High Sierra Topix

I switched companies this year and don’t have that many days off. I already did one big backpacking trip and then a day trip of Mount Russell. Looking for a few more day trips before the season is over. I can get up to lone Pine, independence or Bishop in 45 hours on a Friday evening sleep at the trailhead and do something on Saturday, and be home on Sunday. Two of my favorites so far have been cloud ripper for the super fun climbing and solid rock and Aggasiz for the summit views, despite the terrible scree slog. I’ve been up to middle Palisade, but got intimidated looking at the first pitch and bailed. Also bailed at the top of Bear Creek spire, one of the easy routes I can’t remember, which, when I felt like I needed a rope on some slabs. If I’m solo, easy class three is probably my limit. I could obviously research this in my books, but I feel like class three is a huge range and when you look at trail distance, and elevation gain, sometimes it’s hard to judge what is actually reasonable for a day. So I’m looking for suggestions :-)

I hope you did not mean 45 hours to the trailhead! I assume you meant 4-5 hours.

Middle Palisade is really better done by camping at a nearby lake for a weekend trip. It is pretty high-level class 3 if not class 4 and a lot of elevation gain just to get to the base of the peak. If possible, I think weekend trips are better because it is a bit daunting to go from sea level to nearly 14000 feet in one day. If you camp at the trailhead then you are essentially also doing a weekend trip. I see that this is what you are talking about. And now a day-trip from trailhead makes sense because of the stupid permit system.

My favorite class-3 climbs are not near enough to a trailhead to do as a day-trip. Mt Tyndall has a great classic class 3 climb from Shepherd Pass. Milestone Mtn from Milestone Basin is great.

The are some possibilities from Onion Valley but I have not done them. Also some nice ones from Tioga Pass, but you now have to have a permit to drive 120 through Yosemite. Mt. Tellac in Desolation Wilderness is a good climb, but do not know if you are driving from the S Ca or N Ca.

I am not a huge climber, but I had my days.
I remember reading that Norman Clyde climbed Mount Thompson 50 times..and that was good enough for me.
I did it in a day around 1985 or so. beautiful peak over Blue Lake, some talus, some glacier, some spice ( class 3 only) below summit.

I presume you're from SoCal, since Lone Pine is close, so my experiences in the Northern Sierra will be less useful. Also what some consider a day trip will be a multiday backpack to others.

North Peak in the 20 Lakes Basin (across from Mt Conness) struck me as incredibly scenic for a low effort. The SE face is class 3ish on the climber's right (east side) and a sand slog on the left (west). So it is easy to adjust the difficulty as you see fit, and enjoy the sandy plunge coming down. It took me about four hours, should be easily accomplished in a day by most. Course, I promptly threw up upon getting back to the car, so maybe don't do this one straight from sea level. Mt Conness is also a good time, although the views aren't as good on the approach. Neither of these require entering Yosemite, so you avoid that red tape.

university, gould, dragon peak, clyde minaret, picture, muriel, emerson,wahoo, pilot knob, ritter, banner…..I could go on and on!

Humphreys is a bit of a challenge, though I've done it a couple times and liked it a lot. If it looks like too much when you have reached the nothern notch, you could bail off and still climb Emerson.

What is your MO Ultrajen? Do you make 4 AM starts and plan on headlamping at the beginning and end if necessary? Sounds like fun; I'd love to do Dragon Peak that way, and make it down and around via Glen and Kearsarge. That would be a very long, but very nice day.

I also recommend University Peak for the wonderful summit view. Likewise Lamarck and Langley-- both big mountains with stunning views.

Have you done the mountains along the Muir Crest Ultrajen? And just to the north of Lonepine Peak, above Meysan Lake, are Mallory, Irvine and LeConte Peaks, which are also fine as day climbs.

Good Luck!

Here are a few details (that repeat some of the peaks listed by others but with some additional details). Day-hikeable depends on the person but since you did Russell as a dayhike, I'll sort of recommend accordingly based on that. From S to N

Cottonwood. I presume that Langley and Cirque peak might be a bit on the boring side from a mountaineering and aesthetic standpoint (both class 1), so we'll skip there and bounce a big north to Meysan Lake and environs

Meysan Lake area:
Mt Le Conte. Super cool route (ie original Norman Clyde route) to a beautiful peak with the class 3 on the final part of the ascent. The caveat is that the famed/notorious Waterfall Pitch may push past the limits of 3rd class for some folks. When I did the climb I didn't like the long reach etc so I opted for a longer and more exposed (ie higher potential fall) detour using two parallel cracks left (north, I think) of the "Waterfall" step. That alternative almost certainly did go beyond normal definitions of class 3.

