Day 6 of July 2024 Trip to Sierra Nevada, Cloudripper via West Chute

by admin

Sixth day of my July 2024 trip to the Sierra Nevada. This was the most exciting day of the trip as my friend and I tackled Cloudripper via West Chute, a thrilling YDS class 3 adventure among the beguiling mountains of Sierra Nevada.

Alpine Lakes and Mountains

I first knew this part of Sierra Nevada from an online post about Mount Agassiz, with spectacular views of endless alpine peaks from its summit. It’s enticing enough that I’m willing to fly across the country to make a trip out of it. I would love for it to be the culmination of this trip, but on the other hand, I was traveling with a friend that was very into (indoor) climbing, so I was more inclined to introduce to him outdoor ones. With Mount Agassiz only being a YDS class 2 mountain, I was more looking at something YDS class 3 in the region, and that’s how I set sight on Cloudripper.

The standard route to Cloudripper was via Green Lake Trail and Vagabond Peak, which was rated as YDS class 2. However, Cloudripper’s West Chute from Chocolate Lakes was also a possible route that’s rated as YDS class 3. We planned to descend Cloudripper via Vagabond and Green Lake, making it a loop.
As its name suggested, the West Chute of Cloudripper was long and steep, which meant it came with exposure at some of the most technical moves. It also required proper route-finding from time to time, as once off the easiest path, things could pick up difficulties very fast. There wasn’t much information about Cloudripper’s West Chute online, I found the YouTube video by WankSteez and that by livehardxlovehard helpful. Notice that my friend and I picked a different and in our opinion better path than the one around 5:30 of the second video. Mostly importantly, Ranger Gupta’s substack post clearly marked the most important route-finding point throughout the entire trip, which convinced us that we were up to the challenges brought by this peak, and for that we were very grateful.

As for our plan, the weather forecast was good for both today (July 25) and the next day (July 26), and perhaps marginally better tomorrow. Since we didn’t take any hikes the previous day because of the weather, we were feeling energized today and decided to take on Cloudripper.

After a half-hour drive from the town of Bishop, we arrived at South Lake / Bishop Pass Trailhead just before 8am, and started our hike shortly after.
Here’s GPS tracking:

First, we were accompanied by the views of South Lake, the largest alpine lake of the day, as the trail went up a hill around it.

Mountains Surrounding South Lake
Hurd Peak
Mount Johnson
Mountains across South Fork Bishop Creek Valley
Trail

About 2.9km (1.8mi) from trailhead, the trail to Cloudripper took a left turn and left the main trail to Bishop Pass.

Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail

After that, the trail passed by a few alpine lakes. First, it’s Bull Lake, one of the larger ones.

Bull Lake
Chocolate Peak directly over the lake, Cloudripper in the background.
Hurd Peak over Bull Lake
Mountains from Bull Lake
Overlooking Bull Lake and Surrounding Mountains

Then it’s Chocolate Lakes. On the map, this was a group of three lakes, named after Chocolate Peak. And Chocolate Peak, shaped like a Hershey kisses, possibly named for its brown color.

Cloudripper
Chocolate Lakes
Overlooking one of Chocolate Lakes
Chocolate Lakes
Picture Puzzle Peak in the background.
Cloudripper over Chocolate Lakes

West Chute of Cloudripper

From the shores of these alpine lakes we caught the first sight of Cloudripper for the day. The Inconsolable Range, which Cloudripper was a part of, was like a wall that stood imposingly in front of us. As we admired its steepness, we also picked out its West Chute (as outlined in this photo), which was the route we were about to take.

To reach the base of Cloudripper’s West Chute, one should leave the trail about 1/3 of the way between the second Chocolate Lake and the third one, then circumvent the third Chocolate Lake along its north shore. We went all the way to the shore of the third lake and had to backtrack.

Not long after leaving the established trail we went on a talus field next to the third Chocolate Lake, which continued all the way to the base of West Chute. The vivid colors in view while circumventing the third Chocolate Lake brought constant refreshments to an otherwise somewhat tedious rock hopping trip.

Chocolate Lakes
Chocolate Peak and Lakes
Chocolate Peak and Lakes
Chocolate Peak and Lakes
Chocolate Peak and Surrounding Mountains

While rock hopping along the third Chocolate Lake, one should aim for the bottom of Cloudripper’s West Chute and start gaining elevation accordingly. From here on, it’s a grueling battle with gravity to reach the top of West Chute. For reference, including all rests, it took us 3.5 hours from leaving the third Chocolate Lake to reaching the top of West Chute.

