Thursday 08/09 two of us did a day climb of Mt Russell. We started from Whitney Portal and went up the north fork trail. From UBSL we continued west to the headwall. Turned right there and then climbed up to scree slopes that lead to Russell's east arete. This is the Rockwell Variation. It's a nice route because it dumps you out directly on the east arete. From here we climbed up the east arete to the east summit (some sections are very exposed) and then to the west summit (pretty easy if you drop down right and contour around to the peak. Headed down the 3rd class chute and descended the south face right side. Noticed climbers halfway up the Mithral Dihedral and also heard voices on the Fishook Arete. Headed over to Iceberg lake and back down to portal. Nice day for a climb! The pictures are
here.Also the next day (8/10) went up the MR as a day hike from the Portal. Again beautiful weather! Final chute (1st) to the top was free of any rock fall. Temps were warm. It is interesting to note the number of climbers on the East Buttress. There were at least 8 parties. One party was a dad and his two kids (11 yr old boy and 14 yr old girl). It was exciting to see them top out and everyone on the summit gave a good round of applause. The children looked so confident!