Mts. Mallory and Irvine are steep class 2 and fine-looking peaks, with Irvine being a bit more alpine. These are easily climbed from Meysan Lake. When I was there in 1979 I did all three (Irvine then Mallory then LeConte; traverse between the peaks is class 2 if done optimally) from my camp at Meysan Lake (had climbed Lone Pine Peak en route), then picked up camped and hiked out. I think it is probably feasible to climb all three (Irvine-Mallory-LeConte) in a dayhike from the trailhead, although I certainly wouldn't consider it myself at my age. For the same reason that I didn't recommend Langley and Cirque, I presume Long Pine Pk via the class 2 route from Meysan is off the table owing to its non-alpine nature (one of worst scree slogs in the Sierra from there: uggggh) but it too would work as a dayhike from the trailhead.

Symmes Creek/Shepherd Pass. Williamson and Tyndall are fine peaks; I especially like Williamson, but they are a pretty extreme dayhike when you consider the elevation gain from the trailhead---you're looking at >8000' of gain (I think when you count up and downs and coming back you're looking at 9k gain or so). Williamson by way of that west chute is really neat. It is so narrow you can't see it until you're below it. It is class 2 but ends at a notch below the summit plateau. The final crack (to climb to the summit plateau) appears a bit daunting when you first look at it, but it is low-moderate class 3 at most.

Onion Valley. University Peak. On the northern face you can choose between the guidebook route that finishes class 3, or there is a northern shoulder route I did in 1976 (going up from Matlock/Bench L) that is class 2 and can be finished class 2 if you wish to.
Mt Gould. Might be boring from mountaineering standpoint were it not for the outstanding class 3 summit block.
Have heard good things about class 3 Dragon but have not climbed it myself. I recall there are some very nice reports of that peak on Topix from Snownymph.

Taboose Pass area. For the same reason that Williamson and Tyndall are a bit over the top (note that these trailheads are not that high in elevation compared to Whitney Portal to hit Russell or Meysan for LeConte) in elevation gain, dayhiking Split Mtn out of Red Lake is a bit of a grind, plus you need a high clearance/4WD to get to the Red Lake trailhead.

The same applies to Birch Mtn and the Thumb from the Birch Lake trailhead. Both class 2 pushing into 3rd class and fine peaks but a pretty stiff hike.

Bishop Area, South Lake. Mts Johnson and Gilbert are fun and can be dayhiked from South Lake by way of Treasure Lakes. Johnson is a class 2 peak that sort of looks like a class 3 peak. You can make the climb as fun as you want to (ie add on some class 3 to suit your tastes) Gilbert has a pretty steep couloir to reach its easy summit talus slope (ice axe needed for couloir).

Sabrina. Mts Wallace and Haeckel. I'm still kicking myself for not climbing Haeckel on the day I did Wallace. Wallace is class 2 with a nice pointy summit and Haeckel is class 3rd class.


North Lake. Mt Emerson. I missed this summit because I messed up the route (from south). I sort of figured out how I shoulda done it as I retreated off the mountain (after some frightening moves on loose class 4 stuff on the north face below the crest of the W ridge).

Horton Creek. Mt Tom. Guidebooks list this as class 1. Not really. When you do the standard route from Horton Lake you get to the final summit approach and you have two choices: some miserable class 2 scree chutes (great on descent) above Tungstar Mine (kinda standard description of route) or the more interesting SW ridge which gets to class 3 no matter what you do--how much class 3 is a matter of route choice details.

Basin Mtn is also supposed to be a class 2 (but pushing toward class 3 toward the top) climb from Horton Lake and is also a fine dayhike alternative from the trailhead. I was going to do this after my 2nd time up Mt Tom in 1991 but I broke my ankle the afternoon after climbing Mt Tom (while fishing at Upper Horton Lake) and that cancelled my planned Basin Mtn climb.


Pine Creek: Royce or Merriam Peaks. Both are class 2 but fine-looking peaks. Mt Julius Caesar is less alpine but easier to hit from Italy Pass.

