Mt Russell (14,086 ft) & Mt Carillon (13,552) from the Whitney Portal by Brian Schultz Monday June 30, 2003
After our Mt Whitney climb, Jason and Connie left for Yosemite while Tim drove to Nevada to climb Boundary Peak. I didn't have the energy to join Tim on his successful venture but was well rested after relaxing the whole day in Lone Pine. Maybe too rested because I tossed and turned most of the night and slept all of two hours for Mt Russell.
We repeated the same drive to the Whitney Portal and began at 5:00, hiking in the dark up the Mt Whitney trail. It only took 20 minutes to reach the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek, about a mile up, to the beginning of the Mountaineers Route (no permit is required on this route). The creek is identified with a sign but it's important to pay attention because the preceding creek also has a sign (indicating it's the wrong creek) and could mistakenly be chosen in the dark.
We were pleasantly surprised to see a very good but steep climbers' trail on the north side of the creek and followed it as it switched back to the south side. On the south side the trail continued until blocked by huge granite slabs, forcing a crossing back to the north side again, but before doing so we stopped to survey the large wall of ledges known as the Ebersbacher Ledges on the other side of the creek. We were looking for the identifying foxtail pine tree which indicated where to ascend the ledges below it. After spotting it, we crossed over and found a nicely cairned trail which handily zigzagged up the exposed but easy class 3 ledges, a godsend because blazing through the dense brush along the creek would've been miserable (as we found out on the way down). It was a steady and steep grunt to this point.
We arrived at Lower Boy Scout Lake at 7:00 and took our first rest break, sharing it with a large population of mosquitoes. The weather was clear and sunny and it looked to be another fine day for climbing. We earlier passed a shirtless backpacker carrying a fishing pole who turned out to be the only person we'd see the entire day- interesting, with Mt Russell next door to Mt Whitney and its masses of hikers.
After our break we stayed on the left side of the lake and ascended a rocky path which led up to long smooth rock slabs on the ground with water flowing over them. Ahead lay good views of Whitney. We pushed toward Upper Boy Scout Lake and stopped just shy of the lake, at 8:20, where the Mountaineers Route continues on to Mt Whitney. Because we overshot our turnoff, we backtracked a bit, took a break and then started up the scree slopes to the Russell- Carillon saddle. We avoided the awful scree for a while by angling to the right and hiking up a rocky area, then returned to the slopes below the saddle. With such perfect weather, we had time to rest often and indeed took another 20 minute break before heading up to saddle.
At the saddle we looked at each other and shook our heads in amazement. The jagged ridge to the summit appeared impossible to climb but we knew from trip reports that it was easier than it looked. We started up at 11:05, ditched our trekking poles after the first big hump, and readied ourselves for the nasty ridge. Routefinding wasn't a problem but the ridge presented the most sustained class 3 and 4 climbing I've ever encountered on a fourteener, including all of Colorado's fourteeners, and had plenty of exposure to boot. Our hand and foot work was slow out of necessity- all holds had to be carefully checked- and we didn't reach the east summit until 12:31 and the true west summit until 12:47. The rock was reasonably solid all the way but I found the scrambling to be flat out nervewracking. So did Tim and we both dreaded the return.
We had a great vantage point to view Mt Whitney and tried to locate where the Mountaineers Route threaded the cliffs to the summit but couldn't find it. Tulainyo Lake was below and behind us and still mostly frozen but despite the wonderful scenery, the weather, and the fascinating register entries of those who climbed Russell's technical routes, I was never truly comfortable on this summit. By 1:23, we'd had enough and headed down. Fortunately, the return was a bit easier as we descended slightly below the ridge on the (climber's) left side but we were never far from the dropoffs of either side and occasionally we'd look down the sheer face on the right. Each time I did so, I'd clutch my hold on the rocks a little tighter. To say we were relieved to get back to the saddle would be an understatement.
Next up was Mt Carillon at the other end of the ridge. We started up at 2:56 and reached the very easy peak at 3:18, getting an even better view of Mt Russell from the top. It was unique and satisfying to be sitting on another summit at such a late hour, but at 3:45, we had a long way to go and were looking at possibly finishing in the dark. We reluctantly left the neat little peak.
We boot-skied down the scree slopes and stopped at the stream below. Tim needed to filter water and I needed to get the boots off my badly hurting feet. The cold water soaking felt great. We pushed mostly straight through after our break but got off route slightly at one of the creek crossings and battled with the brush. The brief encounter there proved the wisdom of staying on the trail. We finally got back at 7:22. Another long day and the hardest fourteener I've climbed to date, including all of Colorado's.
Trailhead to Mt Russell summit- 7 hours 47 minutes
Mt Russell to Mt Carillon- 1 hour 57 minutes
Mt Carillon back to trailhead- 3 hours 37 minutes
Total day- 14 hours 22 minutes (including all breaks)