Spring has arrived, the Sierra snows are now melting in earnest with fair weather ahead, the passes are starting to open and thoughts naturally turn to What to Do in the Sierra this Summer. The 16th annual Sierra Challenge is set for August long after most of the snows have melted, the mosquitoes have had their run, water as plentiful as the sunshine and far more of daylight hours than you'll know what to do with. 10 new peaks have been selected for the 2016 event, a collection of little-known and rarely visited summits. We're going to visit the Hoover Wilderness, the Kuna Crest in Yosemite, the far reaches of the Ritter Range in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, treks to the front and back sides of the Palisades, yet another return to Taboose Pass, visit Glen Pass and more.

The all-new 2016 Sierra Challenge gives you ten days in August to challenge your stamina and your sanity amidst the beauty that is the Sierra Nevada. Leave your heavy backpacks and marginal camp foods behind. Climb some impressive peaks with a daypack and enjoy fine Eastern Sierra cuisine at day's end. Join us for one day or all ten, to test your legs in the backcountry or just to meet fellow enthusiasts. We already have several dozen folks signed up this year, always room for more.

For those who aren't familiar with the yearly Challenge, in a nutshell - we drive up and down the Eastern Sierra for ten days and climb 1-2 cool peaks each day. Mostly carrying a light daypack, sometimes crampons/axe. It's primarily a hike/scramble event, with little technical rock climbing. It's generally a pretty exhausting day, but most participants would use the word "fun" somewhere in their varying descriptions. This is not a race, there are no official sponsors, and there are no prizes. There are no qualifications to join in the fun - everyone is welcome. The link above will give you all the info.

Tom Grundy just below the summit of Forester Pass Peak:

I'm driving across The Great Basin from Colorado to Bridgeport where I'm due sometime this Thursday. It's hot as hell out here in UT and NV, God only knows how folks get in much hiking out here during the summer. Fortunately, the Sierra Nevada is ideally suited for summertime frolicking and frankly I can't wait to get back to the East Side. There's still time to join us for the Sierra Challenge starting this Friday.

In contrast to my experiences in UT and NV, the San Juans of Colorado were pretty damn awesome. Of course I had to visit California Mtn while I was there:

Would like to do this some year. I'm in the Tetons and Winds this weekend.

What a cool event. I need to sign up one of these years or at least for a couple days. I'll be going into Humphrey's Basin/Evolution/Darwin Canyon during the last few days of the Challenge. Would love to join in on a climb, but doesn't look doable this year.

Bob - can't thank you enough for your website. It is such an amazing resource.

It appears that real life interferes with mountain life again this year.

DukeJH wrote:It appears that real life interferes with mountain life again this year.

Duke, mountain life IS real life. All that other stuff we do is just to while away time until we get back to the mountains.

I wanted to post this for those that haven't read it before:
Mike Ybarra's 2005 WSJ article
Mike was an SP member and an at-large writer for the WSJ, and a good one. Sady, he died a few years later doing the Sawtooth Traverse in Northern Yosemite.

Bob Burd wrote:

DukeJH wrote:It appears that real life interferes with mountain life again this year.

Duke, mountain life IS real life.

Yes it is but, sadly, not the part of life that pays the bills. That is why, for the umpteenth year running, I will pass this year as well.

Day 1: Hunewill Peak

We had 22 for the start of the first day of the 2016 Challenge, gathered at Mono Village at the western edge of Twin Lakes. Last year's Yellow Jersey winner, Rob Wu, was heading to Whorl/Matterhorn, three others were heading to Peeler Lake to fish (how did they join the Challenge?), the rest of us to Hunewill Peak, an 11,713-foot summit in the Hoover Wilderness sitting high on the crest north of the Robinson Creek drainage.

