Three fingered jack - 7841' - South ridge class 5.6
August 2015
When Jayme and I were on our way down to Los Angeles to get her moved in and ready to start her PHD program at USC, we stopped at the trailhead for Three Fingered Jack and climbed the standard route. The hike north along the PCT from the trailhead was a hot walk and exposed to the sun as the entire area appeared to have been burned multiple times. I believe it was 4 miles on the trail (which we didn't start until just before noon) until we reached a point where we could see Three Fingered Jack. It looked formidable but I knew there was a good route up to the top.
We easily found the trail that headed up to the right and towards the peak, but unfortunately veered off it and got suckered into heading straight up the steep, hideously loose scree slopes that took a monumental effort just to gain 400 feet. We clearly saw where people had done this before and upon looking back, I noticed a nice trail switchbacking up in the trees that we missed. This scree was some of the worst I had ever been on and we literally had to crawl up, knocking what seemed like the entire mountain down as we went.
Eventually we met back up with the trail, where we rested and emptied the sand out of our shoes. We continued up the steep trail until we reached the crest of the south ridge, at which point it became breezy. We enjoyed a nice scramble along the ridge crest for a bit until we reached a spot where the terrain steepened. I actually found like 5 slings here presumably left by a party maybe earlier that same day.
Since Jayme was getting a headache, she decided to wait out the final more technical ascent to the summit while I continued. She found a nice spot to relax, and I made a traverse across an airy ledge to the right, and ascended back up, to bypass the tower that guarded the final ascent. After rounding a corner I found myself faced with a 20 foot vertical step, that offered nothing for protection anyway, so it didn't matter that Jayme wasn't able to belay me. With my 30 meter rope tied around my back I climbed up, utilizing pockets and large cobbles for holds, and emerged onto the summit. I felt this part had one 5.6 move but all the holds were good. A fall would not have been good though and potentially could prove fatal if you rolled over the very large east face.
The summit was a tiny perch just big enough for one person. The air below was intense, as both the east and west faces dropped vertically for hundreds of feet. It was after 6pm and the sun was getting low in the sky but the feeling of solitude was great as the chilly wind became stronger. I didn't stay long but was able to see Jayme below and took a few photos before making the short rappel down the 20 foot step. I then made one more traversing rappel to meet back up with Jayme and we began scrambling down the mountain. She was feeling a bit better, and we met back up with the trail and took the better way back to the PCT. We returned to the trailhead after hiking back to a beautiful sunset, and when we got back to the car it was just about completely dark.
We easily found the trail that headed up to the right and towards the peak, but unfortunately veered off it and got suckered into heading straight up the steep, hideously loose scree slopes that took a monumental effort just to gain 400 feet. We clearly saw where people had done this before and upon looking back, I noticed a nice trail switchbacking up in the trees that we missed. This scree was some of the worst I had ever been on and we literally had to crawl up, knocking what seemed like the entire mountain down as we went.
Eventually we met back up with the trail, where we rested and emptied the sand out of our shoes. We continued up the steep trail until we reached the crest of the south ridge, at which point it became breezy. We enjoyed a nice scramble along the ridge crest for a bit until we reached a spot where the terrain steepened. I actually found like 5 slings here presumably left by a party maybe earlier that same day.
Since Jayme was getting a headache, she decided to wait out the final more technical ascent to the summit while I continued. She found a nice spot to relax, and I made a traverse across an airy ledge to the right, and ascended back up, to bypass the tower that guarded the final ascent. After rounding a corner I found myself faced with a 20 foot vertical step, that offered nothing for protection anyway, so it didn't matter that Jayme wasn't able to belay me. With my 30 meter rope tied around my back I climbed up, utilizing pockets and large cobbles for holds, and emerged onto the summit. I felt this part had one 5.6 move but all the holds were good. A fall would not have been good though and potentially could prove fatal if you rolled over the very large east face.
The summit was a tiny perch just big enough for one person. The air below was intense, as both the east and west faces dropped vertically for hundreds of feet. It was after 6pm and the sun was getting low in the sky but the feeling of solitude was great as the chilly wind became stronger. I didn't stay long but was able to see Jayme below and took a few photos before making the short rappel down the 20 foot step. I then made one more traversing rappel to meet back up with Jayme and we began scrambling down the mountain. She was feeling a bit better, and we met back up with the trail and took the better way back to the PCT. We returned to the trailhead after hiking back to a beautiful sunset, and when we got back to the car it was just about completely dark.
Hiking up
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Looking up the final part of the route
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Close-up of the 20 foot vertical step
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Jayme scrambled down the ridge
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