It Ain't No Goode

6 Sep 1997 - by Pat Ibbetson

While hiking in to Dusy Basin I decided that I needed another peak besides Thunderbolt to take home with me (no mental problems here...). Options were limited, especially considering what I was to attempt the following day. Agassiz would have been too tiring, as would have been Mt. Goode. My hands would have been more than full trying to try Hurd from the east, so I settled for Mt. No Goode (peak 12,916). While Tony and Joe snoozed near Bishop Lake, wanting nothing to do with my insanity, I trudged on to Bishop Pass solo. After a breezy snack, I headed west with my makeshift trekking pole in hand (Ok, so I have a really long ice axe...).

It was easy going for a while, but soon I reached a carpet of wild flowers and my conscience convinced me to avoid them, which added a good deal of zig-zagging to my hike. The first obstacle I came across was peak 12,240+, a little less than half of a mile from the pass. The last bit was steep, and the blocks large, but still in the class 2 range. This little mountain intrigued me for some reason, and the summit was nearby. The high point was a monolithic boulder, but luckily there were many large crystals protruding from the rock. There were no "moves" required to get to the top, just a series of pull ups that were slightly tiring for me.

When I finished fooling around I headed west along the Sierra Crest, but after a few minutes I felt naked. After double checking that I did have all of my clothes on, I realized that I was missing my ice axe (that's what I get for using it as a walking stick...). I went almost the entire way back to the pass without finding it, and then re-climbed the peak. After some searching I found my axe lying down in some sand near some rocks which at that moment I would have sworn I'd never seen before.

Just as I found my axe ,Tony gained the pass and headed off towards Dusy, which meant I was out of time. I headed back down to the pass and then hiked to upper Dusy Lake via some grassy flats and ledges instead of taking the high route as Tony had done. Although I was in beautiful country, the monotony of the hike nearly bored me to sleep. I was rudely awakened half way to the lake when a rock I stepped on rolled out from under me, flipping me over backwards. Luckily I managed to save my head by sacrificing my right hand, which painfully came to rest on an extremely sharp rock. It was a pretty disgusting sight. I bled profusely for at least 15 minutes and when I reached camp I was still oozing onto my ice axe, which now looked like a prop from a winter-themed Friday The 13th movie.

In retrospect, I wish I had snoozed with the others, as this was probably the most worthless peak I've ever wasted my time on. Not only is this peak Ain't No Goode because it isn't Mt. No Goode (which isn't Mt. Goode...) but it isn't very interesting either. If you have an extra half hour on your hands while at Bishop Pass, don't waste your time-take a nap.


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