Tuolumne County High Point Trip Report
Mount Lyell (13,114 ft)
Date: October 25, 2003
Author: Jobe Wymore
This one is 28 miles round trip with 4,600 vertical feet. We started out at 1:15 a.m., hit the slabs at sunrise
and worked our way up to the glacier sitting below the Lyell summit block. A surprise awaited us -
the glacier was "bullet ice" and our crampon points couldn't even dent it. I guess earlier in the season
conditions are a lot better but these were the cards handed to us.
The route ended up being done via the right handed skyline and had a few dicey moves. The route up the
3rd class face would have been less stressful without the wind and one huge, loose granite block pitch
that we encountered.
Last ascent was on October 10, 2003 per the register. Mount Lyell was my 599th county HP.