Climbing near June Lake: Bouldering, Rock and Ice

The glaciers that carved the Loop left a lot of rock lying around. Bring shoes, chalk and a pad.

Bouldering

June Lake is ringed by published bouldering: the Bachar Boulders, Big Springs, the Aeolian Buttes, Deadman Summit and the Ice Cream Boulders, plus a string of problems along North Shore Drive by Gull Lake, a few minutes from the chalet. Most of it is volcanic rock, featured and friction-friendly, and most of it sits at seven or eight thousand feet, so you will feel the altitude on the first warm-up and blame your shoes.

A boulderer in a blue shirt reaching up the underside of a steep, pocketed volcanic overhang — Pockets, pinches and a long reach. The volcanic rock here is built for it.

A climber silhouetted on the edge of a tall pocketed boulder in the sagebrush, with the Mono Basin hills and Sierra beyond — Rockin' Dave, out in the Mono Lake country.

Sunset near the tufas

The tufa towers at Mono Lake are the most photographed rocks in the county, and they are not for climbing: standing on or climbing the tufa is illegal under California State Park rules, and it breaks. The volcanic boulders and buttes around the basin are another story. At last light, with the lake going silver and the Sierra going pink behind you, a session out there is hard to beat.

A climber silhouetted under a steep overhang at dusk, with snowy Sierra peaks on the horizon — Last light, a steep roof, and the Sierra going dark behind her.

Secret spots

Some of the best rock near the chalet is not in any guidebook, and it is going to stay that way. Ask us at check-in. Bring a pad, brush off your tick marks, and do not post the location. The rock has waited a few million years for you. It can wait for the next person too.

A climber in an orange shirt working up a huge dark lichen-streaked slab under a blue sky, an aspen leaf in the corner — Somewhere on the Loop. That is all we are saying.

Ice on the Loop

In a cold winter, Horsetail Falls freezes above Silver Lake. Park near the power plant where the Loop’s winter road closure begins and follow the old tramline toward the falls. The main flow runs about WI2 to 3, with North Gully, three pitches of WI2+, beside it, and there is roadside ice on the Loop as well. The falls often keep running under the ice, so quality changes from week to week. Some of the best ice in the West is half an hour away in Lee Vining Canyon.

A climber in a black down jacket and helmet grinning at a belay against a granite wall, ropes running through the snow — The belay is the cold part. He is smiling because he already led his pitch.

New to ice, or new to this ice? Sierra Mountain Guides runs courses and guided days on both.

Granite in Tuolumne

When Tioga Road is open, the granite domes of Tuolumne Meadows are forty-five minutes away: clean slabs, long moderate routes and some of the best alpine rock in the country, with none of the crowds of Yosemite Valley.

Two climbers with packs and helmets rappelling down a granite slab on Matthes Crest, with forest and meadow far below — Rappelling off Matthes Crest, one of the great knife-edge ridges of the Tuolumne high country.

When the weather turns

The full bouldering wall in the chalet garage, covered in holds, under a stained-glass window — The wall in the garage, for the afternoon the thunderstorm rolls in.

Afternoon thunderstorms are part of summer in the high country. When one rolls in, there is a full bouldering wall in the garage. Kids love it. So do the adults who were promised a summit and got a downpour.

Bouldering, Rock and Ice Climbing near June Lake

Bouldering

Sunset near the tufas

Secret spots

Ice on the Loop

Granite in Tuolumne

When the weather turns

Plan your stay at the chalet

Bouldering

Sunset near the tufas

Secret spots

Ice on the Loop

Granite in Tuolumne

When the weather turns

Keep exploring

Plan your stay at the chalet