Kearsarge Peak

My buddy Dave had eyed a nice route on Kearsarge Peak and after checking it out on the maps I figured it was a good choice for getting to the summit.

We got an early start under a pretty sunrise.

First light on Independence Peak across the canyon.

We found nice booting up through this grove of Foxtail Pines.

A party of two had recently climbed the same route and their boot pack made for fast travel.

Dave heads up with his home town, Independence, behind him.

We experienced gusty winds and an occasional cloud rolling over.

 We found shelter from the wind here at this old miner's cabin site.

We left our skis at the cabin site and traversed the east ridge to the summit.

Dave took this one of me scrambling up to the summit.

And another of me sitting on the summit. The big block behind me sheltered us from the wind perfectly.

Meanwhile along the Sierra Crest, Dragon Peak sat in inhospitable weather.

Looking south up the Robinson Creek drainage.

Dave peruses the summit register.

Nice scenery along the ridge.

Back to the cabin site.

Dave enjoyed good skiing right from the top.

and the corn was even better down here.

Great skiing.

Smiles!

The snow was pretty thick here but still skied alright.

A view of our route from the valley. The cabin is right at the top and we skied diagonally down and left just below the sky line.

Another truly great day in the mountains! Thanks Dave.