Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board split mt. underated

sj and i made it to the peak of split on Sunday afternoon. this place is completely under rated. it was full of surprises from a crazy drive in, a half baked trail, and a great place to camp, red lake. we opted for the more conservative north slope route after much debate and a pile of rocks at the bottom of the st. jean gully. there is a nice class 3 snow hill on the way up to north slope which was a half decent challenge, which is about 750 ft. this is not exactly a walk in the park. i highly recommend this adventure.

Fun climb for sure, lots of thunder & lightning in the afternoon. Try the St. Jean gully a little earlier in the year next time. Check out the pics...

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1717673013/a=88853373_88853373/

I agree Split Mountain is one fun climb.

After the long hike the truck became stuck on that crazy road. We went from walking on rocks to loading them in the truck bed for traction. Luckily with a few rocks and our bodies we were able to get back out. I dreaded to think about the cost for a tow truck in that remote of an area.

Lori, without you and Mary Jo my truck would still be back there!

Hey Gary

I thought perhaps you or Mary Jo may read the post--I have fond memories of that trip, right up to the end!

Split is not underrated; the Sierra's are just plain old hard....

bj i agree the sierra's are tough. but what i mean by underrated is the whole experience, for example the main trail of whitney sucks and is ugly, and is very popular. Split on the other hand offers a lot more of an adventure and is unpopular, therefore is underrated. now i have write about my trip up mt. sill and how it is better than mont blanc.

Hey souloscrambler

Interesting in Mount Sill so looking for the trip report. That is one of the peaks on my list. I have a recent one on Mt Shasta if that is an interest.

I agree---I like the trips best that have an element of adventure!

hi Lori
i am going to read your report on shasta. i haven't climbed that one yet. i might find the report helpful.
i am going bouldering at stoney point right now. i will post the sill trip soon.

It is great to here a little something about Split Mt as I too have it on my list for later this season. Had surgery on my left arm so have had to put my adventures on hold for the present but hoping doc will clear me for full weight in a couple of months. I have been wanting to go up and see it for myself ever since my uncle told me of Red Lake many years ago and how nice of a place it was when he and my grandpa hiked there back in the late 60's.

John

On the positive side if it takes a bit for the arm to heal I hear it is a great winter climb. The possibility of replacing the scree for snow is actually inviting!

Wishing you a fast recovery and return to the outdoors!

I would definitely save Split for a late winter / early spring climb. The approach would be atrocious in the summer heat and the snow travel is really the only thing that makes it a fun route. Red Lake is a beautiful place, but the drive in and the trail to Red Lake suck!

Was just there this past weekend: the drive into the trailhead is a beast, but Scott's Land Crusher (Cruiser) handled it just fine. Definitely 4WD w/ lots of clearance recommended.

Trail is HOT and steep, no water until just below the bench to Red Lake. The scree above Red Lake looks bad, but it's just kind of a put-your-head-down sort of thing. You can stay on pretty fun and easy rock all the way to the saddle along the ridge.

First time up there was a mid-spring climb (Easter 08) and it was truly fantastic. Views are amazing. I will go back to ski it for sure.

-L

scott almost flipped the jeep on the way in. it was real hell. but i was having great time. we totally messed up on the entry to the trail, we bushed wacked along red creek, instead of taking the switch backs up the hill, making it even worse. scott was complaining, and i had to hold back the laughter. cause i like to suffer a little extra. its not worth it if doesn't hurt. the trail was steep and hellish, but thank God we had cloud coverage on the way up and down. i still sweated off at least 5 lbs and never drank so much lemonade in my life. just to add to the hell like atmoshere was the thunder lighting storm on the way back to camp.
again scott complained about how the road here was terrible, and how much better they are in mountains of washington. i agreed with him. but underneath it all i was loving every minute.
i like to suffer, because on the other side of suffering is happiness.
he bj i will sign on for the dead of winter trip with you.
i might even start my drinking with a climbing problem.

Heck Laura and I liked the road. We raced the Land Crusher against my Toyota pick up with she driving the Crusher and me the PU. Fourth gear, Baja 1000 style driving, throwing our empty beer bottles out the windows, catching air along Fuller Creek. Great stuff. Seriously though if you give yourself an hour each way this road isn't that bad, IMO.
A different Scott

Shhhhhh!!!!!! Scooooooooottttttt!! I thought that was hushush about the cold bevvies!

Ya that thing is great. Did it last winter. Checked the Suuto and had 7100 feet of E gain from the trailhead. Clicked into my bindings at the Geo servey marker and had 6G's of descending..what a great ski/peak.

Summited Split on May 15th of this year. Good time to do it, as it was mostly snow from red lake on up. Had done Shasta the previous week and I think the chute going up the north slope is steeper than Avalanche Gulch. Got lost in the Jungle on the was back for about 15 min. All in all it was a good climb.