Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Split Mountain

In the "Owens Valley is Burning" thread, the topic changed to Split Mountain access. So these posts have been moved to a new thread:

[07-12-2007]
Craig,

Most difficult part is finding the trailhead! From 395, turn left on Crocker road – this turns into Glacier Lodge Road. Turn left on McMurray road from Glacier Lodge and take an immediate left – if you go right you wind up right back on Glacier Lodge Road. Follow the dirt road without making any turns. You will come upon a gate – go through the gate and continue on – you will reach a three way intersection after a couple of miles – you will see a trail sign - go left and continue to follow the road and the signs for Red Lake. Take a right at the next sign for Red Lake Trail – and follow the road to the trailhead. Total time on the dirt road is about an hour.

Once at the trailhead take the Red Mountain Lake trail. Trail up is arduous and goes about 5.5 miles. At about 5 miles you will come up on an unnamed lake – keep going for another half mile and you will hit Red Lake. There are three or four excellent campsites.

Trail ends at Red Lake. Follow the path on the right side of Red Lake and you will begin to see some cairns directing you up into the drainage for the North Slope. Once you pass Red Lake, you will be on a large talus and scree field the entire way up. We stayed just to the right of the creek that drains into Red Lake. You will go up over a ridge that drops down into a moraine field and will see two small snowfields to either side of a mass of boulders – stay on the snowfield to the right and continue up.

As you go up you will see a false notch in the middle (lowest of the notches) – head up towards the false notch but as you gain altitude, you will see a chute or couloir over to the left – that is where you need to go. The chute is theoretically listed as a class 2 – trust me it is a difficult class 3 but very doable without ropes. I took my brother-in-law and cousin who had never done any serious backpacking and they made it up and down without any problems. My Vizsla, Barley, was also with us and she made it up just fine – she loves to climb.

Once you reach the top of the chute, you are officially on the North Slope. Just head up the slope hanging close to the east face and you will reach the summit – it is a boulder field similar to the backside of Whitney but a little steeper and no marked trail to follow to the summit. There are a couple of places that have an unimproved trail but you are boulder-hopping most of the way.

Hope this info helps.

Adam

[7-12-07]
Hello,
just to add to Red Lake/Split info:

- the road to the trailhead is pretty rough - in places,
especially on the way back, I even did get into low gear
for a while... high clearance suv/trucks will make it
but I doubt a passenger car will make it... at least
not the civic I did drive through saline/hunter mountain/
ulida flats/etc ;o)

- the trail is very narow/poorly visible. make mental
notes/GPS waypoints in places of doubt - I've ended up
hiking out Monday morning courtesy of a couple of wrong
turns on the way back...

- Secor actually lists the chute as 3rd class; the top
10-20 yards are kind of nasty but doable when clinging to
the right side of the chute. the other (ie Western) side
of the saddle as well as the rest of route is class 2.

- the view from the top is spectacular; fields of Sky Pilots
covering the slope above the saddle even more so :o)
at least that's what I've found there on 7/1...

lukasz

[7-12-07]
Lukasz,
Good catch on the road conditions - I was in a 4x4 Yukon - you are right, many small cars would have problems on that road.
The Sky Pilots were blooming everywhere up on the summit - spectacular!
Adam

[7-14-07]
To Beerbrewer and Lukasz,

I was hoping for a response but you guys were overwhelming. Thanks for taking the time to help out and giving me the info. As usual I will be going alone but after doing the MR on Whitney 2 weeks ago I do feel comfortable on class 3 climbing. It's not the best choice to go alone but I gotta do the things in life that I truly love, and Debbie if you read this one of those things is you.........

[07-14-2007 05:38 AM]
Ways to get to the trailhead. You might consider the road that leaves 395 at Fish Springs, instead of going by McMurry Meadows via the Glacier Lodge road. This road circles around to the west of Poverty Hills, passes south of a mine complex, and ends up on the road the others are talking about. Look here.

Once you get to that road that comes from McMurry Meadows, turn left (south) on it. As I recall, it is only 1/4 mile or so until you turn right (west) along Red Mountain Creek.

My friends and I used to go via McMurry Meadows, but now we take this way all the time; it cuts off quite a few miles of nasty 4WD driving.

As far as the hiking is concerned, the others are right. It is not easy. But I've climbed Split four times by this route, and never encountered any class 3.

[07-14-2007 01:19 PM]
For detailed maps, directions and GPS waypoints on routes in the McMurty Meadows area try:

http://www.climber.org/DrivingDirections/redlake.html

Over the last 30 years the direct road from the Fish Springs area has occasionally been blocked by a locked gate where it crosses private propoerty, depending on the current activity level at the mining areas.

Dale B. Dalrymple
http://dbdimages.com

I have an old set (1983 version) of Inyo National Forest maps. Actually, it is a huge three-map set created by USDA Forest Service covering John Muir Wilderness, Inyo and Sierra N.F. and Sequoia and Kings Canyon N.P.

And on that map, looking at the same spot Bob R gave, the map has written in red letters, "No through access", and shows several red "locked gate" symbols. If people are like me, they hang onto these maps. So it is no wonder most people follow the lousy 4wd access.

I am glad the easier access is now available.

some good beta here:

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150493/split-mountain.html

the road to access red lake TH area from the south is much father north than fish springs, after taboose creek turnoff, you will see a cement plant that is where to go but it is not easy to dial in that route if you have never been that way or going in the dark. my suggestion is to go in via mcmurry then learn the other more direct route on the way out.

also see the book "climing california's 14'ers" for some info. fun book imho.

Here's Graham's beta on getting to the Red Lake TH via Tinemaha campground. As it is a rough ride, I recommend a high-clearance vehicle and 4WD is a big help. Good luck!
http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1850