Type: Trad, Alpine, Grade II
FA: Norman Clyde - 24 June 1926
Page Views: 14,774 total · 94/month
Shared By: Chris Owen on Mar 6, 2006
Admins: Chris Owen, Lurker, M. Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer suchoski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes

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Access Issue: Certain Peaks: Access limited from May to October every year Details

Description

Day 1, hike from Whitney Portal to camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake.

Day 2 Do climb.

Day 3 Hike back to Whitney Portal.

Ascend the scree slope north of the lake to the Russell-Carillon Col. Head West up the ridge, keeping to the right where necessary to reach the East summit of Russell. Traverse the summit ridge, mostly on the right until reaching the West summit.

Location

Descend back down the East Ridge and scree to Upper Boy Scout Lake.

Protection

Can be soloed.

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Photos

Steve Larson on East Ridge of Russell. Does this look like a 3rd class route to you!? Full winter conditions - October 24, 2005
Steve Larson on East Ridge of Russell. Does thi…
 21
Owen on the summit of Russell. Great Western Divide and Kaweah Peaks Ridge behind.
Owen on the summit of Russell. Great Western Di…
 9
Mount Whitney from the East Ridge of Russell. Note Jaeson...in the far left of the photo
Mount Whitney from the East Ridge of Russell.…
 5
Ryan on the ridge, roughly halfway to the summit
Ryan on the ridge, roughly halfway to the summit
 2
Good exposure looking off the north side of the East Ridge.
Good exposure looking off the north side of the…
 1
View from the east summit
View from the east summit
 1
Chris Owen on the East Ridge. Joe O'Connor - October 1986.
Chris Owen on the East Ridge. Joe O'Connor - Oc…
 1
The East Ridge and North (or Northeast) Face of Mt. Russell.
The East Ridge and North (or Northeast) Face of…
 2
Approaching Upper Boy Scout Lake
Approaching Upper Boy Scout Lake
 2
Duke is the tiny speck towards the right. This is the saddle after the exposed sections are pretty much over. At this point there's still a significant drop into Upper Boy Scout, but nothing exposed.
Duke is the tiny speck towards the right. This…
 2
Looking down the East Ridge from near the east summit of Mt Russell. Mt Carillon is in the distance with the town of Lone Pine visible above its right shoulder.
Looking down the East Ridge from near the east…
 2
c enjoys some exposure between the east and west summits
c enjoys some exposure between the east and wes…
 1

9 Comments

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Tavis Ricksecker
Tavis Ricksecker  
More accurate description of how most people do the route might be:

Day 1, hike past upper Boyscout Lake, do route, and descend back to car.

It's actually pretty mellow done in a day. Jul 13, 2007
Chris Owen
Big Bear Lake
  3rd
Chris Owen   Big Bear Lake  
  3rd
Speak for yourself Tavis. IMHO, people who do car-to-car just don't like being in the mountains, but hey, I'm an old-timer. Dec 7, 2007
Tavis Ricksecker
Tavis Ricksecker  
You make a good point that the camping up there is very nice. I just meant that doing it car-to-car is by no means exceptionally difficult or overly exhausting. Apr 5, 2008
Dennis
Boston, MA
 
Dennis   Boston, MA
 
Duke and myself descended down the East Arete after climbing Fishhook. If you camp at upper boy scout, the descent brings you right by camp on your way out back to the car.

Great way to get in two different routes in a day. Fun and exposed, definitely soloable. Jul 22, 2008
Chris Owen
Big Bear Lake
  3rd
Chris Owen   Big Bear Lake  
  3rd
What's this obsession with cars ;-) ? Oct 1, 2008
Sam Page
Orange County, CA
Sam Page   Orange County, CA
Climbed this route in 14+ hours car-to-car in October 2009. Here is the trip report Nov 15, 2009
RAZORsharp
Carlsbad CA
  3rd
RAZORsharp   Carlsbad CA
  3rd
I would never do the hike up to this climb, just to scramble to the summit. best if used as a descent from one of the technical climbs, if you are doing car to car or camping at upper boy scout lake, which is what we did. incredible exposure with cool views of all major peaks in the surrounding area. Jun 26, 2014
Anfarwal Vr
Denver, CO
 
Anfarwal Vr   Denver, CO
 
Did this as the descent from Fishhook. Definitely stay on the ridge as much as possible; we stayed more north off the ridge and it turned into some sketchy exposed moves. Expect lots of scree/sand on the descent. Lots and lots. Jul 8, 2014
Derek Field
California
  3rd
Derek Field   California
  3rd
This is a superb descent route for Mithril/Fishhook... but damn, doing this as an ascent would be one hell of a scree slog... Jul 20, 2018