Kaweah Group

Sierra Club Wilderness Travel Course (WTC) 2014 - Kaweah Group In Orange County


Past the break is a very long quasi-chronological sequence of photos following the 2014 Wilderness Travel Course in Orange County with most being specific to Kaweah Group led this year by myself and James Montross along with a staff of extremely hard working volunteers.

For more information on what WTC is and how to take the course see the official site here.  More posts about it by me can be found here.

This was the 3rd year since we started Kaweah Group which is the third currently in Orange County.

Yutings themes this year were Hippies: Dirty Or Otherwise for Joshua Tree and Beach Party for Snow Camp.  Joshua Tree in particular people really went all out resulting in the first time I had to censor a summit shot followed by a six and a half hour fireside happy hour.  We also had minor injuries on every outing but all were just freak occurrences.  Tripping, twisted ankles, knees turned out of nowhere while putting on a snowshoe.

 This was the first of two years where we held the class at Santiago College after having to leave the Red Hill Church location due to them not having space for us.  
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    • Peakbagging

    Tehipite Dome and Spanish Mountain Attempt #2 Gets A Little Snowy

    September 27th & 29th28th, 2014
    Tehipite Dome (7,708')
    Spanish Mountain (10,051')
    [Pics] [Map]

     I tried to do these two peaks several years ago while struggling with a prolonged illness.  The result was I managed to get Spanish but never got anywhere near Tehipite.  That means this was technically a grudge peak for me and one that had always stood out due to the 3rd class summit block and pictures like this.

    2014 rolled around and I planned this with Laurent Hoffman and Jeff Atijera as an official Sierra club outing towards the end of the season.  We ended up with a full group of friends signing up all excited to see the area.  Then a few weeks before the trip the forecast showed a bit of weather.

    We watched it as the trip approached and there was a clear trend of the prediction getting worse. Despite this we decided to roll the dice.
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    • Mount Davis

    Mt Davis From Thousand Island Lake WTC Experience Trip

    September 13th to 15th, 2014
    Mount Davis (12,303')
    [Pics] [Map]

    This has been a weird summer due to changes in my work and living situation.  After years of running back and forth between Orange County California and Boise Idaho I was back in town permanently but also having to deal with the reality of a new job after a long relatively stable period.  As a result I ended up doing lot more adhoc vs the usuall planned official trips.

    I did still manage a few official Sierra Club trips and this one to Mount Davis co-led with Paul Warren as a WTC experience trip was one.
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    • Bravo Farms

    Mount Senger & Mount Hooper From Bear Creek Diversion Dam

    Aug 30th to Sept 2nd,  2014
    Mount Senger (12,286')
    Mount Hooper (12,349')

    This was the second Labor Day in a row Jeff, Kristen, and I came out this way.  Last year it was to climb Seven Gables & Gemini and I'd be incredibly impressed by the area.

    And this trip was similar spectacular.  Having been back here again it just left me wanting to find some more peaks as an excuse to come back again.

    It's a 4WD ish trailhead and a 13 mile hike to get back in there but it honestly it fairly gentle as far as 13 mile hikes go.
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    • Benson Pass

    Pettit & Volunteer Are A Long Damn Haul

    August 22nd to 24th, 2014
    Pettit Peak (10,788’)
    Volunteer Peak (10,481’)
    Day 1: 17.2 miles, 3400' gain, 10 hours
    Day 2: 21.3 miles, 5500' gain, 12 hours
    Day 3: 17 miles, 4200' gain, 11 hours
    [Pics] [Map]

    This was one of those periodic late season "let's go big" style trips where the goal is to do something long and difficult.  It was right in the middle of busy part of the summer with trips pretty much every weekend and came between the easier Mineral King trip the previous weekend and the longer Labor Day outing to Hooper & Senger planned for the next one.

    These peaks jumped out because they were SPS peaks in an area I'd never really been back into.  Closest I'd been was probably Matterhorn and Whorl a number of years ago and even then that was just a quick two day in and out where I was barely over the crest.

