|
Mt Williamson (4,384m, 36.65610N / 118.3103W) is the second highest peak in California and sixth in the
contiguous USA, and lies
about 10/15 kms to the north of Mt Whitney (the highest peak in California as
well as in the contiguous USA).
Mt Williamson is usually approached via Shepherd Pass.
The Shepherd Pass trailhead is near Independence, California, which is south of Bishop. The Bishop ranger station (year 2006) hands out permits between 8am and 5pm (south of Denny's on the same side of the main street). Permits are required only if you camp on the trail. Permit reservation: 760-873-2483 cost $5 each (in 2006) As of 2011, the area is now open all year (it used to be closed in the summer). Shepherd Pass route descriptionThe hike is much longer and tougher than Mt Whitney's main trail, as the trailhead for Shepherd Pass is only at 1920m. About 2/3rd of the way one reaches Shepherd Pass at about 3672m, then enters the Williamson Bowl, then climbs up the mountain itself. Except for this last stretch, the trail is mostly easy to follow or guess. There is usually no snow in July at Shepherd Pass. Details below. There are two trailheads for the Shepherd Pass trail, one for hikers and the other for stock. Those hiking the stock trail hike an extra 2 kms. The only reason to hike the stock trail is if you don't feel like driving your car to the hikers' trailhead (which is an adventure in itself). The trail begins in the Symmes Creek canyon. The sandy trail almost immediately crosses Symmes Creek four times. (The Symmes Creek comes down from Mt Bradley, and a south fork comes down from a ridge between Mt Bradley and Mt Keith). If the water is too high, you may skip the second and third crossings by bushwhacking along the right bank of the creek. After the fourth crossing, the trail begins the steep climb up Mt Begin (about 50-60 switchbacks). At the top, you reach a "saddle" (2770m), which is actually a series of three saddles, and cross to the other side into the Shepherd Creek canyon. From the saddle one can see Mt Williamson's north face sticking out above the hills in the south (Mt Williamson then disappears for most of the hike). Then you walk down (a 160m of altitude loss) until a fifth creek crossing (dry in summer) and then a sixth one (at the bottom of a little waterfall). You have reached (2620m) Mahogany Flats (technically that's the area way below by the creek, that the trail never quite touches). The new canyon in front of you is surrounded by waterfalls. The wall in front of you up the canyon, topped by trees, is where Anvil Camp is (3130m). Shepherd Pass is further up, at the top of the mountains that you see in front of you. The trail starts climbing up very long switchbacks. You are about to reach Anvil Camp when you cross the seventh creek (usually dry in summer). Anvil Camp is at the top of the huge waterfall in front of you. Anvil Camp is shady and foresty. Yet another creek (this one wilder than all the previous ones) needs to be crossed after Anvil Camp. Anvil Camp is a popular place to camp but actually infested with mice. Campfires are forbidden. Much better to camp a bit after it, out of the forest. Two colossal mountains can be seen to the north: the ridge leading to Junction Peak (4233m), slightly northwest of Shepherd Pass, and Mt Keith (4260m), northwest of Anvil Camp or straight north of the "Pothole".
The trail after Anvil Camp is a brutal series of steep switchbacks up rocky
terrain. The trail winds up to the right of a snow patch (many hikers lose
the trail at this point and head south instead of west) and, after Pothole
(another popular camping spot, recognizable because of the green swampy meadow),
it reaches Shepherd Pass (3672m).
The ascent to the pass is even more brutal, not only very steep but
also on loose scree (and often snow till august).
When you reach Shepherd Pass, you see Mt Tyndall in front of you (south).
Now you descend into the Williamson Bowl. (In July there is usually little snow in the "bowl" and little snow on Williamson itself). This is about 3kms past Shepherd Pass.
The so called Williamson Bowl is actually a series of little hills that separate
the lakes. Most people descend into the bowl (losing about 100m of altitude)
and then walk in between the
lakes. As you descend, it looks like there is a "bridge" leading from the
wall of the rim to the center of the bowl.
