I've been doing a lot of solo hiking lately. For me, hiking solo is both a challenge and a luxury. Simply put, I can push myself as hard as I want and take breaks whenever I want, but I don't get to share the beauty of the places I'm seeing with anyone else - except all y'all out there in cyber-world. The other great part about solo hiking is that it takes little-to-no planning. If I want a lazy morning and then decide to hike around 1:30, no problem. I'm the only one to blame if I end up missing dinner because I left too late. I pack my backpack the same if I'm hiking 6 miles or 16 miles, so even if I hop in the car planning to go one place and getting side tracked by another, it's no problem.
My latest adventure took me up to the summit of Glass Mountain which is, according to my boss, "one of the most obscure peaks in the Mono Basin." I've been wanting to do this climb for awhile for several reasons. When you live in a place like Lee Vining, it's really easy to get seduced by the grandiosity of the Sierras and forget that the landscape extends out in all directions. Glass Mountain sits out on the edge of the basin between the Whites and the Sierras, slightly north of Crowley and south of the Adobe Valley and has an incredible view for miles and miles. I'm also curious of all the things that exist east of me, because I haven't spent much time out there, even in the Whites. Finally, Glass Mountain is one of the simplest mountains to climb around here. There isn't much of an approach, yet you still reach just over 11,000 ft.
Some kind of buckwheat hugging an obsidian edge
Glass Mountain is on the northern edge of the Long Valley Caldera, one of the biggest calderas in the country, that erupted around 760,000 years ago. Glass Mountain itself is a gigantic volcano that went through a series of eruptions between 2.1 and .8 million years ago. To this day, the mountain is covered in broken chunks of obsidian and pumice that form a patchwork across the slopes. As one of the witty entries in the registry said, "I've never hiked a trail strewn with so much broken glass."
The "getting there" is the hardest part of this hike. There are at least a hundred dirt roads that criss-cross this section of Mono County (I NEVER exaggerate) so not only do you have to find the right one to take off of 120 East, but then you have to make all the right turns (marked and unmarked) to get to the little two track four-wheel drive road that eventually peters out into a little footpath that will eventually take you straight up the side of the mountain. From what I've read, there are multiple ways to ascend Glass Mountain. You can hike straight from Sawmill Meadows, a really beautiful, remote campground that is mostly abandoned, from the north somewhere around Crooked Meadow, from the west (which looks and sounds like death) or from my little two-track. This route appears to be the simplest, most straightforward route up. The key word here is UP. My guess is that the "trailhead" starts around 9400 ft and takes you almost straight uphill to the summit of the mountain. There are a few meanders here and there along the trail, not even big enough to call them switchbacks, but for the most part you are walking uphill through pumice sand.
Initially you pass through a wooded area, lots of aspen that collect near the seeps and springs in small valleys, and tall, puzzled barked Jeffrey's that eventually give way to white bark pine as you begin to climb. The white bark pines take on krumholtz characteristics once you pass about 10,500 feet, so the view becomes clearer and more accessible as the trees become shrubby. Eventually you crest the ridge leading to the summit. From this vantage point, you can see Crowley and have an amazing view of the Long Valley Caldera. The Minarets peak over the ridge and inch into view the higher you climb.
View of Crowley and the Sierras from the top
View of Mono from the top
Once you reach the top, the 360 degree panorama is amazing. You stand on the highest point between Long Valley and the Mono Basin and can see for miles to the north and south. A summit register chronicles the highs and lows of others journeys to the top. I summited on July 12th, but there hadn't been an entry since June 26th. What a remote spot! I highly recommend this hike to anyone looking for a quiet, beautiful area. The hike is challenging but very short, and the view is worth the burn in your quads.
View of Glass Mountain from Hwy 120
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