    It is a long way in to get these two requiring over 50 miles and 10k gain any way you go.  And since Toyabi will unfortunately not allow you to pick up your permit after hours (and the fact I don't typically take an extra vacation day just to drive up to the trailhead) that meant we had to be in Bridgeport at 8 am when the ranger station opened and then haul ass for the trailhead.  So we started late, had really long days, and basically never made the time back.  But hey, it was memorable!
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    • Florence Peak

    Florence Peak and an Ill Advised Attempt at Vandever Mountain's North Ridge in Mineral King

    August 15th to 17th, 2014
    Florence Peak (12,432')
    Vandever Mountain (11,947')
    [Pics] [Map]

    These were two peaks I'd tried to do years back only to get sidelined by some misadventure.  So I kept the plan and figured eventually I'd have a free weekend.

    And it just so happened I had this weekend open and Kristen had never been back to this particular area.  So off we went to Mineral King.

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    • Horseshoe Meadow

    Mount Langley From Little Cottonwood Creek Because Why Not

    August 9th & 10th, 2014
    Mount Langley (14,026')

    (aka A Cold Damn Birthday for Blondie)

    Mount Langley is one of the 11 California peaks above 14,000 ft and so highly desired by many.  It's also one of the easier ones along with Mount Whitney owing to the trail that leads up to the very summit.

    Personally this makes the peak somewhat less appealing to me than your average nondescript bump somewhere in the Sierra backcountry and as a result I've walked past it numerous times without bagging it.  It always seemed like a good one to save for an easier two day weekend when nothing else was going on.

    And that turns out to be this weekend.  I wanted to get out but since I was looking at a brutal drive next weekend for a two day Mineral King trip a reasonable drive and days sounded pretty damn good.  So off Kristen, Jen and I went.

    I managed to make things a little more interesting by finding a trailhead I didn't know about and which I couldn't find much information on.  So we'd leave from Little Cottonwood Creek, camp at the lakes, and then bag Langley on Sunday before leaving possibly early enough to make post trip mexican in Boron.

    Oh, and it was also Blondie's birthday on Sunday so we planned to have a nicer camp wherever we ended up complete with homemade lasagna cooked in camp thanks to Kristen.
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    • Good WTC Experience Trip

    Mount Stanford in the rain. A lot of rain.

    August 2nd and 3rd, 2014
    Mount Stanford (12,838’)
    [Pics] [Map]

    I led this exact trip back in 2012 as a WTC experience trip but turned back only a few hundred feet shy of the summit while helping some struggling participants.  I dislike not getting the peak but figured it was no big deal since I knew I'd be back in the area at some point.

    And this weekend ended up working out.  I needed a quick two day so I could get out in the mountains without using vacation time I badly needed for other longer trips.  Also it was one of those weekends where the weather forecast looked rather dire so an easier trip like this fit the bill.
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    • Close Call

    Dragon Peak To Gould Ridge Traverse With Bonus Kearsarge

    July 12th & 13th, 2014
    Kearsarge Peak (12,615’)
    Dragon Peak (12,927’)
    Mount Gould (13,005’)
    [Pics] [Map]

    This was originally planned as Jeff Atijera's Sierra Club M-Rock provisional to certify him for leading trips involving 3rd class rock.  We ended up doing it as a private outing after running into disagreements within the club over what the actual rating of the peak was.

    This is a fun trip because it's an easy drive and you get three Sierra peaks in two days with two (Dragon & Gould) involving 3rd / 4th class terrain.  Dragon is the real draw due to a somewhat unique and heavily photographed bit right below the summit.  It involves doing an exposed traverse that would be terrifying except the rock slopes away, you have a huge crack for your feet. and on top of that there's decent handholds.  The result is it feels super secure but looks absolutely terrifying in pictures.  So basically it's the perfect Facebook profile photo.
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    • McGee Pass

    Mount Izaak Walton Northeast Ridge via McGee Creek

    June 13th to 15th, 2014
    Mount Izaak Walton (12,077')
    [Pics] [CalTopo]

    A combination of factors had delayed the initial Sierra trip of the season but finally it was time for a peakbagging weekend at altitude.  With a job switch imminent I needed to take advantage of whatever vacation time I could manage so we planned a last minute 3 day up McGee Creek to get Mount Izaak Walton via the northeast ridge which Secor at least described as a "good" 3rd class route.


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