During my hike up Half Moon Pass a few couple of weeks ago I admired nearby Pointless Peak, so I studied the maps, did a little research and settled on an ascent of the ridge ENE of the summit.
Pointless Peak on the right over Serene Lake. There's no distinct high point hence - it's Pointless!
I roped my friend Ann and her intrepid dog Olive and off we went. I perhaps should have done a little more research on the approach as we wandered around for a bit to start. We came across this amazing Juniper though.
Alas our route came into view. We scrambled up above the cliffs along the tree/rock line.
Ann peers over the edge.
The ridge proved to be a decent route. The lower section was more treed than we anticipated but with only a little bush whacking. The only difficulty arose near the skyline of the above pic. To continue directly on the ridge requires a section of class 3 with a couple of class 4 moves. We avoided that by down climbing a short pitch of steep class 3 into a broad chute that leads to the summit. Easy for us. Not so easy for Olive. We coaxed her down and she handled it like a champ!
Beautiful bouquet!
Big view of Little Lakes Valley.
Ann and Olive approach the summit cairn.
Looking back towards Mt Abbot and Mono Pass.
Rugged Red and White Mountain pokes up.
White Mountain rises over Wheeler Ridge.
Ann checks out a balanced rock near a big drop off.
One of the high Hilton Lakes
Hilton Lakes with Lake Crowley and Long Valley in the distance.
Olive and Ann enjoy the big blocks!
Half Moon Pass center. The class 3 route from the plateau to the pass looked good, but we decided not to chance it with Olive on board.
Happy Olive emerges from the chute in a purple halo.
Super fun day!
