Mt. Agassiz - Inyo National Forest

The Eastern Sierra is definitely one of my favorite outdoor spots in both California and the United States in general. So when a few friends and I were trying to plan a trip to get outside somewhere it seemed like the perfect destination! And when in search of a fun scramble out there Mt. Agassiz and it's class 2 difficulty fit the bill as a perfect all day climb. 

Trip Logistics

The approach to the climb begins at South Lake and Bishop Pass Trailhead. While the road is paved all the way up, it does gain about 5,000 feet when starting from Bishop so make sure your car can handle it. Also the parking lot tends to fill up on weekends as it is quite popular with backpackers and day hikers. Once on trail the route finding is fairly straightforward. The trail is well marked and obvious with many folks on trail. The route up Agassiz remains decently obvious and difficult terrain can be avoided.

We did this the climb in about 11 hours with quite a few nice breaks to enjoy the views and summit. Some folks choose to backpack in to get closer, but permits will be necessary to camp in Inyo National Forest. They can be obtained online. We camped on USFS land closer to Bishop the night before, but there are quite a few campgrounds on the way to the trailhead that are first come, first serve.

Trip Statistics
12.5 miles
4500ft of elevation gain

Map

Conditions and Closures

Trip Report

After a couple of days up in the Eastern Sierra it was time to get a bit high! Not the fun kind though. The takes a while, suffer a bit, and probably have a headache for a good proportion of the time kind. Around three years prior to this trip I was out in Dusy Basin climbing Isosceles Peak which maxes out at about 12,300 feet, the highest I had ever been. That record stayed the same for three years. This day we aimed for Agassiz which maxes out at 13,899 ft; a substantial increase of my max elevation. While one of my friends has already experienced the pain of high altitude on Whitney, myself and my other friend were in for a ride. This definitely was going to be interesting for all parties involved. 

We woke up in our campsite outside of Bishop around 6:30 am. The moon was fairly full this week so not a lot of sleep was had sadly. We packed up camp, grabbed our gear, and made our way to the trailhead. By 8 am we were on trail moving towards Bishop Pass, leaving a surprisingly full parking lot behind. The trail slowly meandered upwards passing gorgeous lakes and hosting beautiful views of the surrounding peaks.

Views of peaks right off the back!

Looking south west across Long Lake

The higher we got the more lakes we saw. The trail weaved us in and out, passing lake after lake. As we gained in elevation the trees began to disappear and the views became more and more expansive. The water was calm and gorgeous, albeit definitely cold.

Looking back on Long Lake

A view of Agassiz in the distance.

Eventually we reached the final lake, Bishop Lake, which marked the beginning of the steeper climbing! This is where the trail got rocky and the switchbacks to Bishop Pass started.

Looking back on Bishop Lake and Saddlerock Lake

Eventually we made it to Bishop Pass! We took a nice snack/blister break, enjoyed the views, and planned our route up Agassiz. We walked by a fair amount of backpackers, all heading back to Bishop Pass Trailhead to finish off their weekends.

Snack and blister break!

Mt. Agassiz in all its glory. It actually is not that loose

After our break we headed east towards Agassiz where the climbing would begin. We aimed for the easiest chute up which was right above the small snow patch in the picture above. Route finding was fairly straightforward, aim for the easiest path up and avoid the steep bits for the easiest climbing. The climbing remained mostly class two with a couple of class three sections that may have been avoidable. Despite the loose appearance of the mountain the rock was surprisingly solid and the climbing enjoyable.

We continued right

Occasionally had to traverse across to stay on easy terrain

A bit of route finding confusion. It would not be be a trip with me if we did not get a bit confused. 

A view of the Palisades from near the summit

After about 2,000 feet of vertical trudging we eventually made it to the top. The view of the Pallisades and the peaks around us were extraordinary. A long snack break and time to take in the views was definitely in order.We were not able to find a large summit register but found a plastic bag containing a small note left by another party. Seems like they got up on an unpleasant day and left a quick note that was quickly stashed away. We wrote our own little note, added it to the cache, and tucked it back away into the rocks.

Found this note on the summit. We had the opposite experience

Summit views!

After enjoying the wonderful views we started to make our way back down. This is where the mentally longest portion of the climb (descent?) began. While I was doing okay on the way up this is when the headache started to kick in. We all scrambled our way down, following our original path. Our pace had definitely slowed but progress back to the car was being made. 

We were definitely the most stylish out there that day.

Progress was slow but we trudged back to Bishop Pass. After some scree descent, an impromptu snowball fight, and another snack break we were back on the trail. Moral at this point had dipped but the possibility of Mexican food later that evening kept us going. After getting off  Bishop Pass we continued on the smoother trail back to the car. Our pace improved and we were able to move a bit quicker, but sadly not quick enough for us to make it back in time for Mexican food. We got back to the trailhead roughly around 7pm. We made conversation with some backpackers and enjoyed some snacks prior to us driving back to our campground for a dinner of leftovers. 

In the end we had a wonderful time on Agassiz! The rock was very solid, the scrambling was not too hard, the route finding was fairly straightforward, and the company was extraordinary. If you are looking for a solid class 2 scramble in the Eastern Sierra then definitely put Agassiz on your list!

Happy hiking!

-m