from getting all the inconsequential yet still named peaks we'd planned.  So, as I said in the trip announcement email...

"Don't you hate it when you have a massacre and leave orphans behind?  Join us for the 2013 Golden Trout Orphan Bag..."

  Peak 11784 (11,784')
  Headley Peak (12,676')
  East Headley Peak (12,751')
  Indian Peak (11,297')
  Mount Hogue (12,751')
When: June 15th, 2013
Where: White Mountains, East Side
Who: +Matthew Hengst, Paul Garry, Keith Christenson, Daryn Dodge, more...
Pictures: [Matt]
GPS Track: [Hike] [Hike+Drive]

After surviving 20+ hours of driving for last weekends Jefferson and Arc Dome outing there was one last desert outing to be done before returning to the distressingly awesome early season conditions in the Sierra.

Paul Garry had asked me to assist on a two day outing to the east side of the White Mountains with the goal being some relatively rarely visited peaks on the Non-Sierra California 10,000-foot Peaks list.  We'd be dayhiking, we'd get a number of peaks, and we'd be doing around 8k worth of gain on Saturday alone.  Sounded like fun.

What:

What:
  Arc Dome (11,773')
  Mount Jefferson (11,941')
When: June 8th & 9th, 2013
Where: Central Nevada
Who: Matthew Hengst, Jen Blackie, Amin Faraday, Mark Butski, Jeff Atijera, Gracia Delavida, Wasim Khan
Pictures: [Matt]
GPS Track: [Arc] [Jefferson]

If you look at the geographic locations of peaks on the Sierra Club Desert Peaks Section list you'll see two peaks located in central Nevada far from pretty much everything.  That would be Mount Jefferson and Arc Dome.

I'd been staring at those for some time and after having knocked off the even further north Ruby Dome (700 or so miles from Los Angeles) last year after two tries.  At 11,000 ft they seemed perfect for a late season desert trip.  (Granted if I'd known how nicely things would be shaping up in the Sierra this year I might have chosen otherwise...)

What:
  Chocolate Peak (11,682')
  Mount Goode (13,085')
  Mount Agassiz (13,893')
When: June 1st & 2nd, 2013
Where: Sierra Nevada, South Lake TH
Who: Matthew Hengst, Jen Blackie, Stephanie Gylden
Pictures: [Matt]
GPS Track: [Track]

The initial thought for this weekend was to do an easy recovery trip after the previous weekends Memorial Day Massacre.

In 2012 the 100 miles and 20k gain over 5 days Massacre had gone fairly well until the last day where 26 miles with bad blisters and sore feet made things somewhat...memorable.  The following weekend on the thankfully gentle Excelsior and Dunderburg was so painful I had to drop back from the group and limp back on my own.

This year the Massacre went much smoother and I was pretty much back to normal after the three short days back in Orange County working.  All the better to enjoy an easy two day trip with east side resident Stephanie Gylden to grab the (relatively) easy Goode and Agassiz from Bishop Pass.