Oregon Hikers

A couple days ago I went up the south side of Yocum ridge (the Sandy River side). It wasn't great. Decided to try the north side today (the Sandy Glacier side). Much more fun.

Arrived at an empty Ramona parking lot at 4:20 (lol). Warmer than last time. After 10 minutes, I was down to summer-weight clothes. At 6:00 I started up Yocum trail. Lots of spider webs. The frosty ones were easy to see. At 5600' the trail skirts the lip of Muddy Canyon briefly before turning south. That's where I left the trail and found my way up a steep ridge with occasional views into Muddy Canyon. When the ridge ended, I dropped into a bowl that drains into Muddy Canyon. Visited a couple high points, then tried to gain the crest of Yocum from the north, but failed at 7300'. Dropped parallel to Yocum, down to a broad open saddle at 7000' from which it was easy to ascend the crest, dropping right/south at tricky spots. Made it to 7600' at the base of an impressive gendarme (1:00). Dropped south and descended parallel to the ridge until I met up with the end of the official Yocum trail (6000' viewpoint). At 5600', where I had left the trail on my ascent, I wanted to look for a satisfying off-trail variant to get me to the PCT, but I lacked time/energy/desire.

In spite of my warm start, it was damn cold on the mountain. I was glad it was dead calm; a breeze would have been miserable. Topped out at 1:00. Returned to Ramona TH around 6:00. Like Thursday, I had to de-ice my windshield.

Tip for parents: It's safe to store this in your unlocked cellar. Unless your kids like beverages that smell like old newspaper and taste like goat piss, they won't touch it.

Nice work! Winter is coming! Fun to see the snow pics and learning a new word. (Gendarme and its related word arete)

Mike

Gendarme? I thought you said there were no other people up there. Did he tell you to turn around and go somewhere else?

I've been to that Gendarme, it's really nice up there.

You can go south from there, at about 7000 feet, below Reid Glacier, about half way to Paradise. I keep meaning to get up there and scout out a way to get all the way over to Paradise.

And did you go the other direction towards McNeil? There's a nice flat area about 6600 feet. Some day I'm going to camp up there.

Amazing you did that in one day. That's several days to me. Many years ago when I was working I got up to the 6000 viewpoint in one day which was a pretty long day for me then.

retired jerry wrote: ↑

November 11th, 2018, 6:31 am

Gendarme? I thought you said there were no other people up there. Did he tell you to turn around and go somewhere else?

Not literally. But he tapped at his wrist, in that anachronistic gesture that says "check the time". I didn't feel bad about not going higher, because going higher would have involved a traverse + a drop into the saddle. And sometimes getting higher doesn't mean better views. The experienced hiker knows how to size up the terrain and determine where the views are best. Anyway, been up there before.

retired jerry wrote: ↑

November 11th, 2018, 6:31 am

You can go south from there, at about 7000 feet, below Reid Glacier, about half way to Paradise. I keep meaning to get up there and scout out a way to get all the way over to Paradise.

Yeah, I doubt it's practical. Damn, while I was up there I should have taken a look over at that terrain to see what might work. Or I can just sit back and wait for Mike to do it.

retired jerry wrote: ↑

November 11th, 2018, 6:31 am

And did you go the other direction towards McNeil? There's a nice flat area about 6600 feet. Some day I'm going to camp up there.

Isn't that nice? I didn't realize how flat it gets until I was actually there. There's a little bit of vegetation, so I suspect it's not just a boulder field. Been there once before, but it was like June/July, so probably still snowy (many years ago, memory has faded).

Waiting for Mike to do it...

Yes that flat section at the top of the Sandy traverse is quite nice. You’d never guess it’s there.

Mike