Long before I ever climbed a peak in the Sierra Nevada, I gazed up at Mount Morrison as I drove by on Highway 395 and proclaimed it the prettiest, most impressive mountain I'd ever seen. A few years later, I got to give her a shot.
On a 4-day solo mountain climbing trip in October 2004, I stopped by Convict Lake and started up the trail leading to the hanging valley below Mount Morrison's giant east face. Making good time, I proceeded up the valley to its head, then hung a right and wandered up loose, tedious scree and talus to the top. The views, as one might imagine, were unforgettable.
Signing the register, I soon headed down, taking a different line out through the open valley to the east. There, I bumped into a young man who introduced himself to me as Rick Kent. I told him that I was headed off to Arc Dome, and that I intended to climb Boundary Peak, Nevada's highest mountain, two days later. He said he might like to join me. As it turned out, we didn't do Boundary that long weekend, but returned in November for a failed attempt in a blizzard.
TOPO
*Photos courtesy of Rick Kent
Mount Morrison
