Mount Thoreau (Peak 12691)

Mount Thoreau

I and two friends took this hike on July 29-31, 2019. We took the Lower Lamarck/Wonder Lakes route. We camped overnight at one of the Lower Wonder Lakes and climbed the talus slope above the lake the following morning. We reached the summit around noon.

I was inspired to organize this hike by the book, “Naming Mount Thoreau.” A group of notable individuals had summated in 2014 as part of a campaign to have the mountain named “Mount Thoreau.” The book was, in part, a report of their hiking experience and their rationale for the new name.

The mountain is known, officially, as Peak 12691. So, although several names have been proposed (“Wonder Mountain,” “Mount George Davis,” “Mount Thoreau,” “Wonder Woman Peak”) none have been adopted officially and so it remains Peak 12691 on maps.

The goal of the campaign was to put “Mount Thoreau” into considerations and contention. I personally was convinced by the arguments put forth in the book, as have several other hikers, as you’ll see if you read the summit register and some hike reports online. The thinking is that if enough people who actually hike in the Sierras agree on the name, maybe someday it might be adopted officially.

So I happily signed the summit register expressing my support for the Thoreau name. After all, across Piute Pass stands Mount Emerson, named so officially. A little higher at the summit, it nicely reflecting Thoreau’s relationship with Emerson, Thoreau having lesser social stature than the great writer/philosopher. In a great book about Randy Morgenson, the author, Eric Blehm, relates that Wallace Stegner once advised Morgenson to “…follow Thoreau, or someone like that, rather than Muir.”

Even Muir was influenced by Thoreau, yet not a single feature in the Sierras bears his name, officially or unofficially. Many hikers will tell you that the mountain should be named for George Davis, for to name it anything else would be to disrespect the first people to record reaching its 12,691-foot summit, Chester Versteeg and Virgil Sisson, who suggested it be named in honor of the great Sierra cartographer.

But, no disrespect to Mr. Sisson, or Mr. Davis, but Davis already has some lakes named for him. Also, Ralph Waldo Emerson never surveyed an acre of land, or ever even laid eyes on the Sierras.

But in this, there is no right or wrong. What matters is how we conduct ourselves. So I was shocked to see the summit register had been vandalized. Someone had crossed out the name Thoreau that other hikers had written as part of their comments in support of the name.

Aside from being convinced by their reasoning, I had a lot of respect for the group proposing the Thoreau name (Gary Snyder, Hilary Gordon, Carter Scholz, Kim Stanley Robinson and the late Michael Blumlein among them).

But I have no respect for the defacing hiker—Bob Burd, by name, as he proudly admits in his hike report on the Peak Bagger web site, at...

https://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_reports/george_davis_1.html?reports=george_davis_1.html

where he boasts, “We found the register left by the Thoreau fans four years earlier, adding a large page of entries from the Challenge participants. I then wrote in "George Davis" in places where "Thoreau" had been written, a petty bit of indignation on my part, to be sure.”

Petty, yes. But more than just “a bit.” In two places the Thoreau name was crossed out so thoroughly that it wasn’t possible to read the writer’s intent.

It is sad that this has become so contentious and controversial, thanks to Burd’s actions and rants. No respectful hiker would cross the line Burd has. Summit registers are historic documents. Burd’s transgression is a very short step removed from the crime wave of summit register thefts which is obliterating a large part of Sierra history.

The respected reference, “The High Sierra,” has an article about summit register etiquette. Burd should review it to learn how to behave.

After signing the register (and not crossing out anything written before) we celebrated our little conquest of this sharp, granitic thrust into the thin air. The views were spectacular in all directions. Mt. Humphreys in the distance and the barren, snow-patched terrain to the northwest. Mount Emerson’s summit seeming to loom from across Piute Pass. The crags reflecting the afternoon sun in a riot of reds and browns. The Wonder Lakes almost directly below us. Lower Lamarck off to the east, reminding us of the return hike tomorrow, back to North Lake campground.

I recommend this hike. Keep an open mind about the name and do sign, respectfully, the register.

Every comment is a vote.

John Vester