Mount Goode
Chocolate Peak and Surrounding Mountains
Chocolate Lakes
Chocolate Lakes and Distant Mountains
Boulders and Talus along Cloudripper’s Western Face
Approaching Cloudripper’s West Chute

The proper climbing began once we reached the top of the talus field, and the beginning of Cloudripper’s West Chute. There was a proper YDS class 3 move at the beginning of West Chute, a good spot check to make sure people are up the challenge later on.

For reference, I used a helmet-mounted GoPro to record my entire climb from the bottom of West Chute to Cloudripper’s summit. Below is a YouTube embedded video:

And if people prefer an ad-free version, here’s the same video hosted on my server:

1 hour and 36 minutes, 2160p30fps, H265 only, compressed aggressively to 10Mbps for file size of 7.4GB.
In my opinion, Cloudripper’s West Chute could be broken into two parts. The first half (p1-3 below) was largely made of talus, and was not as technically difficult. After the bifurcation point, rocks were larger in size and became more integral to the mountain, and there were a few technical moves.

West Chute of Cloudripper
West Chute of Cloudripper
West Chute of Cloudripper
Climbing Cloudripper’s West Chute
Climbing Cloudripper’s West Chute

Below were photos from the bifurcation point. It’s important that one continues on the correct chute (on the right, p1 below) to remain in YDS class 3. Otherwise, things could easily get out of hand.
Immediately after we picked the correct bifurcation on the right, there was a steep wall blocking our way (p2 below). There didn’t seem to be good handholds and footholds on that wall. I gave it a shot but things weren’t looking great, until my friend pointed to a better path on the left (p3 below), which was marked by a cairn.

Bifurcation of Paths along Cloudripper’s West Chute
Steep Section after Bifurcation
Incorrect paths shown here, correct path to the left of this photo, outside the frame.
Correct Path
Shown here is the easiest path up this section, marked by a set of cairns.

After the bifurcation, things seemed to get steeper and more technical the further up we went, including one section (photos below) where I pulled myself up a narrow opening that lacked good handholds and footholds. This was the only time throughout the entire trip, where I felt a sense of dread among what would otherwise be a thrilling adventure. (It didn’t look to me that there were alternative routes around, but I wish I was wrong though.)

West Chute of Cloudripper
This is in my opinion the most technical part of the route.
West Chute of Cloudripper
Overlooking what in my opinion is the most technical section.

Once at the top of West Chute, the summit of Cloudripper was just a short walk away along a rugged ridgeline. Somewhere before the summit, one needed to cross the ridgeline from the west side to the east side to continue towards Cloudripper.

Climbing Cloudripper
Near the top of West Chute
Path from Top of Cloudripper West Chute
Boulders on Top of Cloudripper
Narrow Gap

If one took the wrong path at the bifurcation, then it’s likely one had to ascend through this gap to reach Cloudripper. On the right is the same gap as taken earlier from the foot of Cloudripper.

Finally, we reached the summit of Cloudripper at 2pm, marking a phenomenal triumph as possibly the most technical mountain that I had climbed, and the soaring peaks of Sierra Nevada that surrounded Cloudripper bore their witness. In addition, the steepness of Cloudripper’s western face meant the few alpine lakes that we passed through felt tentatively close as we looked down on them.

Mountains and Alpine Lakes
Small Peak to the North
Mountains to the South
Palisades Group as the prominent backdrop.
Alpine Lakes surrounding Chocolate Peak
Mountains to the Southwest
Endless layers of mountain ranges.

View from Cloudripper Summit

Summit of Cloudripper
Looking back at Cloudripper Summit
Log Book on Cloudripper Summit
Small Peak to the South

This one looked pointier from multiple angles, and could be easily mistaken for the summit of Cloudripper.

Mount Agassiz
And Mount Winchell in the background left.
Palisades Group Mountains
Looking back at South Lake
Mount Lamarck in the background left, Mount Emerson and Mount Humphreys in the right.
Mountains to the Northwest
Mount Emerson in the foreground, Mount Humphreys in the background.
Mount Tom
Couloirs of Gendarme Peak
Distant Mountains to the Southwest
Devils Crags and Wheel Mountain in the background.
Vagabond Peak
Which we would pass on our way back.
Sky Haven Mountain
Alpine Lakes along North Fork Big Pine Creek

We stayed at the summit of Cloudripper for about 50 minutes before heading off towards Vagabond Peak. During some times of the year, the northern slope of Cloudripper would be covered by a large patch of snow, requiring some traction device (or improvised ski sled). During our visit, we found a narrow opening in the snow patch and went through.

