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2022 Hits
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79.78% Score
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11 Votes
I had been in this area a few weeks previously, but now I was on my way to meet Sp’er Dean to climb some mountains south of Lake Tahoe and to finish up on Mt Grant. I wanted to break up my long drive from Oregon, so I left home after lunch and drove to the State Line Trailhead before dark. I drove up to a place where it was sandy and I couldn’t get over some boulders in the road, so I backed down a ways and pulled off the road. This was going to be my camp for the night. It doesn’t take much for me to car camp, just an almost level spot and I’m set. I was a long way from Highway 395 so the night would be quiet and restful. I ate my dinner and crawled into the back of my truck as soon as the sun went down.
Early the next morning I was hiking up the road to a saddle I could see ahead. I was hoping to be able to drive clear to the saddle because it would have been more scenic and a flatter camp site. Hiking was easy early in the morning and after gaining the saddle, I turned to climb up to the next saddle. There are some nice looking rocks on the left as I climbed and thought it would be fun to climb around them. I knew I wouldn’t have time today, so I hiked up to the saddle and then continued on into the valley beyond. My plan was to follow the jeep track across the valley and then pick up another jeep track that ascends to a saddle on the north side of State Line Peak next to point 7394.
My plan worked well, but this is the long way to hike State Line Peak. I hiked the jeep tracks and then went south on the north ridge of State Line Peak up to the summit. There is no trail along the north ridge of State Line Peak, but there is no need for one either because this is open country through short sage brush. It was a beautiful clear day and there was lots of scenery to admire. The hiking was easy through short sage brush and up grassy slopes. There is nothing technical taking this approach it just added about 1.5 mile to my hike.
Instead of taking the long way back to my trailhead. I just bailed off the west side of the summit area and followed the west ridge cross country back down to the second saddle that I crossed. There was no problem hiking down the west ridge. I stayed on the north side of the ridge to bypass a couple rocky outcroppings on the ridge. I did come face to face with a cow on the way down and that was my only encounter with anyone or any animal all day.
This was a nice hike on a relatively cool day. This could be brutal on a hot summer day. My total hike was 7.1 miles, gained 2,350 ft in elevation and took a little over 4 hours. If I climb State Line Peak again, I will just hike up the west ridge and save some time and miles.