December 21st, 2014
  White Dome (2,234')
  Gibraltar Rock (2,172')
  Silica Dome (2,349')
[Pics] [Map]

This was the second day of a two day Sierra Club Desert Peaks Section outing to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  For the first day see here.

Today we were doing three easier peaks White Dome, Gibraltar Rock, and Silica Dome. All were picked because they had a name on the map and were unique in some way.

We planned to do Patterson Saturday and Glass Sunday but things went a little cockeyed...

Patterson is a DPS peak that's up north of Bridgeport.  I hadn't gotten around to climbing it since generally I if I'm going to drive up there during the summer I'm going to go into the Sierra and snow can make winter access a problem.  Now I was getting closer to finishing the DPS list and so felt a bit more motivated With the lack of snow we thought we had a decent opportunity and Kristen and I set off Friday night for the long drive.

November 15th & 16th, 2014

Mount Patterson (11,673’)

[Pics] [MapEastAttempt] [MapWest]

November 1st, 2014

Corkscrew Peak (5,084’)
Little Corkscrew Peak (4,720’)[Pics] [Map]

I'd done Corkscrew peak waaaaaay back in 2010 to flesh out a multiple day M-Rock provisional.  It had always stood out among desert peaks as one of those that just look awesome from a distance and are pleasant to climb.  If you've ever driven over Daybreak Pass you've probably noticed Corkscrew due to it's distinctive summit.

I was here to do it again because Paul Garry's Desert Peak Section List Finish meaning he'd climbed all 99 (-ish) peaks on the list.  In Sierra Club land this is an excuse for a summit party (not that we really need that much of an excuse...)

September 27th & 29th28th, 2014

Tehipite Dome (7,708')

Spanish Mountain (10,051')

[Pics] [Map]

September 13th to 15th, 2014

Mount Davis (12,303')

[Pics] [Map]

This was the second Labor Day in a row Jeff, Kristen, and I came out this way.  Last year it was to climb Seven Gables & Gemini and I'd be incredibly impressed by the area.

And this trip was similar spectacular.  Having been back here again it just left me wanting to find some more peaks as an excuse to come back again.

It's a 4WD ish trailhead and a 13 mile hike to get back in there but it honestly it fairly gentle as far as 13 mile hikes go.

Aug 30th to Sept 2nd,  2014

Mount Senger (12,286')

Mount Hooper (12,349')

[Pics] [Map]

August 22nd to 24th, 2014

Pettit Peak (10,788’)

Volunteer Peak (10,481’)
Day 1: 17.2 miles, 3400' gain, 10 hours
Day 2: 21.3 miles, 5500' gain, 12 hours
Day 3: 17 miles, 4200' gain, 11 hours

[Pics] [Map]

These peaks jumped out because they were SPS peaks in an area I'd never really been back into.  Closest I'd been was probably Matterhorn and Whorl a number of years ago and even then that was just a quick two day in and out where I was barely over the crest.

It is a long way in to get these two requiring over 50 miles and 10k gain any way you go.  And since Toyabi will unfortunately not allow you to pick up your permit after hours (and the fact I don't typically take an extra vacation day just to drive up to the trailhead) that meant we had to be in Bridgeport at 8 am when the ranger station opened and then haul ass for the trailhead.  So we started late, had really long days, and basically never made the time back.  But hey, it was memorable!

August 9th & 10th, 2014

Mount Langley (14,026')

Mount Langley is one of the 11 California peaks above 14,000 ft and so highly desired by many.  It's also one of the easier ones along with Mount Whitney owing to the trail that leads up to the very summit.

Personally this makes the peak somewhat less appealing to me than your average nondescript bump somewhere in the Sierra backcountry and as a result I've walked past it numerous times without bagging it.  It always seemed like a good one to save for an easier two day weekend when nothing else was going on.

And that turns out to be this weekend.  I wanted to get out but since I was looking at a brutal drive next weekend for a two day Mineral King trip a reasonable drive and days sounded pretty damn good.  So off Kristen, Jen and I went.

I managed to make things a little more interesting by finding a trailhead I didn't know about and which I couldn't find much information on.  So we'd leave from Little Cottonwood Creek, camp at the lakes, and then bag Langley on Sunday before leaving possibly early enough to make post trip mexican in Boron.

Oh, and it was also Blondie's birthday on Sunday so we planned to have a nicer camp wherever we ended up complete with homemade lasagna cooked in camp thanks to Kristen.

[Pics] [Map]

(aka A Cold Damn Birthday for Blondie)

August 2nd and 3rd, 2014

Mount Stanford (12,838’)

[Pics] [Map]

July 12th & 13th, 2014

Kearsarge Peak (12,615’)

Dragon Peak (12,927’)

Mount Gould (13,005’)

[Pics] [Map]

This is a fun trip because it's an easy drive and you get three Sierra peaks in two days with two (Dragon & Gould) involving 3rd / 4th class terrain.  Dragon is the real draw due to a somewhat unique and heavily photographed bit right below the summit.  It involves doing an exposed traverse that would be terrifying except the rock slopes away, you have a huge crack for your feet. and on top of that there's decent handholds.  The result is it feels super secure but looks absolutely terrifying in pictures.  So basically it's the perfect Facebook profile photo.

June 13th to 15th, 2014

Mount Izaak Walton (12,077')

[Pics] [CalTopo]