Mt. Mallory is located along a ridge on the Sierra Crest less than three miles south of Mt. Whitney in the Meysan Lake area. It forms part of the border between the John Muir Wilderness in Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Park.
Mt. Mallory and vicinity map
Despite its close location to its popular neighbor, Mt. Mallory and Meysan Lake receive many fewer visitors and feel more like a wilderness. It is a beautiful but overlooked area in the Whitney Portal region. It makes a nice multi-peakbagging day with nearby Mts. Irvine, LeConte, and Corcoran.
Norman Clyde first climbed Mt. Mallory in June 1925, and named this peak and neighboring Mt. Irvine that year in honor of the famous mountaineers who died while climbing Mt. Everest--George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine.
The Peak offers fine views of Mt. Whitney and much of the Whitney region. There are two class 2 routes from Meysan Lake and Class 2 routes up the West Slope and from Arc Pass. See R.J. Secor, The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails, or Steve Roper, The Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (out of print), for additional information on routes.
Mt. LeConte, Mt. Mallory and vicinity map
See here for some pictures in the area from 1963 Mt. LeConte trip.
On May 29-31, 1970 19 boys and 7 men from Explorer Post 360 set out with the primary goal climbing 13,850' Mt. Mallory. It was beutiful weather.
We left cars at 8:30 and made camp about 1:30 except for two stragglers. Camped at 11,200' in meadow below Meysan Lake.
On Saturday 16 people climbed to LeConte Plateau. Then nine climbed Mt. LeConte instead of Mt. Mallory and thrree plus three later made Mt. Mallory. Four stopped at the plateau.
There was much rock fall. Steve Henderson and Carl Foster were hit on head by small rocks on LeConte chute. Someone got injured on the face of Lone Pine Peak and we watched Helicopter bring in rescue team.