Our route today would follow the Robinson Creek Trail for almost 4mi to just before Barney Lake. We were hoping to find an abandoned trail shown on the old 30' topo that would take us up almost 2,000ft to Little Lake and a pass heading over to the South Fork of Buckeye Creek. We did manage to find portions of this historic trail, ducked in places, but not before about 45min of the most horrendous bushwhacking ever encountered during the Challenge. Alder, willow, aspens and other fast-growing weeds combined with some sporting class 2-3 rock scrambling to neatly disperse our group in all directions within about 15min. The smart move seems to have been to stay left where there was less brush and more rock, but I didn't bother to pay good attention to this until it was too late. In the end it mattered little. I got through the brush having lost the posse I was attached to and began finding pieces of the trail which I followed on and off depending on if they seemed to be helpful. I never did find Little Lake, but I found several
lovely meadows on my way up to the main crest. In one of these meadows I ran across Sean R. and the two of us continued over easier terrain to the south side of Peak 10,663ft.

A steep, 1,500-foot climb ensued, with far too much sand to be pleasant and any semblence of fun. Half way up we gathered Rob H. into our little group and the three of us continued to the top of this non-bonus peak (with just under 300ft of prominence, it doesn't quite qualify, but it was on our way). We signed a nifty MacLeod/Lilley register from 1981 we found at the highest point. From there we could see another participant to the northeast atop Hunewill, about 20min away. We dropped 283ft and then climbed up to Hunewill, only 50ft higher than Peak 11,663ft. I was not surprised to see Sean O. (Mr. Speedy) and Michael (Mr. Tricky) there. Sean had gone pretty much the same route, but Michael had climbed a horrible sand chute that nicely bypassed Peak 11,663ft. Points to him.

With Chris H. about 20min behind, we eventually collected six of us for a summit photo. We had expected Eric and Mason to join us (they were coming from the northeast over Eagle and Victoria and had hoped to join us atop Hunewill), but they had yet to arrive. The other five all went on to bonus peaks while I took the easy way out and headed back. I dropped 3,500ft directly off the summit to the southeast, most of it easy sand boot skiing with a few sections of fun class 3 followed by more of that awful brush at the bottom before I returned to the Robinson Creek Trail. I was back at the 6.5hr mark, an hour ahead of Sean O. who came bombing down to Twin Lakes directly from Robinson Peak. He reported running into Eric, Mason and even Karl (who was supposed to be doing Kettle, but evidently decided Eagle/Victoria/Robinson would be more fun). A number of folks hadn't returned by the time I left around 3pm, but I think we ended up getting 18 folks to the summit of Hunewill, a pretty high success rate for a tough little peak.

Rob Houghton nearing Peak 11,663ft, Twin Lakes in the background.


Six of the usual suspects atop Hunewill.

Day 2: Kuna Crest
Today's Challenge was a visit to Kuna Crest in Yosemite NP, paralleling the Sierra Crest opposite the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River. Being Saturday, we had a huge turnout, more than 30 folks at the Mono Pass TH. A fast pace and differing objectives had the group spread out within about 30min. Sean O forked left to make a 2,700-foot detour to Mt. Gibbs because he had missed that SPS peak previously. Kristine and Iris forked right to climb the NE Ridge of Mammoth Peak, reversing the route along Kuna Crest to give themselves the option to continue to Kuna Peak and Koip Peak.

By the time we had reached the end of the trail near Spillway Lake, I was left with only Michael and Bill. We climbed Kuna Crest South's NE Ridge, a pleasant grassy slope lower down, less-pleasant boulders higher up to the summit. Rob H, Bob P, and Myles M joined us at the summit not long after 8:30am where we took the requisite summit photo before dispersing.

Our second objective of the day was Kuna Crest North, a mile and half along the crest in that direction. The crest was not as pleasant as one might hope for, given the large amount of boulder-hopping required along much of the route. We ran across Sean R, Loren D, Scott B, and the dynamic duo of Kristine and Iris along the way, all heading in the opposite direction. Seems there was more interest than I thought in traversing south to Kuna & Koip.

