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Alpine Scramble - Old Desolate & Mineral Mountain

Overnight trip from Carbon River entrance. Biked to Ipsut CG, tagged Mineral Mtn on Day 1, camped at 6400' basin W of Old Desolate, scrambled Old Desolate Day 2, hiked/biked out.

Jerry Stein Jerry Stein
November 07, 2024
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Road to Ipsut CG is in pretty good shape for a hybrid or mtn bike.  Carbon R Trail, Wonderland Trail in good condition. 

    There was still some good water near the 6400' campsite. 

We obtained a cross-country permit for zone XOLD when the Carbon River RS opened at 07:30. Note, there is a limit of 5 people per MRNP cross-country permit.

We began biking at about 08:20, reached Ipsut CG around 09:25. Based on the amount of time remaining in the day, at 14:20-30 we stashed our overnight gear near the trail at 5700' (10T 593918 5197071) and proceeded to Mineral Mtn, which we summitted around 16:00. We spent about 15 minutes there, then returned to our gear.  We weren't sure there would be water at the campsite so we filled containers in the drainage just west of the trail there and hauled it up the talus slope to camp. We reached the 6400' basin/plateau around 18:30, just before the alpenglow appeared on Old Desolate. We set up camp and made dinner by headlamp around 19:30. (10T 594416 5197511.) 600' gain on bikes, 5400' hiking, mostly with overnight gear, so it was a big day.

Day 2 we rose around 07:00, began the scramble up Old Desolate around 08:10. The talus slope is stable in places and not stable in others; the larger boulders were generally more stable. I ended up taking a more direct route than most of the GPS tracks, stayed on the south side of a rib running down from just east of the summit, which made this a solid T4, with more exposure than necessary. Fortunately, everyone in the party agreed it made the trip more challenging and fun, but probably cost us some time. From the false summit, it was a short ridge traverse to the true summit, which we reached around 09:45. Fantastic view across to the Sluiskins.

To descend, we went north to the saddle and descended scree and talus back to the basin, returned to camp around 11:00. From camp we headed northwest across the plateau, then west down the steep forested slope, trying to find/follow the 100 Peaks in MRNP route.  I'm not sure I would go that way again. 

Once we reached the trail it was easy going, reached Ipsut CG around 15:45, enjoyed a nice bike ride back to the TH, arriving around 16:30.