Vogelsang, Florence, Simmons, Parsons, and Amelia Earhart Peaks Rafferty Creek To Lyell Fork Loop

This trip was at the tail end of the Sierra summer climbing season slipped in right before the 3.5 week Advanced Mountaineering Program kicked off and kept me around town until well after the Sierra is usually choked with snow.  (Which of course means it's then time for desert adventures!)

The previous weekends trip to Mount Starr King was amazing but somewhat more of an organizational challenge vs a physical one so this was planned as one last good hard trip to finish off the season with a bang.  And damn did it deliver!

I'd originally planned to do Florence and Vogelsang back in 2015 only to be forced to cancel at the last minute due to knee complications which ended up leading to my microfracture surgery.  At the time it was a real bummer since the permits for Rafferty Creek are notoriously difficult to get.

This time around we snagged a Saturday to Tuesday permit after failing to get a Thursday or Friday entry date and four of us left Orange County Friday night to make the long drive up to Tuolumne.


Everyone on the trip had already done a hard trip or two and knew what they were getting into with this one.

We did our usual bivy at Sherwin Summit and then drove in to Mammoth Lakes early Saturday morning to get our permit.


This was basically just a thinly veiled excuse to grab breakfast at The Stove. Which we did and it was awesome. I did however make a very obvious mistake which was that for some reason I thought I could pick up a Tuolumne (aka National Park Service) permit from the Mammoth aka Inyo permit office.  To my knowledge the only place you can get permits for both is the Lone Pine White Mountain Visitors Center because they have employees from both there.

Oops!

So we ended up having to run to the Tuolumne Ranger station anyway and getting a slightly later start.  But hey, at least breakfast was good!





Fortunately the Tuolumne Ranger Station is right next to our trailhead and by 9:30 am we were off!


After a short hike east along Lyell Fork we turned south up Rafferty Creek which climbed steadily until we reached the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp.


Everything was shut down and locked (we checked the bathrooms on the off chance one was left open) so after a short break we continues past Vogelsang Lake and up the pass.


We ran into a pair of guys hiking down who had come across some rather calm birds.  We skirted around the side of the trail to avoid spooking them.



Our beta said the peak was class 2 or class 3 from the pass and I wasn't expecting anything too difficult as we dropped packs and started up the spine of the ridge...


Which turned out to be a little spicier than expected.  After some light 3rd class we reached this point which we nicknamed The Clench since it was solid if you straddled it and scooted along with great care.  It was a bit exposed (falls very much not recommended) and Dave decided he'd rather not do it.  I suggested he climb back down to the pass and try and get further down the ridge by coming up the gully to the north.


Around the next corner the ridge itself got very steep.  Left wasn't passable and when we attempted to go around the right side we found enough snow to make the 3rd -ish class moves treacherous and more than I wanted to do.


So I improvised and found a way down the southern side of the ridge.  At first this really didn't look like it was going to go requiring an awkward downclimb move and then walking along some steep ledges.



We were in luck however as I was able to get us back up to the saddle just east of the peak.


We popped up top and found Dave picking his way up past awesome snow and ice on the far side.


From there it was just an exercise in avoiding brush to make to to the summit proper and trying not to get too distracted by the spectacular views.



The views from the peak were gorgeous but we made more miles to go before we planned to set up camp.



We went down the way Dave came up which was a little treacherous due to hard snow but we managed to pick our way from rock to rock.


The sun was going down by the time we made it back down to the pass but on the plus side it was one of the best sunsets I could remember seeing probably helped by the fire burning off to the west in Yosemite.

We'd originally intended to aim for Florence Lake the first night but with the sun going down we elected to head straight for the nearer Bernice Lake and just dayhike Florence the next day from there.

Day 2: Mount Florence Western Ridge From Bernice Lake

I was expecting cold after the previous weeks experience on Starr King and the second morning didn't disappoint.  We decided we'd hold in camp until 8 am due to the temperature and the fact it's getting light so much later now.  This ended up being a great idea as the temperature was painfully cold until the sun hit us as which point it became manageable.

We hiked back down to the Lewis Creek trail and then climbed up towards Florence Lake.


