I gave myself a couple of warmup days before the 2019 Sierra Challenge, the
first of which was about half a day since I had to drive up from San Jose. I
went over Sonora Pass and down the east side in order to tackle a handful of
summits with more than 700ft of prominence. It was rather warm and I skipped
the last two in order to keep from over-exerting myself. I finished up by 5p,
giving me almost 6hrs of hiking with some driving in-between.
Pickle BM
Seems the USGS misnamed this one which overlooks Pickel Meadows and the USMC
Mountain Warfare Training Center. There is a road going to a pass on the south
side of the mountain that might make for a shorter route, but it is private
property and gated at SR108. The all-USFS route goes up from the north, starting
near the Sonora Bridge CG. I pulled off the access road to the CG and simply
found a place to park before reaching the CG. From there,
one climbs 1,200ft in a little over a mile up somewhat steep,
with of brush. There is
at , along with a MacLeod/Lilley register
(which also mispelled the peak as "Picket").
The seven pages of entries are mostly a collection of peakbaggers and military
personnel from the nearby . It took a bit over an hour
and a half for the roundtrip effort.
Peak 7,240ft
This freebie is located from to
the northeast, a short 30min RT hike. With a suitable vehicle, one can drive
higher onto the peak's SE side, but it's hardly worth it since the hike is so
short anyway. I found part of a enroute, but not
. are but a bit weak
due to the low elevation, surrounded by higher peaks on all sides. Terry Flood
left a register with a handful of .
I hadn't planned on this one, but it popped up on the peakbagger app and seemed
a shame to pass up.
Peak 9,002ft
This is one of three P700s+ south of US395 and east of Sonora Junction that I
had hoped to do in a large loop. Peak 9,002ft is the highest of the three and
closest to the highway and the only one that I managed. The lands right along
the highway appear to be private, but I didn't have to cross any gates or
fences at my where the Forest lands come closest to the
road. I climbed almost 1,600ft in two miles to reach the summit in an hour and
three quarters, hardly a blazing pace. The route was moderately brushy and
required some weaving to find ways through it, passing by a
and then some interesting rocky features (one with near the top)
and . I bypassed these by going around the west and south
sides of the ridge, eventually finding the summit rocks with a short
. To rises the smoothly-featured
Sweetwater Range while to can be seen the jagged ridgeline
of the Sawtooth Ridge on the northern boundary of Yosemite. Rather than return
the tedious way I'd come up, I descended to into Little
Long Valley which lies between the three peaks. From there I picked up an
that descends Sawmill Creek to the northwest, eventually
going through and past an .
There were no
No Trespassing signs encountered past the home, but I'm not
sure of the
legality of it all. I know there is a gate at the highway that accesses this
homestead which I believe is signed and locked. It certainly makes for the
easiest way to access the three summits from Little Long Valley. I followed the
road north out of the hills, turning northeast at an abandoned road that headed
towards my starting point. This took me past some
that
look abandoned, but had a newish-looking trailer parked nearby, then
out to the highway for a short walk . In all I spent
almost 3.5hrs on this one summit, a lot of work for a minor peak.
I drove off to find a place to shower, then to Bridgeport for dinner. Afterwards
I drove up into the Bodie Hills to find a quiet place to camp near where I
planned to hike the next day...
Continued...