Have always wanted to climb Mills particularly after seeing it from the summit ridge of Abbot in 2012. Like others I would prefer to do the North Couloir but the approach is long. In this case I got my wish but having climbed the left hand East Face gully, I was not at all interested in descending the same way. That left few choices. Since I'd always wanted to see the Fourth Recess and it was only 9am when I summited, I decided to down climb the North Couloir and wrap around back to Mono Pass the long and scenic way. That it was. Left the truck at 3:30am and got back at 7:30pm. Sixteen miles / 16 hours. What a day.
View Trip Map for loop details and campsite locations
PRE SUNRISE COLOR ABOVE RUBY LAKE
SUNRISE ON THE EAST FACE OF MT MILLS
SUNRISE ON ABBOT AND MILLS
LOOKING BACK AT RUBY PEAK
THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH FACE OF DADE
ANOTHER VIEW OF DADE AND ABBOT
A VIEW OF THE ROUTE I TOOK ON THE EAST FACE OF MILLS
THE RIGHT HAND GULLY ON THE EAST FACE OF MILLS
ABBOT AND THE PETIT GRIFFON
LOOKING OVER AT DADE FROM THE APPROACH TO MILLS
STARTING UP THE LEFT HAND GULLY ON THE EAST FACE OF MILLS
VERY AESTHETIC START TO THE LEFT HAND GULLY
MID WAY UP THE LEFT HAND GULLY ON THE EAST FACE OF MT MILLS
LOOKING DOWN THE LEFT HAND GULLY ON THE EAST FACE OF MT MILLS
ONCE THE SNOW PART OF THE GULLY ENDS YOU ARE CONFRONTED WITH THIS OPTION
LOOKING DOWN THE TOP OF THE LEFT HAND GULLY
AT THE TOP OF THE LOOSE NON-DESCRIPT SECTION
LOOKING DOWN THE FINAL SNOW SLOPE FROM THE SUMMIT RIDGE
FINAL MOVES ONTO THE FLAT SUMMIT OF MT MILLS
LOOKING OUT THE 4TH RECESS TOWARDS RED & WHITE MT TO THE NORTH
LOOKING DOWN THE NORTH FACE COULOIR ON MT MILLS
LOOKING OVER AT THE IMPRESSIVE NORTH FACE OF GABB
LOOKING NORTH OUT THE 3RD RECESS
LOOKING AT THE NORTH SIDE OF ABBOT FROM NEAR THE TOP OF MT MILLS
LOOKING UP THE NORTH COULOIR OF MT MILLS
THE LOWER HALF OF THE NORTH COULOIR ON MT MILLS
A PRETTY IMPRESSIVE CIRQUE AT THE BASE OF THE NORTH FACE OF MILLS
THE NORTH FACE OF MT MILLS
THE MIDDLE OF THE 4TH RECESS
SNOW LAKES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 4TH RECESS
4TH RECESS LAKE BELOW THE HEADWALL
THE HIDDEN SNOW GULLY ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE HEADWALL
LOOKING BACK AT THE HEADWALL FROM 4TH RECESS LAKE
MT MILLS NORTH FACE FROM THE MONO PASS TRAIL
STILL FROZEN TRAIL LAKES
DADE AND ABBOT FROM SUMMIT LAKE AT MONO PASS
APPROACHING THE FINAL RISE TO TOP OF MONO PASS
END OF THE DAY VIEW OF BEAR CREEK SPIRE, DADE AND ABBOT
LATE EVENING LIGHTING ON MT MORGAN