June 15, 2002

My friend Scotty and I drove down to the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead and spent the night in the walk-in campground. Six bucks for a flat piece of sand too close to everyone else! We were dozing off just after dark when Weasel-Boy Scout Troop 415 rolled in and proceeded to be obnoxiously noisy for a couple of hours while setting up their camp. We were up early anyway, and on the trail by 5:45. We cruised up to the Cottonwood Lakes Basin, and the mosquitoes were thick. We were forced to run the section past the Cottonwood Lakes to avoid being exsanguinated. We approached Old Army Pass, and elected to instead climb the buttress just east of the pass. From the top of the buttress, we joined the regular tourist route and continued toward the top. Just before the summit plateau, there is a short, steep little option up a broken rock buttress that looked better than all the sand we were trudging through, so we took this route and were soon on top. This trail is about 10.5 miles each way, with approximately 4,500' of elevation gain. Our ascent took 4:15 and our descent took 3:45. We passed the weasel-boy scouts on the way down, they were only about 2 miles from the trailhead, and gave them a ration for their rude behavior the night before. Jumped in the car and began the long drive home... For Scotty's take on this peak, click here.