Kaiser Peak Hike 2018

Dale Matson

Click On Photographs To Enlarge

Hike Route

I know this is beginning to sound a lot like the movie “Groundhog Day” but this was my final trip up. The hike is over 11miles round trip with 3,200’ of gain. There are additional particulars from the 2016 hike here:

https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2016/07/kaiser-peak-hike-2016.html

         Ok, so what justifies this latest trip? I needed the conditioning, wanted to see what the Lions Fire is doing and use a relatively new Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8 lens for my Sony A7R3. Additionally, other than the Lions Fire, the air is pretty good again and the 6:30am start temperature at about 7,200’ was a comfortable 40 degrees.

         Here are a few rules of thumb for this time of year for this out and back hike. The mosquitoes aren’t bad, there is no access to treatable water along the trail other than the small creek accessed about 6/10ths of a mile outbound. I had about 2.5 liters of water (over 5 lbs.) with me and that was about right. Snacks/food are needed too. Think of the hike being in about five parts and 12 miles total. It is about 3 miles and 2,000’ of gain to College Rock. It is another 3 miles to Kaiser Peak and 1,300’ of gain to the top at about 10,330’) It is 3 miles back to College Rock, .75 miles back to the Huntington Lake overlook on the trail and a very long 2.25 miles from there back to the trailhead (and your vehicle parked below the pack station).

         I saw two groups of deer along the trail but they were faster than I could draw my camera from its belt holster. I also saw a perched hawk this year and actually got a photo. The lakes were generally full of water except for Mammoth Pool Reservoir which is way down from capacity.

         Two sisters Dorothy and Nancy, who were vacationing from SoCal started at 8:30 am and caught up with me inbound the last quarter mile. I was out about 9 hrs. which is way too long for this distance. My Suunto Ambit 3 gave me the maximum (120 hours) recovery time from this hike. The ladies had almost caught up with me near Kaiser Peak but ate their lunch there too. When we got back to our vehicles, they kindly offered me a cold diet cola. Thanks! With their permission, I took their photos and included them too.

         The smoke and the source of the smoke was obvious. The smoke obscured the view of Banner Ritter and flowed south to Mammoth Mountain. The rest of the air was the usual level of “moderate”. The Lions Fire estimated containment date has now been postponed from 25 August to September 7^th. I worry about this particular fire because access is very limited.

         My drive home required the usual large Snicker’s Bar, small bag of chips and a diet cola. All of course are PPED’s (post performance enhancing drugs).

        

China Peak Ski Area Above Huntington Lake

Curious Hawk

College Rock Where The Mountains Begin To Emerge

Mt. Goddard Center

Mt. Gabb Center Left

Trail leading To First Of Two False Summits

Mammoth Pool Reservoir

Smoke from Fire Reaching Mammoth Mountain

Banner Ritter Obscured By Smoke

View Farthest North To Yosemite

Edison Lake Below The Vermillion Cliffs

Huntington Lake From Near The Top

Mt. Goddard And LeConte Divide From Peak

Sunrise Over The Sierra National Forest On My Way To The Hike

View To The Far South- Possibly Mt. Whitney

When you reach the top, there are several small lakes below including Jewell and College Lakes to the east and Bobby and Bonnie Lakes to the North. You can also see Mammoth Pool Reservoir (3,330’ elevation) to the east-northeast. You can see Edison Lake to the east and Huntington Lake to the South.