Nelson HP & Middle Sister (CA)

Harlan W S & Jodie S
May 8 & 10, 2014

I hit Nelson on a cool day, when the wildflowers were pretty intense -- hence the trip was much more pleasant than I expected.

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Nelson HP (Galena BM)
I parked at the 2wd parking
(which is now rather rough)
and made it to the summit in
51 minutes without rushing,
so there is no need to destroy
your car for a small savings
in walking distance.
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Pink hop-sage?
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globe mallow
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lupine
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phlox
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strawberry hedgehog
cactus?
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Mariposa lily
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4-o'clock
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delphinium (possibly
larkspur)-- sorry about
focus, wind was blowing.
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desert dandelion
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Miners' cabin
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View back at Inyos.
on way up.
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View over Unehebe.
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Inyos in back.
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Telescope Peak (some
snow) in back.
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Pincushions (white) with
wooly daisy and
 fremont phacelia
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Fremont pahacelia
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wooly daisys
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Epidote covering a
crack surface
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Broad-flowered gilia.
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View back at peak over phacelia.
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paintbrush
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the joshua trees are tall
and often more than a foot
in diameter at base.
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Two days later, I joined LVMC
for an exploratory route to
Middle Sisiter in the Sweetwater
Range S of Lake Tahoe in CA.
The ascent route was a bit
brushy; for descent, we should
have gone one drainage N.
But all's well that ends well.
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Early on we managed to avoid
most brush by following animal
paths. As the route became
convoluted, we opted to head
N to a saddle.
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View S. The route to the
saddlewas full of loose gravel.
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That red blob is a human!
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Eric and Susan took another route;
Jodie and I did micro-routefinding
to avoid the dwarf mountain
mahogany.
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Jodie dances with elation.
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View to South Sister.
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S Sister at L, Middle Sister...
in middle!
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Jodie
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Me!
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Jodie converses with Collin.
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On to the county highpoint.
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Just below this gully, we hit a big
dryfall, and had to go up and
to the N to avoid another cliff.
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I was worried we would hit
another dryfall at that
distant outcropping...
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...and we did!  I found 3 ways
around it, and we opted for
the direct descent (Eric on
cliffs opposite).
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This was when the snow started
 to get serious and blow sideways.
Soon the mountain view was
totally obscured.
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Snow continued pretty had for
 the next few hours and we left
for warmer climes. NWS still
reported no precip for this area,
even though slush collected up
to 1" deep on the road.