Vagabond Peak
Flowers
Seemingly grown out of rocks.
Snow Field on Cloudripper’s North Slope
Fields and Distant White Mountains to the North
Slope of Vagabond Peak

From Cloudripper to Vagabond Peak, it was first 150m of elevation loss, followed by a level field before another 100m of elevation gain. One could choose to bypass Vagabond Peak to the west to save some elevation gain, but like most people, we liked the excitement of bagging another peak and thus headed for Vagabond Peak. The parts near the top of Vagabond and Cloudripper were solid YDS class 2, but the technical parts didn’t last long and weren’t nearly as challenging as Cloudripper’s West Chute.
Unfortunately, upon leaving Cloudripper’s Summit, my friend wasn’t feeling the best of himself, likely due to the altitude. Despite the lack of scrambling, it’s a constant rock hopping between the two peaks, which certainly slowed him down. As a result, it took us an hour and 20 minutes to reach Vagabond from Cloudripper.
Weather forecast indicated small chances of rain in the afternoon. Not surprisingly, we were greeted by a few drops of drizzles on our way to Vagabond Peak. But the clouds above us had been scattered and the drizzle never lasted, as if Cloudripper was doing what its name suggested, ripping through the clouds above us.

Cloudripper from Vagabond Peak
God Rays Shining on Sierra Crest Mountains
Small Peak
This one was to the south of Cloudripper, but looked a lot pointier than Cloudripper.
Picture Puzzle Peak
Mountains to the Southwest

Mount Goode in the foreground right, Devils Crags, Wheel Mountain and Mount McDuffie in the background.
Temple Crag and Surrounding Mountains

Compared to Cloudripper, the views on top of Vagabond Peak weren’t that exciting. Partly due to that the Palisades to the south, a highlight of the day, were partly blocked by Cloudripper in front. On the other hand, the few drizzles we experienced meant we watched an impressive show of god rays above the valley to the west (p2 above).

View from Vagabond Peak Summit

Distant Mountains to the Southwest
Devils Crags in the background left.
Overlooking Green Lake
Which the trail would pass next.
Alpine Lakes along Baker Creek
Mushroom Shaped Rock

We stayed at Vagabond Peak for about 35 minutes before starting our descent at 4:50pm. One thing that slightly bothered me was that, for about 2.5km (1.5mi) after leaving Vagabond Peak, there was no visible trail (neither was the path well marked on maps). This was okay at first as we rock hopped off Vagabond Peak; but as we got closer to Green Lake Trail vegetation started to grow, and I really didn’t want to step on them to cause erosion.
In addition, my friend was still somewhat affected by the altitude and thus went relatively slowly.

Slope of Vagabond Peak
Looking Back at Vagabond Peak
Improvised Rock Shelter
Trail
The two piles of rocks seemed to form a portal, between which the trail passed through.
Pile of Rocks along Trail
The Hunchback Mountain
A small hill to the north of the trail.

After finally regaining the trail at the top of switchbacks overlooking Green Lake, we started our descent towards it. It’s a nice view to watch the lake and the surrounding vegetation baked in the warm afternoon sun. But on the other hand, the switchback felt a bit redundant as I wouldn’t consider it steep.

Alternatively, I saw some recordings online that descended straight through the talus fields to the south of Green Lake, without detouring towards Green Lake Trail and descending from its north as we did. This was surely a shorter route, I had no clue about its viability, but it seemed to go through a swamp to the south of Green Lake so it might involve bushwacking or going through patches of mud, which I didn’t enjoy.

Overlooking Green Lake
Valley near Vagabond Peak
Impressively looking rocks.
Flowers along Trail to Green Lake
Green Lake
Flowers along Trail
Flowers along Trail
Flowers along Trail

At Green Lake and the subsequent Brown Lake, there was one water crossing each that was hard to spot. The trail between these lakes traveled in a beautiful valley decorated with wildflowers and occasional god rays, as if to welcome our triumphant return from Cloudripper.

Valley Scene near Sunset
Valley Scene near Sunset
Brown Lake
Trail next to Brown Lake
Brown Lake
Trail
Trail

For the final 1.4km (0.9mi) of our journey, we chose to take the “pipeline shortcut” instead of the longer “Green Lake Trail” and “Rainbow Pack Station Trail” combination, which also saved us some elevation gain. The pipeline looked abandoned (and buckled at a few places), so I had no guilt of walking on it ~~and damaging it further~~. The pipeline was nonetheless narrower than a standard trail and at times came with exposure, but for those that could tackle Vagabond Peak, it shouldn’t be an issue.