August 2003 

 

...continued I got back from Whorl at around 9am, a little over three hours up and down from camp.  By the time I got back, Dave was already packed up and pretty much ready to go.  Thankfully, he had abandoned his plan to hike out to Tuolumne Meadows.  With the dramatic improvement in the weather (and visibility) he agreed to head back over Twin Peaks Pass with me. With sufficient visibility, we were able to find an easy path over the pass that kept the difficulty to Class 2 -- nothing more than moderate cross country travel, with some annoyingly loose talus thrown in just to make sure we were paying attention.
Note:  clicking on any photograph will present a full screen version.
	Down Spiller Creek.  Dave heading up the mellow grassy slopes at the head of Spiller Creek.  Stanton Peak rises just above his backpack.
	Below Twin Peaks.  Dave hiking below the west face of Twin Peaks.  We had planned to climb this peak on the way out, but it looked to be quite a tricky ascent from Horse Creek Pass, and I was sure that Dave wasn't going to have any of it.
	Whorl Mountain.  The east side of Whorl seen from just below Twin Peaks Pass.  A very cool mountain.
	Matterhorn.  Dave on the annoying but beautiful sidehill traverse between the cliff bands on the climb to Twin Peaks Pass.  The SE slope of Matterhorn Peak dominates the background.
	More Whorl.  The mountain looks almost completely vertical from this angle.
	Stanton Peak.  This peak is an easy walkup on the south side, but the northwest face seen here is a different story altogether.  Quite steep and nasty looking.

^{BACK               NEXT}