Continued...

I was in the Tahoe National Forest north of Interstate 80 to tag a group of 10 summits on the Pacific Crest, part of a long term effort to tag all 500+ of these in California. Yesterday I had done five of them along with another seven bonus summits in the area, an all-day affair that I found quite enjoyable. Today's effort was to tag the remaining five summit in the half a day I had left before heading home. It had none of the scenic hiking along the PCT as I'd had yesterday, just a collection of short, cross-country ascents to mostly forested summits with limited views.

Peak 7,932ft

I had spent the night camped at Bonta Saddle on the northwest side of the peak. A spur forest road (1565) shown climbing higher up the mountain was no longer open to traffic, but with a distance of only 2/3mi, it was easy enough to do it on foot. I followed the road for only a short distance before heading more directly uphill where the road veered to the southwest. Cross-country travel on this one was easy enough. Most of my route traveled through a private logging parcel that has been worked and reworked over the years by bulldozers and other heavy equipment. The summit is somewhat flat and hard to find a highpoint, views lacking due to trees.

Peak 7,860ft

This summit is found about 2mi southeast of the first. I drove back down nearly to the pavement on Henness Rd before noting a sign for "Lake of the Woods - 3mi". I had planned to take a different route from the south to reach the lake, found on the northwest side of Peak 7,860ft, but this decently-graded one did nicely. I never actually saw the small lake nestled in the forest as I turned off on a spur road going up the N. Ridge of the mountain. This spur got progressively rougher, getting me to stop when large rocks in the roadway dissuaded me from continuing about 1/3mi from the summit. It took less than 10min to hike the remaining distance to the top with open views to the north and east. The large expanse of Sierra Valley could be seen to great effect to the north.

Webber Peak

Webber Peak is located south of Henness Pass Rd and west of Webber Lake. I had found out the previous day that the forest roads on the north side of the mountain shown on the topo map were gated at Henness Pass, making for an approach of several miles on foot from that direction. I decided to drive south on Meadow Lake Rd this morning to climb the peak from the east where the going would be steep, but shorter. I was happy to find a newer spur road on that side that climbed 300ft up that side, getting me within 2/3mi of the summit and making it easier than I'd expected. The hike goes through forest initially, another private parcel with the work of bulldozers evident everywhere. It then breaks out of the forest to climb a modestly brushy slope to a lower eastern summit that marks the boundary with National Forest lands. I turned west and walked through more forested lands (not the molested version of earlier) before climbing a last steep slope to the open summit above the treetops. The views were the best of the day, taking in Mt. Lola to the southeast and Sierra Buttes far to the northwest. Webber Lake to the northeast is blocked by trees, but can be seen during the descent. I left a register at the rock outcrop before returning the same way.

Peak 7,481ft - Peak 7,140ft

These last two summits were somewhat brutish affairs due to brush. Both are located north of Henness Pass Rd and east of Peak 7,860ft. For each one, I parked off the pavement on the southwest side of the summit, ascending the SW Ridge for about 2/3mi. Each started off with forest slopes, steep but little understory. The upper, drier parts of the summits had less forest and more manzanita and other hardy brush varieties, making them more of a struggle and wearing me out at a faster rate. On the descent I would look for alternate routes, even choosing a loose boulder field over a return through the brush. One saving grace was that both summits had views to the south, overlooking Perazzo Meadow and the Little Truckee River drainage. I left registers at both summits, mostly as compensation to future visitors who put in similar efforts to reach these. By the time I was done with the second one, I was ready to go home and made no effort to look for additional bonus peaks in the area. That was enough brush for one day...

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