It was just shy of 10am when we reached the non-obvious summit of Kuna North - there are three or four boulder outcrops vying to be the highest and without a register there was no definitive highpoint we could call home. Bob Pickering disappeared off the north side as Rob, Michael and I paused to take a few photos. It wasn't until Rob and I had gone to the saddle with Mammoth Peak
that I realized Bob P wasn't joining us for the bonus peak. He was heading back down, hoping to be the first back today. Sneaky guy. Currently holding the yellow jersey, I had to limit how much time he might get on me. Rob and I made good time to Mammoth Peak where I left him eating a
snack and I beat it back down the East Slope, several hundred feet of boulders before I found the more welcoming sand. Once off the steepest parts it became a very pleasant cross-country jaunt through meadow, heather and forest, really the best part of the day. I picked up the trail about 1.5mi from the TH and just happened to run into Bob P at that juncture. We finished the hike together, returning just before noon.

Sean O. returned only 15min later, having done the Gibbs detour, making the two Bobs look pretty weak by comparison. Loren D. had an even better outing, traversing the entire Kuna Crest from Mammoth Peak to Kuna/Koip and returning by 1:20p. There were a few others doing this same traverse, but they haven't been seen of since, and must be hours behind Loren's time. We've still got about a dozen folks who haven't reported back in. Must be having even more than I had...

It was an absolutely beautiful day in the Yosemite High Country - cool temps, clear skies and fantastic scenery. Tomorrow we're heading to Devil's Postpile to tackle Mt. Bartholomew on the west side of the Ritter Range - it's about as remote as you can get in the Ansel Adams Wilderness and looks to be a long day. Time to get some rest...

Bill Peters cruising by Helen Lake

Day 3: Mt. Bartholomew
A long day today, covering more than 20mi and almost 7,000ft of gain to reach Mt. Bartholomew. We had 21 at the TH at Devils Postpile, with most of the group heading to Bartholomew and about 4-5 heading to Iron Mtn. At the first trail junction past the bridge over the San Joaquin River, the group paused while a couple from the front checked their maps, then all turned right. I happened to be in the back of the pack with Michael and a few others, and after about 50yds Michael commented, "I think we were supposed to take the Minaret Falls Trail". We watched the majority in front of us go out of view, four of us turning back and taking the correct trail. The tactical blunder would not be noticed by the front group for another mile until Eric figured out the mistake and turned some of the others around. A costly mistake on an already long day.

Meanwhile, Ken, Michael, Mason and myself heading up the correct route towards Beck Lakes. Rob H, who had been futzing with his hydration pack had been dead last leaving the TH, and taking the correct course at the junction had ended up in front of everyone without even realizing it. That first hour he wondered how come he hadn't caught up yet with any stragglers. We reached Beck Lakes by 8:30a, by which time Eric had caught himself back up with the front group. While four of us headed right, aiming for the saddle immediately west of The Watchtower, Eric went left to tag two bonus peaks south of Beck Lakes, Peak 10,663ft and Peak 10,997ft. The first of these he reported as straightforward class 2, the other with some loose class 3 to contend with. Meanwhile, we found our choice of route over the crest a good one, class 2 on both sides with some very fine grassy slopes to take the sting out of what could have been a horrendous talus/boulder slog.

I finally caught up with Rob H at the crest at 9:30a and the two of us went over the other side into the Iron Creek drainage. Mt. Bartholomew came into view about 5min off the crest and it looks quite imposing, more than 600ft of prominence at the end of a ridgeline extending southwest from Michael Minaret. We had hoped to climb the NE Ridge since it was the shortest approach, but this proved impractical as it drops precipitously from the summit and is almost certainly class 5. Instead, we dropped 1,500ft to Iron Creek before ascending the other side and traversing high across the east side of Bartholomew over a disagreeable boulder-fest. We eventually found a class 2 chute leading up to the SE Ridge, and from there it was more boulders and talus, but all class 2 to the summit.

