This was yet another set of peaks I'd eyed for a number of years but never got around to actually climbing meaning they'd been standing out as the only remaining red dots in the area on my Peakbagger SPS map.

Since pretty much everyone we know who has tried to do both Sawtooth and Needham with a group as a two-day backpack has ended up turning back on Needham we decided to make it three and toss in the unlisted Mineral Peak as a bonus climb. We also advertised it as intending to maximize the 3rd class as much as was reasonable and took the opportunity to camp at the less visited Crystal Lake vs the more commonly visited Monarch Lakes.

August 17th to 19th, 2018
Sawtooth Peak (12,343')
Needham Mountain (12,520')
Mineral Peak (11,615')
Day 1: 5.6 mile s, 3,700'
Day 2: 5.7 miles, 3,800'
Day 3: 6.7 miles, 1,600'

[Pics] [CalTopo] [Map]

Temple Crag is one of those peaks that is very well known and yet relatively seldom climbed.  It straddles the North and South Fork of Big Pine Creek areas and is probably right up there with Whitney and Lone Pine Peak in how commonly people post pictures of it online and for good reason.


This is the view of Temple Crag from 3rd Lake in North Fork from a trip a few years back.  It pops up early on as you're climbing up the drainage and just dominates the sky.

It's yet another peak I'd tried to plan periodically but never made it up.  The closest I'd ever come was maybe 1/2 of the way up Contact Pass after a failed attempt at the North Palisade U Notch turned into Sil and Gayley with time to spare.  That time my battered knees and the horrible slog up the pass caused me to turn back and eventually make plans for this weekend to get it via South Fork of Big Pine Creek along with Randy de los Santos and Gracia Plascencia.

July 14th & 15th, 2018

Temple Crag (12,976')

7.2 miles, 4,300'

9.3 miles, 3,100'

[Pics] [Caltopo] [Map]

If you follow my blog and Dyadic sounds somewhat familiar that's probably because I just did it as a dayhike back in January.  At the time I had no plans to repeat it so soon but then I was approached to evaluate a Sierra Club M provisional (aka 3rd class rock trip) up there on one of the rare weekends I happened to have open.

This time around instead of a dayhike it would be a backpack.  Unfortunately since there's no water back there you have to carry enough to last you for both days plus a fudge factor and it has a tendency to get warm out there this time of year.  On the plus side the plan was to approach via the route I'd previously descended so at least it would feel a bit different.  And finally I was interested to get another look at the route on Dyadic now that I knew more what to expect.

April 14th & 15th, 2018

Dyadic Point (4,360')

Spectre Peak (4,482')
Day 1: 5.9 miles, 1,300'
Day 2: 10.5 miles, 2,000'

[Pics] [CalTopo] [Map]

This was originally planned as Jeff Atijera's Sierra Club M-Rock provisional to certify him for leading trips involving 3rd class rock.  We ended up doing it as a private outing after running into disagreements within the club over what the actual rating of the peak was.

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.