I’m putting together my rough itinerary for the JMT hike this year and it looks like I’ll be camping at Lake 11598 just south of Mather pass in the 2nd week of Sept. Any thoughts or opinions on the camp and then the climb of Split Mtn. then next day? Temps, easy navigation to the mountain, snow, difficulty, etc? It looks like a large rock scramble, but any advice or experiences would be helpful. I’ll be solo and have done a few climbs similar, but not this high and not in CA.
Thanks!
Weez
Weez
By climber standards, this is probably a boring climb, but i loved it. After many days on a trail, it felt so good to get off it and make my way x-country. This is our journal for the day before, and you can go to the next day or see the couple of pics we took.
We found a site on the southeast shore of the lake that someone had built up a short rockwall around. There’s no way i could direct you to it, but good camping possibilities are all around the lakeshore. (standard LNT of course) The night was fine, maybe 40s (8/29/06). The wind the next morning up high was cold, but nothing extraordinary. You won’t have any snow to deal with unless there is an early winter storm. I guess this happens occasionally. The difficulty was Class 2 all the way, as long as you just aim for the Prater-Split saddle and then follow the obvious ridgeline to the top. The boulders were occasionally moving around and so i’m sure accidents can happen once in a great while, but it was definitely a hike. Not a climb. Watch the weather…have a great time…figure on a few hours maximum. We were able to hit the trail again well before noon.
markv
markv–thanks for the details. From your photos and description, it sounds like a great side trip and break from the trail.
Thanks again.
Weez
Weez