It took Rob and I 5hr15min to reach the summit with a commanding view of the backsides of the Minarets and Mt. Ritter to the north, the Clark Range and SE Yosemite to the west, the higher peaks of the Sierra to the east and southeast, and an unusual vantage of the San Joaquin's North Fork drainage to the south. Michael joined us about 10min later, making three for the summit shot. We were already starting down the ridge about 20min later when we came across a number of the others in succession. Eric, Mason, Sean, Chris, Iris and Gavin were all heading up, spread out over about half an hour's time. The next person we saw was Dave P back at Beck Lakes - he had gotten to the crest but decided to turn around. Some of the others heading to the summit - Ken Y, Matt Y, Scott B, we never saw, but suspect they had passed us undetected over those last few miles.

Rob H proved to have way more reserves than I, jogging his way back from Beck Lakes to take the stage win at 9hr15min. I came hobbling in about 35min later. At least three (Tom B, Patrick O, and Jeff M) made it back around the same time, having successfully reached Iron Mtn. There were nine others that had started from the Agnew TH and gone to the summit of Clyde Minaret via the Rock Route. Not a bad day at all in the Ansel Adams Wilderness...

Eric and Mason at Beck Lakes


Mt. Bartholomew from across the Iron Creek drainage

Day 4: Mt. Mendenhall

Ok, I got some time on Day 6 to catch up. Mt. Mendenhall is located on the Sierra Crest about 2mi south of Bloody Mtn. We used the Convict Lake TH to reach it, about 8.5mi one-way and something north of 5,000ft of gain. We had about 15 for the 6am start, though not all were heading to Mendenhall (the fishing contigent had plans to attack Lake Dorothy). It was a pleasant enough hike on the trail, the bridge washout not much trouble this time, though Bob Pickering (who was concerned enough to hike it the previous day and cross both directions without mishap) managed to take a complete dunk after slipping on a rock. I missed this bit of excitement, otherwise would have a photo to share. There was some trouble getting around Mildred Lake. The topo map shows the trail going around the south end, but that turned out to be a swampy morass that cost some of us soaked boots. The smarter ones noted that the trail has been rerouted around the north side with a convenient bridge a the lake outlet. So it goes.

The trail ends at the south end of Dorothy Lake, and from there it's a not-so-unpleasant hike up sand/talus and often grassy slopes to Pretty Pass on the north side of Mendenhall. The last part of this pass on the east side becomes steep and unpleasant, and from the pass to Mendenhall's summit becomes class 3 in places. David Brower made the first ascent of this peak by the same route in 1934 and called it class 2. Sandbagger. On my way up from Pretty Pass I crossed paths with Loren who was heading back down (he would climb White Fang, a previous Challenge peak between Baldwin and Morris, as a bonus on his way back). Eric Su had gotten to the summit second, followed closely by Rob H. They were both hanging out there when I arrived around 10:20am. After a short stay Eric decided to head off to the southwest for the start of his 5-peak bonus run around Lake Virginia. Rob and I followed him to the first, Virginia Peak, which is about 60ft higher than Mendenhall. We then had to nearly re-climb Mendenhall to get back to Pretty Pass and descend back to Lake Dorothy. As I was going back across Mendenhall I spied Sean O making his way up from his traverse from Bloody Mtn (which he'd started by climbing the NE Gully on Laurel). We shouted to each other before disappearing from each others' radar. He would easily tag Mendenhall and pass me at a trot on his way back somewhere between Dorothy and Mildred. In all we would end up with something like 14 folks to reach Mendenhall.

Loren: "So, that one's White Fang, right?"


