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Although not the most vertical out there, Pikes Peak gives you about 7000' of climbing, and is 8000' above Colorado Springs. It is a cruiser trail,all the way to the top, and you will have to share the trail with many other mountain climbers. Oh did I mention there is a road to the top?

Perhaps a useful website when calculating elevation gain ..

http://www.cohp.org/records/elevation/elev_gain_lists.html

The “Cactus to Clouds” route up San Jacinto starts at the Desert Art Museum in Palm Springs @ 482’ to the summit of the San Jacinto @ 10,834’ in 35 miles round trip, all trail. Total elevation gain with a few ups and down is over 11K.

My guess is San Gorgonio is similar or maybe a little more...

Lionel wrote:Looks like I have my answer, Telescope from Shorty's is the most elevation one can gain on a dry hike in late summer/early fall at roughly 11,400 to 11,500'. In the 48 states, of course. Thanks for the input.

Unless you have a cool weather window, Oct is better than Sept. Typically you start around 3AM or so, and do the first 7 miles to H. Springs (3800+) before it gets too hot, tank up on water, and hit the ridge to the N. Try to plan for a waning gibbous moon at the start, so the moon will be overhead as you walk up the old road. (Beyond about 4 miles, the road doesn't often look like a road.)

White Mountain Peak (14,246') West Ridge route with a 1-way distance of 7.69 miles with an elevation gain: 9,600 ft.....this is an actual route and I personally don't know of an established route in the 48 that has a bigger elevation gain. You can always create a route...say Death Vally to the top of Whitney 135 miles 1-way with an elevation gain of 14,787'

Lionel wrote:I noted your comment on the route page and there is a full moon on 9-30-2012. I was considering doing it right in that time frame. Late summer in terms of weather, not strictly by the calendar.

FULL moon is NOT good-- it sets behind the ridge (to the west) by early AM, and provides no light. You want a waning gibbous moon, so the transit time will be around the time you start. Alternatively, a waxing gibbous moon will provide light at the end of the day (if it isn't cloudy!).

But it isn't that important. You can do the road-hike by headlamp if you must.

When I climbed Success Cleaver on Mount Rainier (14,411 feet), the trailhead was at 2,800 feet.

This gives you true altitude gain from the base of the mountain to the summit of 11,611 feet.

You probably need an ice axe and campons, though.

SuperChthonic wrote:White Mountain Peak (14,246') West Ridge route with a 1-way distance of 7.69 miles with an elevation gain: 9,600 ft.....this is an actual route and I personally don't know of an established route in the 48 that has a bigger elevation gain. You can always create a route...say Death Vally to the top of Whitney 135 miles 1-way with an elevation gain of 14,787'

+1 on the West Ridge, plus if you park down by the ranch you'll definitely gain over 10K for the day. Gorgeous views of the entire eastern Sierra all the way up, route finding is straight-forward, scrambling is not exposed or scary.

If in that September time frame, you can also park the cars at the Barcroft gate, avoiding the long walk back down, which is probably as long a setup as the Telescope shuttle. Plus you get a 14er out of the deal.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moosepics6 ... 599983903/

-L

MooseTracks wrote:

SuperChthonic wrote:White Mountain Peak (14,246') West Ridge route with a 1-way distance of 7.69 miles with an elevation gain: 9,600 ft.....this is an actual route and I personally don't know of an established route in the 48 that has a bigger elevation gain. You can always create a route...say Death Vally to the top of Whitney 135 miles 1-way with an elevation gain of 14,787'

+1 on the West Ridge, plus if you park down by the ranch you'll definitely gain over 10K for the day. Gorgeous views of the entire eastern Sierra all the way up, route finding is straight-forward, scrambling is not exposed or scary.

If in that September time frame, you can also park the cars at the Barcroft gate, avoiding the long walk back down, which is probably as long a setup as the Telescope shuttle. Plus you get a 14er out of the deal.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moosepics6 ... 599983903/

-L

I'm guessing this might be a more temperature-friendly trip than Telescope in late summer as well, since you can start at 4000', and the day-night swing is like 30F in Owens Valley. And since you are starting on the west side of the mountain, a full (or slightly waning) moon should be more useful. The views on the Shorty's-to-Telescope trip are much less dramatic.

Maybe not the biggest EVG but Pikes Peak has 7.5K and probably doesnt require any special equipment. More like a nice rounded hill

Cloud Peak Wy. rises more than 10,000 feet in 77 miles.