Sweet Charlotte
by SCMA Member Dave German

Late June, the longest days of the year, Judy and I are on our way to Onion Valley trailhead to tackle Charlotte Dome. We arrive late Thursday night at around 12:30 or so and decide to camp in the campground just outside Independence. We have a beautiful little creek beside our tent sweetly singing us to sleep.

We awaken Friday morning, with a ranger outside our tent, demanding payment for our campsite. I guess we should have gotten up a little earlier. We drive on up to the trailhead, ready to take advantage of the beautiful day. Both of us are filled with the excitement of the beginning of a trip. We cook up oatmeal for breakfast, while we pack our packs for the hike in. We’ve stripped our rack to a minimum and haven’t really brought much else. We did opt for a zip line as a backup for doing double rope rappels, should we need to bail off the route. Several PCT through hikers stop by to visit. They all look lean and fit.

Finally everything is either discarded to the car or inside our packs. We set off, an alpine 9:30 start. Well, at least the hike in isn’t too long… When we strap on the packs, we realize that lightweight is a relative term. The hike to the top of the pass goes rather quickly, covering 4.5 miles and around 2000 gain. The lakes on the way up are inspiring and the view from the top is beautiful, with clear blue skies and surrounded by the Sierra crags. The ranger from Charlotte Lake is on top on his way back in along with a volunteer.

After a brief rest, we hike on down to Charlotte Lake, passing Kearsarge Lakes and Bullfrog Lake on the way. Memories of past trips intrude as I hike down the trail. Charlotte Lake looks inviting. We stop on the lower end for a snack and end up napping for over an hour. By now, with the late start and the nap, we’re both feeling a little guilty. We start towards Charlotte Dome at just before 5:00. The cross-country use trail is rough, but not horrible. After about two hours, we decide we’re close enough to the imposing dome looming above. We’re still about ½ mile up creek from the dome, but the campsite is excellent. A small campfire sets the mood for a delicious dinner – chili mac and chocolate mousse. We turn in around 9:00, planning on an early start.

By 7:00 am we finally crawl out of the tent, thinking - at least the route isn’t far away. We eat pancakes warmed by the fire and set off just before 8:00. It takes almost an hour to get to the route, including climbing across numerous low angle slabs. Finally, we’re at the base of the climb. The route above looks wild and intimidating.

The first three pitches on the route are marked as 4^th class. We decide to rope up, but to simul climb. Halfway up the first pitch, and on a crack Judy is sure isn’t on route, I encounter 5.7 moves. At this point, Judy puts me on belay. I climb on up to the obvious tree belay station and bring Judy on up. We both agree that it was difficult 4^th class climbing. Perhaps off to the left where Judy thought the route lay really was 4^th class.

Judy sets off to lead the next two pitches, planning to simul climb again. Soon she’s out of earshot and out of rope too. I yell climbing and set off after her. After about 50 feet or so I can see Judy above and I let her know I’m climbing. She’s on a steep section still climbing upwards. About halfway up the pitch I encounter a stopper that just won’t come out. It’s colored blue and I wonder if it’s fixed gear or if I’m loosing my touch. Judy, now at a belay station, yells down that I’m working on fixed gear. A moment later it comes free – booty! I head on up to the belay, realizing that Judy was climbing some pretty steep cracks for simul climbing. The top of the pitch is run-out to add to the excitement.

I take the third pitch, climbing up a nice 5.5 crack to a ledge before setting a belay. The view is magnificent and camp is visible now. After Judy arrives we re-rack and check over the topo. We decide that we’re on the dike at the top of pitch 3 and need to traverse right.

Judy leads a longish horizontal traverse to the base of a nice crack. I follow along, noticing a stopper on a ledge 50 feet below. Judy lowers me down for another piece of booty!

The next pitch is mine, a 5.7 crack leading to the crux. The climbing is steep, but very reasonable. Holds are not always obvious, but always there. The pro is good too. The topo shows a sling belay at the top just before the runout 7^th pitch. Just before I head out on the blank face Judy yells up that the rope is stuck in a crack below. I set a couple pieces and tie off. Judy retrieves the rope and I decide to set a belay station in a nice dish about 15 feet up instead of using the hanging belay I now occupy. I climb on up, quickly realizing that the face climbing is not as easy as it looks. It could be 5.9. I feel relief as I arrive at the belay. Judy quickly seconds the pitch, commenting on the good quality. Once she’s arrived it’s time for the crux (5.7-5.10 run out).

I re-rack and look up, seeing nice looking face climbing, but no pro – could it be a sign? I set off and find the climbing moderate at first, maybe 5.7 or so – not too bad. About 30 feet up I finally see a loose flake and place a 0 TCU behind it. It might slow me down - I think. I see a better crack slightly below. I downclimb and set a good 0.5 Camelot. It feels good to have pro again. Twenty feet higher I find two small nut placements and equalize them for another good piece. The climbing is still mostly 5.7 – 5.7+, with occasional harder moves. I am able to get in pieces at least every 30-40 feet too. At least it isn’t run out as the topo indicates. Pretty soon Judy starts yelling that I don’t have much rope left. Since I’m still on blank face climbing I wonder how to belay and keep climbing. Pretty soon I’m out of rope. Should I do a butt belay or continue? I keep climbing, thinking in the back of my mind, maybe I’m not quite out of rope. I place a couple pieces in small cracks just in case we’re simul climbing again. Soon Judy yells – Have you set a belay? I’m finally at a position I can and soon I set up a belay station. When Judy finishes the pitch she indicates that she simul climbed almost 50 feet before she got to a more difficult section and asked for a belay. I guess the belay station was placed just about right.

The next pitches, numbers 8-9, are through a series of grooves. At about 5.5 or so, it feels good to relax. Judy simul climbs while I finish up on a nice ledge, which has a beautiful bivy spot. It’s now almost 3:00 and we stop for lunch and take our shoes off. It feels great to be up here.

Judy lets me take the last two pitches of 5.5-5.6 climbing. We decide to simul climb again. The first section above the ledge turns out to be the crux at 5.6. Above the climbing is much easier up to the summit ridge. Once rope drag becomes severe I decide to stop.

We unrope and climb to the summit. Just below the summit I show Judy a crack running through the summit to a little porch overlooking a beautiful vertical face on the opposite side of the rock. I call it the Sun Porch Ledge. We go to the summit and take a few minutes to read the register and relax. It’s almost 5:00 by the time we start down. Hiking back to Charlotte Lake is looking less likely now.

Down climbing, we opt to head for the steep slabs heading towards the gully descent. Numerous rap slings are available, but we opt to downclimb. Soon we’re down climbing 5.6 slabs, wondering if this isn’t more exiting than the climb. After a long hour, we’re finally on terra firma, thankful for no slips. We hike back towards camp, inspecting the standard climber’s camp along the way. It looks nice, but can’t compare to our site near the meadow. We arrive back at camp around 7:00 and decide to wash up and relax, the hike out can wait for the morning.

Sunday morning we get up late, feeling somewhat lazy. After breakfast, we pack and head towards Charlotte Lake. We stay closer to the stream on the way back and frequently remark on how difficult the talus and old avalanche areas are to cross. Hiking out becomes an all day affair. We meet a group of four from Washington heading in to climb Clarence King and then Charlotte Dome. It sounds like a great trip. They give us beta on Washington climbs. We arrive at the top of the pass by 2:30 or so, glad to have the 2500 gain behind us. Two hours later we’re at the car and ready to head home. It’s been a grand adventure, but we’re both tired.

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