High Sierra Topix

Shawn's one day trip to Mineral Peak must have made an impression on me.

Spur of the moment trips are cool. Left yesterday afternoon from Templeton and headed up towards Courtright. Got stopped cold on 168 near Academy due to a complete road closure from a fatal accident. No map with me for the area so I followed my internal GPS and eventually found my way back to 168 at the top of the four lane via Tollhouse. Got into Courtright at about 9PM. 5:15 AM woke up and eventually started hiking up the Cliff Lake trail at 6:15. Got to the saddle on Dogtooth at 1030 and had a bit of trouble routefinding. The information given to me was from someone who had come in from the Dinkey Lakes side and so the directions were reversed. Got that figured out and made the summit at about 1115. Left the summit at 1200 and visited with some folks at Cliff Lake for 30 minutes or so before heading back out. Made the trailhead at 3:00. Back home at 8:45PM after hanging out at Wishon for a few.

Great fun. 400 mile round-trip drive, 13 mile round trip hike with a summit thrown in for good measure, all in about 24 hours.

Hey - looks like a great trip (of course I'm biased).

That Cliff Lake is a real gem isn't it. I have been meaning to get to Dogtooth ever since I first laid eyes on it when a buddy and I went up to Three Sisters and I subsequently went up to Eagle Peak. I really like that Courtright area and fully intend to get back there this year.

Did you encounter much snow?

Nice trip report, thanks.

Lots of snow at 10,000 ft. there were patches of snow to cross less than 5 minutes from the trailhead. Cliff lake is a gem all right. Will go back!