TopaTopa: A FAILED ATTEMPT AT 'WHATEVER THE HELL YOU CALL IT' PEAK 2/21/19

"Snow On The Bluffs" taken on a previous trip on 1/13/18.

So my last post was about the most satisfying day i spent in the backcountry, this post is about the most difficult day i spent out there. 20 miles solo. My longest day hike to date. I had planned on being at Sisar Canyon at 6 a.m. but the weather report was looking grim with rain expected so i spent the first part of the morning debating if i was still going to attempt this or not. I finally made up my mind & was at the trailhead at 7:30.

From the bottom of Sisar Canyon to the top of Nordhoff Ridge is in my opinion a pretty boring 7 mile trek. It's uphill the whole way & about 85% is on an old road. It gets a little more interesting once you hit the junction with the Red Reef Trail. Then you pass through White Ledge Camp which got burned by the Thomas Fire pretty bad. I've stayed the night there once. It's not the most exciting place to me but its a good spot to stop for lunch or to refill your water in the creek that runs next to it. One plus about White Ledge is that it has fire pits with good grills to cook on.

Last time i hiked up to Nordhoff Ridge with one of my buddies it took us 4 hours. This day i managed to make it up in 2 hours & 45 mins so i was pretty pleased with that slight improvement.

As you reach the top you're greeted by these signs. I hope you guys really appreciate the 2nd picture because i had to climb into a thorny white ceanothus bush to get it lol. As boring as i may consider Sisar Canyon to be once you reach Nordhoff Ridge it is truly a gateway to the Sespe Wilderness. From here you can hit Chief Peak, Lion Canyon, Lady Bug Camp, the Sespe River Trail, Hines Peak, Last Chance & i'm sure some other places i'm not thinking of. Walk down the road a ways & you come upon Elder Camp. Its a nice little spot with a picnic table & a fire ring. I took a quick break here & then kept it moving. I got into the snow as soon as i hit the wilderness boundary & that became the theme of my day.

My intrepid canine companion. He loves the snow & he loves sticks. Look at that concentration

On my last trip up here this was as far as we went. We just wanted to see the snow & we got plenty of it. After this point the snow got much deeper & i was following about 2 or 3 sets of fresh boot tracks. I'm guessing they summited Hines Peak the day before.

This is what most of my day looked like. Beautiful 

I was getting hit by random falling snowflakes on & off through out the day but i could see that it was really coming down in other places around the county.

This is looking out on the Sespe. It was really coming down on Pine Mountain/Reyes Ridge. I believe Haddock Peak is the mountain in the middle

The trail to the TopaTopa Bluffs goes along that steep ridge in the back

So lets get to the name conundrum. As one approaches Hines Peak you will first see a peak of almost equal height right next to it to the west. I've heard it referred to as No Name Peak, Cream Puff Peak & Charman Peak. I first learned of this peaks existence from David Stillman's blog so i just call it Cream Puff as he did. Well i got my ass kicked by a cream puff this day & i'm not too embarassed to admit it. Hines Peak is 6716 ft while Cream Puff is 6486 ft & literally right next door so i don't understand why it doesn't have an official name. None the less there is a summit register up there & i was very excited to sign my name it, especially considering it is an SVS (Seldom Visited Summit). Not a lot of people do this peak for whatever reason.

2.5 miles past the wilderness boundary i found myself staring at the summit. As Mr.Stillman described it in this post http://davidstillman.blogspot.com/search?q=cream there is no trail you just gotta go straight up the damn thing. This is what i was staring at, planning my route.

It's hard to tell but this is a 400ft climb

So i drop my pack & my idea was to follow that barren patch in the middle then cut to the left so i could get away from the steep drop next to it then make my way up around the brush & hit the top. As i started to climb the snow was nice n fluffy but about half way up it turned into solid ice. I knew i was in trouble when my dog who is far more athletic than i am couldn't dig his nails in & started sliding. However i had grabbed a walking stick while i was on the trail & started using it as an ice ax to dig in & pull myself up. This worked for a while but then the stick broke in half. It was a struggle & i was moving slow but i managed to get within 15-20 ft of the summit. If you zoom in on to top left i found a rocky out cropping to sit on & catch my breath. As i got off the rocky section i went to dig my boot into the ice & my foot slipped. This hill is about a 50 degree slope so when i lost my footing i started sliding down FAST. I was going downhill on my belly with no clue where i was headed. I dug my toes into the ice & managed to flip myself onto my back & saw that i was headed for a long drop off the western edge into a shale slide & more rocks. I was completely out of control & headed for a bad spot. I dug my heels into the ice to try & slow myself down but all that did was flip me back on my stomach. So i immediately dug in my toes & got back on my rear. I was scrambling trying to regain control to no avail, i could not slow down. All i was able to do was shift my weight & redirect myself away from the edge & straight into a bush. Thank you sweet baby Jesus. As soon as i realized i was stationary & not sliding anymore i looked around to find my dog. He was up above me still headed for the edge so i start screaming his name & he redirects himself & comes crashing into me. I was even more thankful he didn't get hurt. I slid down about 45 or 50 ft. I sat there for a minute trying to conjure up the strength to re attempt the summit but in all honesty i was beat. Anyone who has hiked on ice will understand its exhausting. I also knew i had a 10 mile hike back down Sisar Canyon ahead of me. The real determining factor though was when i looked to the East & saw the storm that was rolling in.

The Last Chance Trail drops between Hines & Cream Puff right here & you can see the rain/snow coming

It was incredibly disappointing to be that close to the summit & not make it but i decided to use my better judgement & turn around. Solo hiking is great but if you get hurt outside of cell service your screwed. I dont think the fall off the western edge of Cream Puff would of killed me but lets say i broke a leg & then was stuck there overnight & froze to death. No thanks.

Lesson Learned. Don't attempt to climb a snowy peak without crampons or the right gear.

Icy & defeated lol

As i got back to my bag i quickly realized i needed to gtfo of there ASAP. It was cold, windy & snowing heavy. Being a Southern California boy i've never been caught in a snow storm before but to me it looked like full on white out conditions headed my way & i was just tired & cold & ready to be home haha.

Hines Peak before i attempted to summit

Hines Peak when i got back to my pack

I turned tail & started trekking back as fast as i could. It was absolutely dumping snow on me. Luckily i took my overnight bag which has a rain fly so i was able to keep my phone & stuff dry. The wind was howling & the 2.5 miles back to the canyon felt a lot longer than the 2.5 miles here. Miraculously when i made it back to Elder Camp it was sunny! Weather in the mountains can be weird.

The most satisfying bowl of instant mashed potatoes ive ever had lol warm food heals the soul

I took full advantage of the fire ring & made a quick fire to warm up. Its the little things that make life worth it for sure. After i put out the fire & rinsed out the jetboil i hauled ass down Sisar literally running half the way & i made it to back to the road at about 4:45. 20 miles in about 9 hours, i was pretty happy even though i didn't reach the summit. Shoot i was just happy to be on my way home to shower.

I certainly learned somethings about being prepared & knowing your limitations. Im thankful i made it out of a snowstorm with just a few scrapes & a bruised ego. Once all the snow melts i will be back to conquer Cream Puff & while i'm there i plan to summit Hines as well! I was hoping this would be soon but as of today it actually just snowed all over the TopaTopa Bluff a few hours ago. So im sure the back side is going to hold that snow for a bit.

Any day out is a good day!

PEACE.