John doing the $15 ice axe 70's thing
I have always been intrigued by the Lamark Col. At elevation close to 13,000 feet, it is a quick way to get to Evolution Valley and the John Muir trail. In the 70's I used the Lamark glacier to practice with my $15 ice axe purchased at an A-16 swap meet. The col is named for J. Lamark, who published his theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics on the day Darwin was born. The theory hasn't stood the test of time, but the glacier is still alive and well.
After a nice rest at the Mount Whitney Hostel, Kathy and I headed North to Bishop and then West up the familiar highway 168 to North Lake. We had a beautiful morning drive with sandwiches from home and a big McDonald's coffee. On the trail by 8, we made Lower Lamark Lake by 10. The mosquito situation is about average, not much trouble unless you stop. It seems like my pack is heavier than usual, but maybe it's just getting out of the car at 9200 feet and trying to make camp early, so that we can maybe get a look at the Col.
After about an hour setting up camp on a high ridge, we are treated to views overlooking the lake, the Wonder Lake basin and the Piute Creek drainage all the way to the fine city of Bishop. Day packs prepared, we hope to make the Lamark Col. Some snowfield conspired to set up a husband wife discussion of the correct orientation. We finally get what we think is the col in our sights and turn around at 11,500 feet to get back to camp at about 3. We have a nice afternoon tea and are busy taking pictures with our new Panasonic. Tomorrow will be a big day, but at least we will know where we are going.
Lower Lamark Lake from our campsite
After climbing the Lamark Col three or four times in my dreams, we awoke to a clear sky. After a quick breakfast and policing the camp, left about 8 on our adventure. I choose to cross a log bridge to save time and Kathy crosses further upstream in her crocs. I slipped on a wet stone and didn't quite make it to the log. My water bottle squirted out of its holster and I was in the water holding my poles, barely. I spotted the water bottle and threw it onto the shore and then secured the poles and I got up from the stream.. Great start!
We made the high point of yesterday in about an hour. Our route has turned cross country after some mistake or other. Then, after some discussion about what rock formation was the "w" described in the guide, Kathy saw two other pilgrims on an obvious trail. The present ridge was not the col. After two more snow covered ridges, we saw the object of our desire.
We saw two parties with packs flail their way up the steep snow passage on the Lamark Glacier. Finally, we decided to at least get on the snow and renew the discussion to turn around if our true chicken instincts prevail. There were large snow cups and the slipperiness experienced by our predecessors was deftly managed by our microspikes.
After going a way down the Darwin bench and enjoying the stark view of the stone and snow around the Darwin series of lakes, we turned back for the down climb. Climbing up is always preferred, whether on rock, snow or ice. Your balance is better and the chance of a "header" is removed. We cautiously made it down the snow cups and tried a variant into a pile of rocks as an exit. This was a mistake that we reinforced with a few cuts. After getting back on the snow, life was again good.
Four hours up and three hours fifteen minutes back were the objective measures. To both of us this was one of our best days in the backcountry. Even the freeze dried food tasted good that evening as the Sierra twilight shows appeared and the big moon rose.