When you reach the fourth and highest lake (3733m,
second on your right),
coast it to the left (east) and start ascending towards a
"black stain"
(36.65432N, W118.31733W)
left by the snow. (There is usually
a snow patch on its right, in which case you want to aim for in between the
two). Most likely you will find a use trail created by all the hikers who
do the same thing.
The moment you reach the altitude of the black stain, you will notice a
wide chute that goes straight up diagonally above the black stain.
The real summit is 200m to the left (south) of this western summit and is just a pile of darker and smaller boulders. It is not visible when you emerge from the chimney. It can be reached from the western summit in ten minutes. (I have read this section described as an "easy scramble" or "short walk": at that altitude nothing is easy or fast, and the boulders are truly annoying regardless of how little tired you are). See my pictures for more details.
If you are in good shape, estimate six hours to Shepherd Pass, six hours to the summit, 10 hours back down non-stop. There is water at good intervals. Don't forget that on the way back you will still need quite a bit of water for the last devastating hill, the saddle (which is actually three saddles). If attempting a day-hike to Williamson, there are several factors to consider (besides the distance, of course): 1. the heat, which on a sunny day beats the Grand Canyon; 2. the saddle, which comes at the end of such an exhausting to hike; 3. the bowl, which takes pretty much the same time in both directions. (Contrary to what advertised on rangers-friendly websites, the Saddle could be avoided by making a more sensible trail. This Saddle exists because of a combination of stupidity, always in vast supply in government bureaucracies, laziness, also in vast supply, and lack of funds. Experienced hikers in fact climb along the Shepherd Creek from an unmarked road south of the official trailhead, thus avoiding the Saddle).
Approximate distances and times
(in brackets the 2008 times)
The town of Independence, the trailhead and the mountains:
North Bairs Creek routeThis is the most direct way to the summit, and possibly the easiest, especially downhill. This is a totally cross-country route. (On the Internet i have found several warnings that this route is forbidden in the summer, but i saw absolutely no signs saying so. As far as i can tell, the route is perfectly legal. Maybe the "closure" refers to multi-day hikes, not to day-only hikes).To reach the trailhead, take Foothill Rd like going to the Shepherd Pass trailhead, but don't turn right at the sign for Shepherd Pass trailhead. Continue straight, past the Shepherd Creek sign. Eventually the road climbs and reaches a point where a creek physically runs through the road. That's the North Bairs Creek. There isn't much of a parking lot. On the northern side of the creek, there is a use-trail that leads over the ridge. Stay on the ridge and climb whenever you can. The creek comes down from very deep gorges that would be very difficult to hike. You are better off staying high on the north ridge until you find a notch to climb to the other side. There are many notches. It depends on how high you are willing to climb. The higher and lower notches:
Once on the other side, you need to maintain your elevation as much
as possible while walking upstream. If you lose elevation, you will have
to bushwhack. Staying at the same elevation may involve a bit of class-2
climbing and a lot of slipping on the sandy gulch. Up above the canyon is
the cirque. The route should be obvious: at some point the creek forks,
and the left branch comes straight down from the cirque. From the notch it
looks like a "ramp" leading up (southwest) to the cirque.
