Split
Mountain 2012
Split Mountain summit
Monday, August 20, 2012
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View from Split Mountain—click on the picture for a larger, labeled version of the above panorama!
Today was summit day! No packs, light load, but 2400 feet of elevation gain and loss. It was a good day weather-wise, other than the low clouds hanging over the summit. Those clouds did make for some interesting pictures and lent a surreal feel to the summit at times. Split Mountain is at 14,058 feet elevation. This mountain used to be known as the "South Palisade"--we will see North Palisade later in this trip. A class 3 pass over to Red Lake is on the route to the summit. Both of us were glad we weren't going down the other side of that pass. There was a summit register that we both signed. I took a picture of the box but not of our entry in the notebook inside.
Journal Entry: Similar clouds to yesterday—no rain though. Left camp 8:45 to climb Split Mtn., got to the summit around noon. Some low clouds obscured views at times, but we had awesome views to the west consistently, and intermittently to the east. Much of the route was talus hopping, although we followed a use trail on the way down. Got back to camp around 3:30. No rain today! Tomorrow we plan to cross Upper Basin Crossing to Amphitheater Lake.
 Grouse near the lake |  Lake 3535m, looking west | |||
 Saddle on the way to the summit |
 Low clouds obscuring Split Mountain summit |
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 Large moraine on east side of saddle |
 Large talus that we traveled over |
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 Ron & Steve on Split Mountain summit |
 Summit register box |
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 Down the east side, Red Lake visible |
 Bench Lake and Arrow Peak |
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 Lakes in Upper Basin |
 Steve on a rock near the saddle |
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 Split Mountain in the evening |
 Split Mountain in alpenglow |