Day 5:Mt. Morrow

Mt. Morrow is one of two really hard days on this year's agenda. It's located about four miles west of the Sierra Crest above Hutchinson Meadow in French Canyon. We started from the Pine Creek TH at 5am, but had only seven participants and one of those was heading to Royce instead. It took three hours to reach Pine Creek Pass and then another hour to descend French Canyon to the junction with the Merriam Lake Trail. We found Matt Y in French Canyon, having started at 4am so that he would have someone to hike with to the summit. Eric, Michael, Matt and I continued together to the summit, finding a decent route up the East Ridge that went at no more than class 3 but involved a great deal of boulder climbing. Sean O had beaten us all to the summit and disappeared, heading for a couple of bonus peaks on the ridge to the northwest. I was happy to reach Morrow in six hours, bonus peaks be damned. The register dated to 1974 when a Smatko/Lilley party first left a small register. The Hillcrest Church came by around 1978 to name the summit after their late pastor, Fred Morrow, who was apparently quite a regular in the Sierra. Sounds like my kind of church. Michael and I were the first to leave the summit after eating lunch, choosing to descend directly down the SE Face which was a much faster route than the East Ridge. Near the trail junction in French Canyon we came across Mason who had started from North Lake and gone over Piute Pass, thinking that route better than starting from Pine Creek. It would be well after dark before he would return to North Lake. Pine Creek 1, North Lake 0. There were others that made it to the summit as well, ten in all, but we never crossed paths with anyone but Mason. Michael and I hiked together back to Pine Creek Pass, but he went ahead while I stopped to soak my feet in one of the shallow lakes there. Sean came by and disappeared after a short conversation. It would take me nearly 12hrs to complete the day, easily the longest so far. Barely had enough time for shower, dinner, and much, much needed sleep...



Three of these 20mi+ days are getting to me, but rest assured we are having great fun. Everyone is safe, if a little worn-out. Scott Barnes has been killing it so far for the King of the Mountains jersey - 21 peaks in the first four days. The record for 10 days is something like 32 peaks. Unbelievable what he gets done in these very long days. You can see how everyone's doing on the stat sheet, if you care for such details.

Michael walking in French Canyon, Mt. Morrow in the background on the right:

Good luck everyone! Wish I could join, and for one of the very few (if only) years real life would allow me to come for some of these, but sadly a lack of fitness prevents me from participating. I have been to the Sierra the last two weekends so I'm there in spirit if not in person.

Day 6: Gable Lakes Peak

An easier day today, about 11mi total and about 5,500ft of gain. Gable Lakes Peak lies east of the Sierra Crest on a connecting ridgeline between Four Gables and Mt. Tom, towering over the lakes of the same name. We had about 15 for the 6am start, but some of these ran off for the Pine Creek TH to tag Peppermint Peak and some other stuff above Pine Creek. The rest of us took off up the the unsigned, Gable Lakes Trail that starts from the parking lot, before the pack station. Though unmaintained, most of us thought this much better than the Pine Creek Trail, without the horse poop and with a steep gradient made more for people than stock animals. Constructed back in the day, the trail follows the remnants of an aerial tram that once serviced a mining operation 3,000ft up Gable Creek canyon. We climbed past the highest of the Gable Lakes before making an ascending traverse on the east side of the North Ridge, a long boulder climb that goes at class 3. Sean O, Michael G, JD and myself were the first four to reach the summit around 9:40am. We hung around about 30min before starting down, JD heading to Four Gables and the other three heading back the way we came. We crossed paths with Bob P and Scott, but missed a number of the others that were taking various route flavors through the boulder slopes. Near the bottom I spied what looked like a fallen climber or cached supplies - it never moved in the five minutes I was watching it. Turned out to be Michael C resting among the rocks in the sun, Facebooking on his cell phone. It was his first day joining us and being unacclimatized, the altitude was getting the best of him (and apparently he was having great success on Facebook). Three of us were back before 1pm, making for plenty of free time to rest up. Not sure how many got to the summit, but it appears to be around 10 or so. 3-4 other participants started from North Lake, planning to go over Four Gables to reach the Challenge summit by the somewhat easier South Ridge. The choice of TH makes the distance more than twice as long, however. Haven't heard back from that contingent yet. Score - North Lake: 0, Pine Creek 2.

Gable Lakes Peak ahead:

The North Lake group made it back ok. (trying to type this with one hand while I scarf down my McDonalds dinner with the other)

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Humphreys Basin. The three of us that returned to North Lake (Sean R, Chris H, and Matt Y) all went swimming in the massive Desolation Lake on the way back. Our fourth, Iris went back down to Pine Creek trailhead, and got a ride back to her car (I didn't see it when I left). Many pictures to follow, but right now I'm in catch-up mode myself.