Landmarks (and 2009 times):
George Creek routeAnother way to climb Mt Williamson is via the George Creek drainage. This is a totally cross-country route. It is an odd alternative to the traditional Shepherd Pass route because it involves a lot of bushwhacking without the reward of the Williamson Bowl. However, downhill it might be a better alternative. (On the Internet i have found several warnings that this route is forbidden in the summer, but i saw absolutely no signs saying so, as far as i can tell, the route is perfectly legal).There are two ways to reach the trailhead. The orthodox way is to drive west on Market Street/ Onyon Valley Rd in Independence and turn left onto Foothill Rd. Turn left as if you are going to the Shepherd Pass trailhead (see directions for Shepherd Pass) but at the sign for Shepherd Pass keep going straight (south) instead of turning right to go to that trailhead. After about 10 kms and two creek crossings (feasible with regular cars), you reach a fork: if you bear right, you go to the South Bairs Creek trailhead, if you go left you get to another fork. At that fork, turn right to reach the George Creek trailhead. Needless to say, it takes a lot of patience to drive all that distance on a bad unpaved unmaintained road, and chances are that something has happened to a section of the road, so you will have to drive all the way back. I personally discourage this route. You can also get to the same trailhead from the Manzanara National Monument. As of 2011 there was absolutely no sign to get to the George Creek trailhead. Some websites and books talk about a road that starts north of Manzanara, but that road has collapsed and has not been fixed (as of august 2011). Just north of mile 66 on highway 395 pay attention to the bridge marked as 48-14R (this is a very visible sign). If you get to Manzanar, you went too far. Just after this bridge, turn left into an unnamed exit ramp (waypoint II) This is paved for just one minute and bends left. Right after the bend, the pavement ends and you're on your own. You get to a triangle-shaped junction (waypoint HH). Turn right and you'll get to a four-way kjunction (GG). Turn left and you'll drive over a bridge (15 Tons sign). Turn immediately right at the colossal three-way junction (FF). There used to be a gate but you probably won't notice it. Drive to the end of this road where the other gate used to be and turn right (EE): you will be passing three roads on your right marked for Los Angeles City. Ignore them. Turn right only when there is no Los Angeles sign. You will be coasting barbed wire on your right. Turn left when you can (DD). Now you are on George Creek road or 14S03. Stay there for a long time. This is a rocky road but i have done it with a low-clearance vehicle all the way. At the end (CC) you get to a three-way junction with a collapsing sign. You can only read the bottom (Onion Valley Rd) but the top used to say George Creek. Turn left (if you turn right, that's the beginning of what is known as Foothill Rd). This gets more and more sandy. Eventually you reach a point (AA) where only a 4WD vehicle can continue, but you are sio close to the trailhead that it is not worth it. Park there and camp there. From there it's a 15-minute walk to the end of the road, which is the creek itself. Waypoints according to my old GPS:
See also these pictures George Creek drains the southeast slope of Mt Williamson. The route is all class 1 and 2. The description below is of what i did in 2008: downhill, not uphill. From the summit head south trying to stay on the summit ridge. Eventually you will get down to the summit plateau. On the right (western) handside you should see the sandy chute that slides down into the green drainage. Find the best way to get into the chute between two huge boulders and slide down. This took me an hour, all the way down to the first little creek. Then stay left of the water and circle around the mountain heading southeast and eventually just east. If you get too close to the water, the bushwhacking gets intense (and the mosquitoes may become ferocious). If you stay too high on the mountain, you have to deal with sand and rocks. At some point the canyon narrows so much that you have to stay near the water. You can find "use trails" on both sides of the creek. Most likely, you will keep wading the creeks to find better terrain. Whichever way you do it, this involves quite a bit of bushwhacking. A good reference point is a little pine forest on the southern side of the creek, where it's really easy to walk. When the canyon makes a right turn and forces you to wade the creek again to the other (northern) side, you are less than one hour from the end. You should be able to find better and better marked "use trails" that will take you all the way down to the dirt road on the northern side of the creek. This happens abruptly. Suddenly the use trail turns sandy and then it gets wider and then you realize you are on a dirt road with signs about camping. For a description of the George Creek route going uphill, see the Mt Barnard page. The chute from Williamson to George Creek: The steep drainage of north George Creek:
