Mt. Agassiz - July 27-28, 2024
This was my first proper scramble since moving to California and it was a great one to ease into things again. It was a tiring but easy scramble on really solid rock and was honestly more just hiking up talus. I wanted to watch the sunrise from the summit so I woke up at 2am – a decision I don’t regret in the slightest.
Dusy Basin during golden hour.
I had done a bit of backpacking earlier in the month (a leisurely loop hike out of Agnew Meadows) and then some day hiking up in Washington a week prior when I was up there for a work conference, but my body was woefully out of shape for this trip. The day got off to a bad start when I arrived at the South Lake trailhead at 7AM only to find the entire overnight lot full. May clueless day hikers will gladly start filling up the overnight parking if the day use lot fills up, meaning that unfortunate overnight hikers who arrive late are forced to camp a mile down the road at Parcher’s Resort (the only legal overflow parking for overnight hikers in the area). This adds a mile and 600 ft of elevation gain to the ascent.
The hike up to Bishop Pass went pretty quickly although given the high elevation of the trailhead I was moving slower than usual. There’s actually good camping at Bishop Pass well off the trail and nearer to the large perennial tarn if your goal is to split a hike of Agassiz into two days. I had never been to Dusy Basin though and elected to descend the 600 ft down into the basin for the night.
Dusy Basin at sunset.
I took some photos of the basin at sunset and then ate a quick dinner before bed. Unfortunately, I didn’t fall asleep until 10pm or so and had set a 1:30am wake=up alarm for my summit bid. I had to break down and pack up my entire camp, lug my gear up to Bishop Pass to stash it for my descent, and then still scramble the 2000 ft up to the summit. I think I was packed up and moving on the trail by 2:30am, at Bishop Pass by 3am, and on the summit of Agassiz by 5:30am.
The summit was exhilarating. Given Agassiz’s location right next to the Palisades, it gives a nice airy feeling and really feels like you’re standing on top of everything. Sky Pilots dotted the talus slopes up until around 13,500 ft and were in bloom as well.
From the summit of Mt. Agassiz at sunrise.
I soaked in the views on the summit for about a half hour before heading down again. It was quite cold and windy and I could barely feel my fingers at this point. The descent went quickly and I was back with the rest of my gear in about 90 minutes. The lack of sleep caught up to me here and I had to take a quick nap before eating breakfast and packing up. The descent down the switchbacks of Bishop Pass went by in a blur. My muscles and joints weren’t sore or tired but I was absolutely exhausted and felt like I could fall asleep right on the trail.
Near Bishop Lake I pulled off the trail and took a much more substantial nap which seemed to revive me since I made quick time back to the trailhead. I was even able to flag down a ride from the trailhead down to Parcher’s Resort with some friendly strangers and didn’t have to repeat the extra mileage from yesterday morning.
Mt. Agassiz panorama at sunrise.
This is probably one of the most accessible and straightforward scrambles for anyone trying to get their feet wet and expand their horizons beyond trail hiking. I found the main challenge to be the high elevation when coming from sea level.
—Justin
