the highpoint to
take some pictures and admire 
the views. It was 6:45a by the time
I had driven down to the TH in Underwood Valley and was ready to
head out on foot. On a 4th of July weekend, I was happy to have
the TH to myself, though there was another vehicle parked back by
the pavement.
Peak 8860ft - Peak 8,523ft
The
Frog Lake Trail sees little traffic and apparently no more
maintenance. Occasional 
ducks, old 
tree blazes,
and 
a thin tread
would have to suffice. To be sure, I had a GPSr with the trail
depicted on it, so when I did manage to lose it from time to time,
I would be able to find it again without much trouble.
I ran into the owners of the
other vehicle within the first half mile, a backpacking couple
doing morning chores around camp while fighting off mosquitoes
(I had already applied a good dose of DEET when I started). I
followed the trail for a little over a mile to the other side of
Underwood Valley before 
leaving it to head cross-country up to
Peak 8,860ft. Unlike my last outing with Kristine, there was no
bushwhacking anywhere on today's hikes. The slope was 
steep but
easily managed with only low scrub or forest with clear
understory. I had to 
climb almost 900ft in little more than half
a mile. 
The summit is a volcanic conglomerate that had a bit of
class 3 to reach the airy highpoint. The 
north side goes
vertical down to a bowl that is almost entirely devoid of vegetation -
almost like the outflow of ancient lava, 
partially ringed by
volcanic rock of which the summit is 
the highest. There is a nice
view of Underwood Valley to 
the southwest, and an even better
view of the Mokelumne River Gorge and Mokelumne Peak to 
the northwest.
I couldn't tell exactly where the second summit was to the north, some 2.5mi in
that direction. I left 
a register before starting back down.
I continued northeast from the summit, finding some minor (and
totally avoidable) class 3 scrambling as I made 
my way down. I
had intended to intercept the Wheeler Lake Trail, but I was
enjoying 
the cross-country so much that I bypassed it altogether,
eventually connecting with the 
Frog Lake Trail where the trail
begins to descend to the lake. The volcanic rock turns to granite
on the way down to the lake, and there are ample ducks to help
with the descent through granite boulders and small cliffs. I
never did see the lake, leaving the trail to start up to the
second summit, 
Peak 8,523ft. There was a bit over half a mile of
cross-country on this one, again no bushwhacking. The upper half
is very 
open and sandy, but the gradient relents to make this an
easy walk. The granite 
summit rocks are easy class 3, though one
can make them harder if one likes. I found two closely-spaced
highpoints of near equal height, and 
a register left by Bob
McLaughlin a year earlier. Kerry Breen had visited it only a few
days after Bob. I went over to the east summit which I thought
looked higher, but after determining with the GPSr that they were
within a foot of each other, I called them equal - better to visit
both just to be sure. There is a fantastic view of 
Mokelumne Peak
from the summit with its 3,000-foot+ drop to 
the river below. On
the left profile of Mokelumne, I could see the striking formations
called the 
Mokelumne Tetons - not much prominence, but it looks
to be worth a visit.
The 
return would take just over two hours, first retracing my
cross-country route back to 
the Frog Lake Trail, then following
the trail for four miles back to the trailhead. It was hard to
follow 
in places and I would lose it when it crossed
an open meadow,
but it was all great fun and I enjoyed the exercise of
trying to keep to the trail as much as possible. Halfway back I
passed a lone hiker going in the other direction. We only
exchanged quick greetings in passing. I would find his vehicle at
the TH when I returned. I never did see the backpacking couple -
they either made it to Frog Lake without me seeing them, or they
had gone somewhere else - there vehicle was still at the 2WD
TH back at Bear Valley Rd when I passed through.
Peak 9,413ft
It was pretty warm by the time I'd returned to the TH and just past noon. I wondered if it would be too warm for the second hike I'd planned, recalling my previous outing where I turned back after a mile because it was too hot. Luckily, I had over an hour of driving between the two trailheads, giving me time to rehydrate, eat some salty snacks and cool off with the aid of the AC. Peak 9,413ft is located a short distance east of Bull Run Peak at the head of Pacific Valley. From
the normal TH, it's a little over three miles to the
summit, further than I would have liked, but doable. Better, there
is an OHV road that allows high-clearance, 4WD to drive another
mile and a quarter further. The road has a rocky step at the halfway
point that is 
the crux. I hesitated here, but the Jeep did just
fine and I made it to 
the end of the driveable portion of road
a little after 1p.
Heading out on foot, it was quite warm, around 77F. This sapped
my energy, but the previous outing had been short enough that I
figured I could make it without too much discomfort. I hiked
the trail for about 3/4mi, leaving it where it crosses a drainage and
a meadow. I followed the right side of the meadow 
aiming for
the saddle between Peak 9,413ft and Bull Run Peak, about 1,000ft higher and
another 3/4mi further. As I was making 
my way up through forest,
meadow and 
rocky slopes, I was aware that clouds were building
behind me over the Sierra Crest. Luckily, the sky
above Peak 9,413ft stayed mostly blue. Soon after reaching the
saddle, with about 1/3mi to go, the first peals of thunder could
be heard behind me. 
The sky had grown quite dark in that direction
and had started to rain. I made haste to the summit, along granite
slabs and through thinning forest. When I got to 
the highpoint,
I spent only a few quick minutes taking photos and leaving 
a register
(neat view of Bull Run Peak to 
the east). It was not a
place to linger with the thunder coming at regular intervals - all
I needed was one of the thunderclouds to blow over my way and I
could be in a world of hurt. I 
reversed my route without
deviation 
back to Pacific Valley, relaxing once I was back
in the forest cover. It was after 3p by the time 
I returned,
the temperature having cooled some due to the clouds.
Ebbetts Peak
I drove back out to SR4 and headed up towards Ebbetts Pass. Sprinkles started, then rain, then hail,
then more rain, some of
it pretty hard. I felt bad for 
the cyclists climbing up to the
pass in the downpour.
The rain had let up by the time I reached Ebbetts Pass,
but the storms were not yet over. I drove to the end of an OHV
road near the pass that has several good campsites. The first
was occupied by another Jeep, but 
the second was empty. I took
a shower, ate dinner and did other chores until about 5:15p. Most
of the rain showers had stopped by then. With almost 3hrs of daylight to kill,
I decided to make the short climb up 
to Ebbetts Peak, not even a
quarter mile from my campsite. I found 
a use trail that worked nicely
all the way to 
the summit, taking all of 15min. Someone has
installed an American flag on a flagpole, complete with guy
wires and a solar-powered spot light.
The flag looked new, as did the assembly, and I guessed it had
been recently done for the 4th of July. I took some photos
looking 
north to Reynolds/Sinister/Raymond, 
southeast to
Silver/Highland, and 
south across Ebbetts Pass. I could see my
Jeep 
down below and was surprised to see another Jeep parked next
to it. As I was heading back down the trail, I was really hoping
they had no intention of camping there and worked out what I
might say to (politely) dissuade them. They weren't there when I
got back, but returned some time later. It was an older couple
with a couple of dogs. They didn't plan to camp there, but they
sure took their sweet time in getting gone. They had first to
give water and treats to the dogs ("Cheba, which treat would you
like? Can't decide? Oh, that's a good boy!"). They hung around
another 30min with the most innane conversation between themselves
and the dogs that I would have been embarassed to have a stranger
witness. Not them, apparently...
Continued...