Little Lakes Valley:
Mt Abbot by standard NE Couloir route. I've seen this "re-rated" class 4 (summit part) but I personally agree with the old (Roper, Secor) rating of class 3. The key is the condition of the snow-ice in the couloir. Without hard snow on this ice you need to do some real ice climbing to reach the "easy class 3" exit that leads to the top of the ridge. If you have to bail "early" owing to ice then there is one (in my book) 4th class move along the side of the couloir to reach the "easy class 3" which in my book is simply steep class 2 with huge ledges and minimal fall potential. The steep class 2/3 leads to the top of the ridge which initially has a talus top but narrows to a thrilling knife edge in which you make one move to one side and then the other, with the crux (and final) class 3 moves done hanging over the west face. There is sort of this narrow ledge walk holding on the top followed by this mantle move and then you're done. Seems pretty standard 3rd class to me and it didn't seen particularly scary descending it whereas that bottom part where I had to steer around the ice was.

Mt Dade. Nice looking peak from all angles. It is strictly class 2 but it is steep-sided and cliffy enough so it isn't just a scree and talus lump.


Mt Morgan the higher. Considered an easy walk up class 1, this is a decent class 2 climb from Little Lakes Valley and it is on solid talus without too much annoying scree. Amazing view from the summit and this is a summit that itself is prominent from so many other summits along the E side.


Mc Gee Creek. Red and White Mtn. Gorgeous peak and you can hit this nicely from Big Mc Gee Lake with a class 2 chute (can avoid loose stuff and do a bit of class 3 on ascent to avoid it) and finishes with 50 feet of moderately steep class 3 to the summit which gives these amazing 'aerial' views. Looking down on Grinnell L is first rate.

Red Slate Mtn. This is a prominent landmark and whereas it is an easy class 2 ascent, I think it is a worthwhile summit.


Convict Canyon:
Mts Morrison and Baldwin. Both can be dayhiked from Convict Lake. I haven't tried the class 2 Morrison route from the east but that chute looks horrible. It is not so bad (class 2 relatively solid talus) from the Convict Creek side and some care needs to be taken on descent to hit the right chute and not end up in a "bottomless" one (I did that and had to reascend and detour). Baldwin is also class 2 from Bright Dot Lake and some route finding is key to find the route through the cliff band to the summit talus slope, otherwise some class 3 or worse will be encountered.

Agnew Mdws. Folks have already recommended Ritter and/or Banner and I second that recommendation.

Rush Creek. Mt Rodgers. Fine-looking peak but I am still wondering where the class 3 on the standard route is. Seemed all class 2 to me when I did it.

Saddlebag Lake. Mt Conness. This is a really nice peak if you haven't done it already. The standard route is alleged class 2 but it's sort of an engineered trail on a knife edge. I've witnessed folks turn back because of the exposure. The route I've done (twice) goes up from Saddlebag over pk 11239 and then manages to get up to the crest of the SE ridge purely class 2--the last part is steep class 2 like the top part of the E ridge of Brewer (similarly rated class 2). This is sort of the E ridge without really being on the E ridge (I think there is an E ridge route rated class 3). I'm on the south flank of the E ridge until where it joins the SE ridge. Of peaks I've dayhiked from the car, this is probably my favorite. Many on this 'dayhike' list are peaks that I've climbed on backpacking trips rather than dayhiking them.

(just in case these are not too far north--not a huge amount of extra driving N on 395 if you sleep out somewhere):
Sonora Pass area. Leavitt Peak, highest in the region; class 1 to 2. Was kinda an interesting route in the ancient days when I did (1969?) which was before the PCT was built, so there was this use trail that was later followed (mostly) by the current PCT. Stanislaus Peak, somewhat more interesting with choice of doing some class 3 near summit or not.

Ebbetts Pass area. Highland and Silver Peaks. Steep class 2 with possibility of some class 3 if desired. Fine viewpoints and topographically prominent (ie visible from far away and you can see far away).

Carson Pass area. Round Top. My favorite day hike peak in the northern Sierra. This has fine alpine character from any viewpoint for a good reason: the summit part is in fact class 3. Really beautiful hike from Woods Lake (S of CA88 near Carson Pass). A bit earlier in the year this area has some of the best wildflower displays in the Sierra.