8300' Mt. Islip lies in the heart of the San Gabriel high country. Our ascent of Islip began at Islip Saddle, elevation 6,550', under a full moon set in a breathtakingly clear sky.
This should have made for easy climbing, but the snow would not cooperate. A combination of a foot or more of soft snow under a breakable crust made the going exceedingly difficult, given that we lacked snowshoes or the necessary equipment for skinning. Postholing knee and even waist deep became so discouraging that crawling for long stretches seemed quite reasonable.
Not surprisingly, our ascent ended well short of the summit. Nonetheless, the beautiful sunrise the next morning was quite spectacular from our camp, elevation 7300', high upon the ridgeline ascending from the parking area.
Al outside the tent. A sunlit Mt. Waterman can be seen behind.
A word of advice. Never pitch a tent underneath a rime encrusted tree on a breezy night, as we did here.
A view down into the desert.
A view back down to the Angeles Crest Highway.
Mt. Williamson as seen from the campsite.
Mt. Waterman (right) and Twin Peaks (left).
I've heard from some snowboarders that there's some really radical terrain above the saddle between Mt. Waterman and Twin Peaks. ;)
Not surprisingly, the snow didn't make for terrific skiing either. In fact, in places it was outright horrible. However, we did encounter one large, open region with enough sun exposure to have sufficiently consolidated.
Al heads into the large basin towards the bottom of the descent.
Overall, not the best trip, but still very enjoyable.