The chute from the lake up to Florence Ridge had some hardened snow and we had to pick our footing carefully.


Once on the ridge it was easier going but we had 2+ miles until we reached the peak.



The summit itself is a rocky horn which sticks up rather dramatically.


In the register we found several friends signed in over the years including Paul Garry last year and Jen Blackie this year.


We were on the summit at 2:30 pm and had a long track back down the ridge to return to our camp.


Once again the sunsets were spectacular helped by the fire burning out of Yosemite.  Right as the sun disappeared over the horizon it backlit Half Dome in orange fire.

We made it down to Florence Creek just as it was getting dark but didn't make it back to camp at Bernice Lake until almost 9 pm.

Day 3: From Bernice Lake to Ireland Lake Climbing Simmons & Parsons

We packed up camp and got hiking again at 8 am when it was just warm enough to manage without being completely miserable.


So far we'd spent a lot of time on trail but today was going to be mostly cross country.  Fom Bernice we climbed up towards Gallison Lake and then headed east towards Parsons and Simmons Peak.  Our goal was to cross over to Ireland Lake and then down to Lyell Fork making a nice loop.


We dropped packs below the pass and headed off to Simmons Peak with only daypacks.



The route up Simmons was really straightforward:  Climb up to the ridge then walk the ridge to the highpoint.  We maybe went a bit too far south on the way up trying for an easier line.


The ridge was the usual assortment stacked boulders though they seemed a little less stable than your average Sierra peak and we had to take care even around the larger ones.



We were up on the first summit around 2 pm huddled down in the rocks to try and get out of the wind.


After returning to our packs it was time to get up and over the pass.  And despite the full packs with heavy loads we were all feeling pretty good when we reached the saddle and Parsons which looked like an almost trivial climb. 



So we once again dropped our packs and set off up the slope.


Parsons was at 12k so of course it was harder than it looked.


The views were nice but the wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping quickly.  We reached the summit and had to bundle up in every layer we were carrying before hustling down.

And of course because this is the way the universe works I started having severe gastrointestinal distress about halfway back to the packs.  I hustled down as best I could but since it was a pass and the group was still coming down the hillside above finding a spot was a bit of a challenge.

After a short desperate search I found a spot around the corner all but hanging off the side of southern side of the pass.  This exposed me to the full force of the cold wind so when I dropped my drawers to do my business my buttcheeks started to freeze right away.

I finished up as quickly as I could, cleaned up, and then returned to the group.  At this point I was so cold I knew I had to keep moving.  We made our best speed down towards Ireland but soon were forced to stop to put on long johns and the last of the layers we were carrying.


That helped at least somewhat but the wind was just unrelenting and had a way of working its way through the layers.

We were ready to camp well before we actually stopped but we just couldn't find a suitable spot where we could pitch tents.

Day 4: Amelia Earhart and Out

We spent a chilly night huddled in our bags and the next morning it wasn't much better.  Kristen and I ate from inside our sleeping bags while wearing all of our layers but Dave and Victor were brave enough to come keep us company for a bit.


We'd ended up in a location where we do Amelia Earhart from camp.  Unfortunately since it was a western facing slope that meant we were out of the sun until we reached the ridge.  And again, it was cold!


It was a little better once we got up on the ridge and there was even some short but fun 3rd class along the way.


It's a fun little summit but the combination of cold and time pressure had us headed down a bit after 9 am.




We packed up and booked it for the pack trail that would lead us down to Lyell Fork and eventually out.  The clouds were starting to build rather suspiciously and I was starting to think we might not make it out dry.




Sure enough it started snowing on us on the way down Lyell Fork.  Not a ton but it seemed an appropriate way to wrap up the season.


We made the cars by 4:20 and drove down Tioga Pass in a building storm with the heaters in the car running full blast to make up for the last few days.  And after reaching Bishop we had a web deserved meal at the always excellent Las Palmas...


...and some even more well deserved beer next door at Mountain Rambler!

This was a rough trip but also one of the prettiest I did this summer.  (Which isn't a small thing when you look where I've been!)  I'd highly recommend the entire thing though it's likely to be a little more enjoyable if you do it earlier in the summer.