Friday, June 29, 2012

Merriam Peak - Direct North Buttress


The North Buttress of Merriam Peak, John Muir Wilderness
Merriam Peak
13,103'
Direct North Buttress
IV, 5.10
June 23, 2012

Suffering from a severe case of early season restlessness, Jaime and I arranged for a three-day weekend of alpine rock and started to consider our options.  We could drive 7 hours to the North Cascades, which was threatened with mediocre weather, or we could stretch out the motorized approach and put in a solid 15 hours to the east side of the Sierras.  Folks around these parts are still skiing on a deep maritime snowpack, but with a lean snow year down south the alpine conditions in California were rumored to be excellent.  Crappy Cascades weather or California sun and golden granite?