South Bairs Creek routeYet another route to Mt Williamson is via the northern fork of South Bairs Creek. It requires less bushwhacking than the George Creek route.The trailhead for Bairs Creek is located 3 km north of the one for George Creek. If you are coming from Manzanara, follow the above directions to go to the George Creek trailhead but instead of going straight till the end of the road, turn right at the last fork into Foothill Rd. After about 1 km you will find the small parking lot for the south branch of Bairs Creek. |
Pictures of these hikes
Directions from Pleasanton to the Shepherd Pass trailhead: Take the I-580 east towards Stockton Take I-205 east towards Stockton Take the I-5 North exit and follow signs for 120 east After entering Yosemite, turn left on Tioga Rd Drive through Yosemite until the end of Tioga Rd (Lee Vining) and turn right into US-395 Drive south on US-395 until Independence From Hwy 395 in Independence, turn west on Market street, drive 7 kms to Foothill road, turn left. The road was still unpaved as of 2009 The first parking lot (2kms on Foothill Rd) is the stock trail. In theory, only 4WD can go beyond this point. If you want to reach the hiker's trail, keep going on this very dusty road, and turn right at the next two forks. It's about 2 more kms than the stock trail, which means that it saves you 2kms of hiking. It easily takes 30 minutes from Independence to the trailhead. There is no campground, but one can just pitch tent at the trailhead and leave the car there. The total is about 500kms from Pleasanton to Independence. Overview of the Shepherd Pass trailAscent to Shepherd Pass (about 6/8 hours, 18kms, almost 1,800m of elevation gain) Ascent to Williamson Bowl (about 1/2 hours, 3kms) Crossing of the Williamson Bowl (about 2 hours, 3 kms) Climbing the chute (about 2 hours, 0.5km, 300m of elevation gain) Climbing the chimney (about 15', 0.02km, 20m of elevation gain) Walking to the summit (about 30', 300m) Links:Driving directionsMt Williamson weather Snow conditions at 3,474 meters Bishop Weather Bishop Weather Bishop Weather Highway 395 Lone Pine chamber of commerce Bishop chamber of commerce Bishop visitor center Camping at the Shepherd Pass trailheadYou can park and pitch tent right at the trailhead. There are no bear boxes and there is no drinkable water. No bears have been sighted in this area in a long time.PermitsYou do need a permit if you plan to camp on the trail. Check with Inyo National Forest (1-760-873-2408). Both the ranger offices in Lee Vining and Bishop issue permits. I am sure it will eventually change as the bureaucracy keeps getting worse, but, as of 2008, no permits were required for one-day hikes. But this could change as the Inyo National Forest keeps increasing its bureaucracy as it gets more and more money (mainly though the Whitney permit system) and therefore it can afford to hire more and more bureaucrats. Make sure to boycott any initiative meant to increase funds for the Inyo National Forest: those funds are mainly used to hire more staff to enforce more bureaucracy to ruin your experience in the wilderness.Note that the Inyo rangers rangers seem to have no clue about trails and routes. If you have questions about the trail and conditions, you can call 760 876-6200 but it is unlikely that they will give you a competent answer. It appears that some of them never hiked in their life any of the mountains and might just be mere bureaucrats handing out permits and selling souvenirs. This is a serious mountain that should not be taken lightly, and your best source of information is the hikers you meet on the mountain or at the trailhead. Despite a big sign that you are entering "bear country", there are no bear boxes at the Shepherd Pass trailhead (as of 2008). There have in fact been no reports of bears anywhere on that trail. Bear canisters are not required if you camp anywhere along that trail (as of 2008). I am not sure why the sign says that "you are entering bear country". It is way too hot in the summer for a bear to survive, and even in other seasons there seems to be no evidence that bears ever used this canyon. If it's a hot day and you have anything smelly in the car, you might just leave it there or hang it from the only tree in the parking lot. Check with the rangers what is the current recommendation (it changes every year depending on which person you talk to). Just don't leave it under your car because ferocious ants and rodents will get to it. Nearby attractionsOnce you get to Shepherd Pass, you are on a plateau with many 4000m mountains.Mt Tyndall (4273 m) can be hiked from Shepherd Pass in two/three hours. Mt Keith and Junction Peak can also be hiked from Anvil Camp or Pothole or Shepherd Pass. Google Earth maps. All trailheads: Four routes to the top: Routes to the top: From Manzanara to the trailheads for Bairs Creek and George Creek: George Creek and (South) Bairs Creek routes: George Creek route Bairs Creek routes: North Bairs Creek route: North Bairs Creek route: And see my own pictures of all of these 2006 trip 2007 trip 2008 trip |