Mt Tom
Notes by piero scaruffi | Travel resources | Other California destinations | California hikes|
Mt Tom (4161m) is a relatively easy High Sierra mountain to climb located near
Bishop.
The most popular route is the southern route from the Horton Lakes trailhead, following the old mining road to the tungsten mines, but this entails driving on a dirt road for about one hour.
Mt Tom is drained on the southeast by Horton Creek, on the west by Gable Creek and on the north by Pine Creek. The easiest route if you don't drive on dirt roads is the one from the Pine Creek pack station. Gable Creek has a trail from the Pine Creek stables (where Pine Creek Rd is closed). Make sure you take the correct trail: there are two trailheads here, and the one you want is the Gable Lakes trailhead (the other one goes to Pine Lake). From the parking lot look east (left of the stables, towards Mt Tom). The sign is barely marked on a tree. Needless to say, the biggest advantage of this route is that you have water till about 3000 meters, and some of the hike is in the shade. The first steep part of the trail heads south. Once the view of the parking lot disappears, the summit is already visible. In front of you is a steep canyon that comes down from the plateau of the mine. It is usually covered with snow and ice. Then the trail bends right (west) and coasts the creek gaining little elevation. It finally begins the switchbacks that take you to the lower Gable Lake. The outlet of this lake (100 meters upstream from the abandoned house) is narrow and usually passable without much trouble. The trail continues on the other side to an abandoned mine (from here you have a view of the upper lake as well). It then climbs to the other side of the hill to another lake. Coast the lake to the east (left). If you look carefully you will find an easy way to cross its outlet without getting wet. From here you are faced with the only dilemma of the hike. In front of you (south) is a crest that blocks your view. You can head for the left corner (southeast) and take any of the class-3 chutes up to the lowest point in the crest (the saddle), or you can head for the right corner and heard for the lowest point of all, which is the Four Gables Pass. Once at the pass, you have to follow the crest all the way to the east. From the crest you will see Mt Tom clearly. Either way, when you reach the saddle, descend into Hanging Valley. The road that comes up from Buttermilk is now very visible. Take the road and ascend to the upper mind (a lower mine is in the valley itself). There is usually snow and ice on the road near the mine (in the northern side) so you may have to leave the road and scramble up to the upper portion of the mine. You are now right under the summit. Climb the class-3 chute to the top.
The north ridge is also easy, although a long and gruesome climb. The route starts from any point towards the end of the Pine Creek Road past Rovana (the road dead ends at the tungsten factory). Take the Rovana Exit off highway 395 just north of Bishop, and drive west. Mt Tom is on your left. The north ridge is very visible. There is no single "better place" to start, but obviously the higher you start the better, so try to find a good route towards the end of the road (near the stables/pack station/campground). Most likely you'll be starting at an elevation barely above 2000 meters, so be aware that you are in for a brutal 2000 meter elevation gain. The worst part is the beginning: a lot of loose scree and stones. Once you get at high elevation, it's mostly up and down towards the summit. |
Trailheads Directions to Horton Lakes trailhead: From Bishop go west on 168 (called West Line in Bishop). After about ten minutes (13 kms), turn right into the unpaved Buttermilk Rd (if you get to Starlite Dr, you missed it). Buttermilk Rd is marked as road 7S101. Great views in front of you of Mt Humphreys, Basin Mt and Mt Tom.
Continue on this road ignoring all the sub-roads (that are called 7S017 till 7s01I) until you get to the small sign (hard to see at night) pointing to the right for "Horton Trailhead", 8 kms from the start of Buttermilk Rd. This takes about 30-40 minutes depending on how much damage you want to cause to your car. The road gets considerably worse beyond this sign (more rocks and running water) and it's unlikely you'll go very far with a regular car. Most likely you will want to park in a small opening at 37.32166 & 118.61001. You are just one kilometer or 15 minutes of walking from the Horton trailhead. You can follow the switchbacks of the road or just head up straight through the low brush parallel to the creek (keep the creek on your left). The Horton Lakes trailhead (10 kms from where you left 168) is a gate: the road used to continue all the way up to the Mt Tom tungsten mine at 4000 meters. The "trail" is in fact the old road. |
