Mt Goode

11 Oct 1998 - by Joe Kelsey

Climbed Mt. Goode, Sunday 10/11, from South Lake as day hike. Tiny patches of week-old snow in shade nearly down to trailhead, but only snow up high was on summer ice. Bishop Pass side of Agassiz looked surprisingly snow-free. Only route-finding mistake was taking Secor too literally in following trail to Bishop Lake; better to leave trail at Saddlerock Lake to avoid Bishop Lake's inlets, coves, bays, and estuaries.

Being a Sierra rookie somewhat more familiar with Wind Rivers, I couldn't avoid comparing the two: (1) Krumholz seems more of a route-finding factor in Sierra; (2) Sand in Sierra; such slopes in WRs tend to be all talus and tundra. (3) I made the mistake in my first WR guidebook of differentiating between Class 2 and Class 3 according to whether my dogs (golden retrievers) could do a route. I thought it was buried in the Intro, which no one would read, but of course climbers will read anything in a tent on a rainy day, and it turned out to be the book's most-cited passage. The criterion ignores the situation of scrambling through large blocks, such as at the top of Goode. Toby had to stop 30' below the summit, despite Class 2 rating. (4) I had 15' quads, rather than the 7.5' quads I am used to, and I was dismayed by how little ground a person consulting 15' maps covers.


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