The Southeast Face of Mount Emerson (5.4)

While I can’t see the southeast side of Mount Emerson, its summit is one of many on the Bishop skyline I can see from my living room window. As springtime nears its end and summer approaches, Emerson always beckons as a great first long day scrambling in the mountains. In less than an hour, I can be at the trailhead, and within two hours of leaving home (if I move quickly enough) I can be making my way up the first initial pitches of the route, which are the steepest and have the best quality rock and climbing. Further up, the route becomes an alpine ridge that eventually narrows to a knife edge, just before the summit. The exposure and views are tremendous, with glacier-carved valleys below filled with verdant forests and glimmering lakes. Being a fairly quick alpine climb, there’s rarely much need to rush off the summit. Instead, I take my time and take in all 360 degrees: looking east and downwards to my hometown of Bishop, southward and the towering peaks of the Palisades, northward along the ridge of the Bishop skyline: there’s Humphreys, Basin Mountain, the Almighty Mount Tom. How many peaks can I identify as they get smaller and more faded as I look northward?

I guide this climb in one long day, with a 1.5-day guiding rate. If you can, it’s a great idea to bivy the night before at one of the campgrounds in the Bishop Creek area, preferably near North Lake.

Get in touch with me to book your climb of Mount Emerson!