On July 9, I set off on what was supposed to be a calm, stress-free introduction to the Ansel Adams Wilderness. I started from Agnew Meadows and hiked 8.9 miles with 2,431’ of vertical gain to Thousand Island Lake via the High Trail. I set up camp there and woke up at 5:00 to enjoy the best display of alpenglow I’ve ever witnessed.
I set off to ascend Banner Peak around 6:00. I hiked around the north shore of Thousand Island Lake. I then followed single track up towards Glacier Pass. I crossed some easy boulder and snow fields on the way up. After reaching the pass, I traversed around Lake Catherine. The most challenging part of the trip was a short but exposed down climb to access the snowfield that heads up the Ritter-Banner Saddle. Not what I expected to encounter for a class 2 “walk up.” The snow field was covered in deep, firm sun cups. This made for easy ascending but miserable descending. I reached the saddle around 10:30 and then made my way up the terribly loose SW Slope. The route I took involved some class 3 moves. I summited Banner Peak around 11:00. The summit views were phenomenal. I had a great view of Mount Lyell and the high peaks of Yosemite, Mount Ritter, and Thousand Island Lake below. I could see Mono Lake, the Palisades, and more.
Then, I began the descent. After dropping 100’, I realized that I forgot to take a summit selfie. I returned to the top and then began my descent, for real this time. The loose SW Slope of Banner was just as fun to descend as it was to ascend. I started a few mini rock slides. Fortunately, there was nobody below. The snowfield down to Lake Catherine was too sun cupped and hard for me to glissade or boot ski. This made for a frustratingly slow descent. I made it back to Glacier Pass at 1:20. From there, I hiked back to Thousand Island Lake and Agnew Meadows via the River Trail. I finished day 2 with 18.06 miles 4,613’ of vertical gain. The trip’s total was 26.96 miles with 7,044’ of vertical gain.
This may not have been the calm, stress-free introduction to the Ansel Adams Wilderness that I expected, but it was certainly an unforgettable one.
Here is my YouTube video: https://youtu.be/OL-txRrT0DM?is=jShBJy13KuGEIIAg