It'd been a week since my month-long road trip had ended. Two days
before I returned, the Bay Area was hit with three lightning
complex fires - one in the Napa area, another in the Santa Cruz
Mtns and a third in the Diablo Range. The result was the worst
air quality I've seen in San Jose in the 35yrs I've lived there.
Visibility was less than a mile for most of the week and I didn't
go outside to ride or run, doing little more than walking a few
blocks to the local Starbucks. We now had a second reason to wear
masks other than the pandemic. I decided to head to the Sierra for
a few days and see if the smoke wasn't better there. It was thick
enough in the early morning to set off the smoke alarms in our
house. I left San Jose around 6:30a, the rising over
a smokey Morgan Hill, behind which the Diablo fire was burning.
The air quality continued to be terrible across the Central Valley
and into the Sierra foothills. It wasn't until I was past Shaver
Lake and above 6,000ft that the sky would have some blue color
to it, not the gray-brown I'd gotten used to over the past week. The
smoke would push up to the higher elevations as the day wore on,
leaving me with poor views all day, but at least the smoke wasn't
so bad as to make it harmful being outside. I spent the remainder
of the day doing some easy peaks on my way to Lake Thomas Edison,
none of them more than about a mile from the TH. I had a more
ambitious day planned to the Silver Divide the next day, so I was
fine with an easy one that had more driving than actual hiking.
Peak 8,777ft
An unimpressive summit 5mi northwest of Kaiser Pass, much of the
approach is along a good Forest Road that I'd used in the past
with the van to visit nearby Mt. Tom. A rougher road requiring
high-clearance branches off from the better road, getting one
within about 3/4mi of the peak on . The
get one above the trees and there would normally be
some , save for the smokey conditions. About 45min for the
roundtrip effort.
Peak 7,695ft
This summit lies 4mi to the northwest of the first, on the other
side of Mt. Tom. The is about 1/3mi each way,
a modest collection of granite rocks covered in manzanita.
While somewhat in the way, the manzanita proved helpful to aid the
ascent.
Brown Cone
This was the most interesting of the summits, also a
short, 1/3mi hike. The hike is brushier (the lowest of the day's
summits, and more )
than the other summits, but not terribly so.
The summit rocks look like they could be class 3 ,
but proved no more than . There are
of a wooden survey tower at the summit along with . There
is (normally) a superb view to the north of , but it
was hard to discern today. Other views to the Kaiser Wilderness,
Shuteye Ridge, Southern Yosemite, and the Silver Divide were also
poor.
Devils Table
This minor summit can be most easily reached from ,
using for . The poorly
maintained trail to the lakes can get you about 1/3 of the mile
distance to the summit. There is a cross-country
route to Devils Table that branches off, useful to avoid the
brushier parts in the area. The ducks led up to a
staircase on of the summit plateau. As the name
suggests, there is a ring of cliffs around the top, making for
an oval-shaped summit "table". is found at the
northwest end, just a few feet higher than the southeast end I
first ascended, the two points separated by 1/5mi. There is a
small cairn and a busy found at the highpoint,
dating to 2003. There were several spliffs on offer inside the
jar, and more than one reference to running around the summit
area in naked abandon, leading me to guess this might be a popular
place with the younger crowd who come to Mono Hot Springs. I also
found an easier class 2 route off the NE side, around the middle
of the table, also ducked, for those looking for an easier route
to the top.
Peak 8,155ft
This last summit rises gently above Lake Thomas Edison on its
southwest side. Depending on where you start, it is anywhere from
2/3mi to a mile each way to the summit. on this
one, but is covered in trees and devoid of views (not
that I would have enjoyed any today). Chris Kerth had visited the
summit in 2015, so I added his name to I left under a
few rocks on the highest boulder. It was after 4p by the time
to the jeep and time to call it a day...
Continued...