Electra loop: Over the top.

As I said previously, one of the consequences of going solo is that you are responsible for your own mistakes. Early in the miraculously clear morning, I managed to grip the pot full of breakfast on an uninsulated section. The oatmeal cascaded down my rock perch. There was nothing for it; I had no extra food. I grabbed my spoon and scooped it up, spitting out the grit. At least it hadn't been the coffee!

This day had loomed large in my mind for many weeks. I would need to climb to the Sierra Crest on the ridge near Electra Peak, scramble to the summit, then descend  and traverse a seldom travelled horseshoe-shaped basin beneath another ridgeline of high peaks, cross North Clinch Pass (involving a section of easy rock climbing) and finally descend to my destination of Marie Lake. It was only 4 miles, but all well above the treeline (there around 10,500 ft) and over rough terrain. I had sought out the few accounts of the traverse, repeatedly studied maps, planned compass bearings that would take me on a connect-the-dot route between ridges, lakes and passes, and tried to estimate times for each 'segment'. Based on an old trip report which described a high traverse of the basin on "well-consolidated talus and slabs", I'd estimated that it would take me 6 or 7 hours. With an early start, I figured I could be safely over North Clinch Pass before the afternoon when the storms had been rolling in. This point was vital: being on the top of an exposed ridge in an electrical storm is not healthy. I'd had this experience before and was keen to avoid a repeat performance. If the weather came in earlier, I'd formulated a Plan B of descending to some lakes lower in the basin for the night, but I worried that the storms could gather out of sight beyond the ridges and roll in quickly, catching me up high. Again, I'd seen it happen before. It all added up to one thing: to minimise risk, I would have to move as fast and as accurately as possible. I shouldered the pack.

Almost 10 hours later, I came to a lake. It wasn't Marie Lake. I collapsed in a grimy, exhausted heap and decided enough was enough.

Starting up the first talus slope bright and early.

More talus up to Electra Peak

Nearly at the Sierra crest ~ 12,000 ft. Ridgeline to Electra Peak

Made it! 12,400 ft. Sadly not even close to half way there....

Electra Peak log - very few other parties and no women...

The basin to traverse, North Clinch Pass between the two triangular peaks in the distance. Do you see any talus?

Forced to drop down to this delightful spot to make the traverse easier

Typical traverse ground....

Scrambling back up to North Clinch Pass. Notice the reported "consolidated talus and slabs" of the high traverse? No, I didn't either.

The way up: third class section of loose crap to top of North Clinch Pass

Top of North Clinch Pass at about 8 hours: break out the Snickers bar (this explains the smile)

Yay! Marie Lake at last

Too bad this is the descent.

I came all the way down there to get to the wrong lake??

[Video taken on arrival omitted due to strong language inappropriate for family viewers]

Life lessons of the day

• Don't assume other people's perceptions are the same as your own: the accounts of the traverse must have been written by Alistair-style mountain goats who bounded across unstable rocks, and not by dodgy-knee teeterers like me.
• All the preparation in the world will not eliminate risk. Embrace this fact and be prepared to roll with the punches: The best map will not tell you everything. Neither will Google Earth. Multiple times, my charted route had cliffs in the way or crossed dangerously steep and unstable slopes, forcing me to reassess and detour (usually down and then up).
• Overwhelming tasks are made manageable by breaking them into small chunks: sometimes these detours caused great dismay, but by setting a series of intermediate targets ('I'll just get to that boulder, then I'll climb down that gully' etc), I was able to avoid frustration and stay calm and focused.
• Sometimes it's really smart to eat an entire Snickers bar in one sitting: yup, when you're really pooped and you're staring at yet another nasty challenge, nothing beats chocolate, caramel and peanuts!
• Be very thankful for the times when you catch a break: I found, in the vast black ocean of talus, a series of delightful grassy ramps and miniature flower-filled meadows that lead most of the way up to North Clinch Pass. Even better, the weather held off and I had blue skies all day. Given the time it took to get across this area, I was extremely lucky not to have been caught out there in a storm. Things could have gone bad, fast.....
• You're not necessarily lost if you arrive at the wrong destination. I had taken the wrong spur down a ridge and ended up at a lake on the other side of the ridge from Marie Lake. I was in the wrong place, but I knew where that was.
• Running the commonsense app on the I-brain will get you far; it's possibly the most important tool you can have.

In the end, I was incredibly grateful to have experienced this day, with all its trials and tribulations.

Life is learning.