New York Butte, Pleasant Point

24-Apr-65

By: Sid Davis

Sat morn, eight cars with 22 people, drove up Long John Canyon to within a mile and a half of the road head, at which point we were forced to leave four cars behind and make a shuttle to pick up the passengers. At 9:05 we started at a reasonable pace, with a plan to hike 55 minutes and rest 5 until the summit was reached.

The weather was beautiful and snow was hit at 8000 ft. The peak (NYB) was reached at 2:10, and the last to make it arrived at 3:30. Fifteen out of the 22 signed in. Looking across the Owens Valley, one could see a panoramic view of the recent spring snows that was a sight beyond description. On the return trip we were all at the cars by 7 o'clock.

Sun morn we congregated at the town of Keeler and "Volkswagened" up to Cerro Gordo, passing thru some interesting abandoned mining country that was the scene of major past operations. On the way to the road head over a steep but navigable jeep road, we encountered a snow drift and all hands went to work with ice axes to make it passable.

At 9:10 we started our climb and again hit snow at the previous day's elevation level. We made a long traverse to what we thought was the peak. Upon arriving, we could see the next peak over was still higher, so we called to those below to stay low, while those of us on top made a third class descent before starting up the true Mt. Pleasant. Someone commented, "Will the real Mt. Pleasant please stand out!".

We arrived at 10:40 and the last one arrived at 10:50. Only one party in our 16 climbers failed to reach the summit. After a bit of refreshment, we came down the mtn over snow and scree. It was a lot of fun, especially to those who had never had the experience of 'the heel step' in snow. The round trip took only about 3 hours.

Happy and tired, we drove back to Keeler and everyone began their wend home.