University Peak (4155 m) and Mount Gold (3950 m)

Last weekend I was camping with Christian and Karthik in the Onion Valley. It was a very long (9 hours with breaks) drive from the bay area. So I made a small stop at the Mono Lake, next time I come here I'll probably go hiking...


In the evening I arrived at the campground, on the next day we set off for our primary goal - University Peak. There was a pretty nice lake on our way...


At about 3600 metres we were at the bottom of a steep slope. You can see it in the picture below. Actually it looks tremendously more scary if you stand in the middle of it trying not to fall down ;-)


Next picture you can see Christian climbing the slope...


We were all pretty glad when we sanely reached the top of the slope and sweared not to go down this way. Unfortunately the top of the slope was not the top of the peak. There were still more than 250 painful meters to make. They were painful for two reasons: First, my standard altitude head ache knocked within my head and second, at a height above 3.800 you always feel like in need of a second lung. It's very funny that all the hikers that could do quite well until now, suddenly begin to pause every 20 meters. It was harder than on Split Mountain, because to get to the top we had to do some additional climbing. But the whole time we had incredible views...


On the picture below you see Karthik on his last meters, while Christian is already standing on the top.


And finally I made it to the top too - this is an Austrian and an Indian on one of the highest peaks of California ;-)


From the top we realized that there was no reasonable way to go done but again over the slope. The only easier route would have involved about 10 miles of additional cross country hiking, and we did not have time for that. So after some discussions, we decided to go down the slope. From climbing up, we had a lot of respect for it, but it turned out to be not so bad when going down. We took a better route (in contrast to climbing up now avoiding the big rocks and seeking for the small ones), and if you become used to it, it was a pretty similar experience to skiing ;-)


You just had to watch out that you didn't get into the steeper parts... After that we were trying to speed hike back to the camp as it was already getting a bit dark. We didn't fully make it, but we had head lamps, so after 12 hours of hiking without major breaks, we finally arrived totally worn out at the campsite:


So we all agreed very quickly to use the next day for RESTING. So we only did a 5 hour hike to a lake and through many meadows.


On the third day we were fit again and decided to go for the Kersarge Pass (3.584 m). We apreciated the nice prepared trail ;-) This is me at the highest point of the pass.

Most Americans just go over the pass, because they have no addiction to peaks. But Austrians are different as Karthik had to learn the hard way this weekend ;-) So from the pass we went for Mount Gold (3950 m). There is no official trail, but it was actually easier than expected to follow the footsteps of previous hikers. Well, it was quite easy until the very last meters...

This is what you would call a peak! So after doing some more free solo climbing, we were glad that there was enough space for the three of us...


Actually there were two other persons climbing to the top on this day. And just before you ask yourself why they would be as crazy as us - they were not American, they were German ;-) The view at the top and also when going down was incredible, probably one of the best views I've ever had. Unfortunately you can always only fit small fractions of the actual view onto an image...


Fortunately we could get some refreshment in a lake on our way down, as it was pretty hot...


Before leaving the camp ground, we could still get a glimpse of the home of the campground manager. That's what you would call a complete living!


At about 3:30 pm, we finally left Onion Valley - Karthik and Christian went back to Irvine, and I drove back to the Bay Area. At first I thought of stopping at a motel, but then I just tried to drive through. It took me about 7 hours of driving before I reached the appartment...


So there is now less than 14 days left and I'm really looking forward to fly home again! On the next weekend we are planning for another hiking trip to the top of Mount Brewer (4.114 m)!