Hey friends

With this post I am hoping to hear any of your experiences sleeping on Sierra summits. Got any favorites? Cool stories?

Perhaps not a recommended practice due to exposure to the elements...and potential impacts to the summit area, but for the sake of the practice let's assume you are a well-prepared, leave no trace bivy-inclined climber well-versed in reading weather patterns.

Last weekend I stumbled up to Pyramid Peak in Tahoe much later than I expected and found some remarkably well-landscaped bivouac accommodations. Laden with warm sleeping bag and camp stove for weight training I rolled out and had the time of my life. It was awesome.





I wonder if there are any other Tahoe peaks with rock breaks like Pyramid Peak? I seem to recall finding a bivy spot way out on Mt Goddard as well. Anyway. Your peaks / thoughts are welcome!

One of my favorites... on the tip top of State Peak... waking up to a view of the sunrise towards Taboose Pass. I found a coffin sized perfectly flat boulder to lay on and then put a rock on each side of me so I wouldn't roll off lol

Sweet...that's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to hear about. Adding it to the list as I've never been over Taboose Pass.

Nice work on the rock rails! hahaha

hailman wrote:I wonder if there are any other Tahoe peaks with rock breaks like Pyramid Peak?

Hail,
Freel Peak has a flat spot near the summit that can bivy 3 or 4 peeps. There's a bit of protection on the north side of the bivy from larger rocks if my memory serves me right.
Mt. Rose used to have a rock wall at the summit that could hold 1-2 folks if I recall correctly. Mt. Rose is a really nice Tahoe summit for a slumber party.
Sweet dreams and avoid the lightning..
JM

Many memorable moments, all cold, all with headache, all can't wait for the sun to come up, but now that's all over, I guess I could call them all "memorable."

Two stories come to mind that involve other people, both on Mt.Whitney, my old training ground.
It was in October or November about twenty years ago. Had my sleeping bag laid out on the top waiting for it to get cold and dark enough to crawl in. Saw two guys in their 20s come up the East Face. Both of them had only a T-shirt on, shivering and hypothermic. They didn't know the way down to their tent by Iceberg Lake. But, when they saw the sleeping bag they wanted to warm up before heading down. The younger one claimed the bag and the older one my fleece jacket. I got the stove going and made a hot chocolate for them to share. Then I took them down to where they could see the notch on top of the Mountaineer's route. Having gone up and down the route many times in the past, I showed them the easiest way down to avoid the nasty chimneys. I think they made it down okay because I didn't hear anything bad about it in the news.

Another time it must have been in mid December with very little snow on the mountain. I spent a freezing night, 5 below, in the hut. About 6 in the morning the door opened and a woman walked in. She was shivering uncontrollably.
She asked to get into my bag. Okay, I was cold myself but I wasn't going to die. So I let her. She told me she was part of a group of nine, the rest were on their way up. They had hiked all night as a tradition. Fifteen minutes later two guys walked in, then another woman and another guy. All of them were very cold and some were asking the first woman to get out of my bag so they could get in. They were also talking about a member of the group, apparently a woman, to have been in bad shape and slow. They weren't sure how far back she was. After about an hour I claimed my sleeping bag back so I could pack and head down. About 45 minutes from the top I saw a single woman coming up slowly. She looked extremely cold and disheveled. I did my best to persuade her to stop and give up the summit. I asked her to go a bit lower and find a rock or a shelter next to the trail and wait for her friends. She said okay, but I'm not sure what happened to her.

I made an early morning ascent of Mt. Agassiz once to find four people sleeping on the summit. They were all cocooned in their bags and I don't think they ever knew I was there. Fortunately, none of them were laying on the summit register. It did not look very comfortable. I agree with Jesus Malverde, Mt. Rose would be a good summit to overnight. The view of Reno at night would be impressive. There are numerous rock wind breaks up there. Same with Mt. Lola, north of I-80. I've always wanted to overnight on Burnt Mountain. It's flat, sheltered and there is lots of wood up there for a fire. Burnt Mountain is a tremendous viewpoint and the sunrise over the Palisades would be magnificent.

Wow thanks for the input all!

Thought I remembered some bivy spots on Freel Peak, looking through my pics again I noticed a few spots:



Earlier this spring I attempted to ski up to Mt Lola, but neglected to research the route and couldn't get across the Little Truckee River. (There is a bridge crossing it!) Ended up following a snowmobile trail following the river off to the southwest. Fun day but doubling up Lola / Rose on a long weekend of summit sleepin would be rad!!

Mr soltan thanks for your Mt Whitney stories. The Trail sure could use some angels to help the poorly prepared...I imagine someone constantly packing out stray wag-bags from Trail Camp, another helper at the 99 switchbacks to give lessons in how to self-arrest to early season hikers, maybe a few oxygen cans at Trail Crest, and of course the summit bathroom needs to be brought back ASAP! Seriously though...thank goodness you were there. Very kind of you to offer help under those conditions!

sierraman, where exactly is Burnt Mountain? Is that a colloquial name? I'm interested....

Always wanted to spend the night on Mt Darwin myself. Got up there June '15 with some bivy supplies but the wind was rippin and I descended down to Darwin Canyon for the night.

Burnt Mountain is in western Kings Canyon NP, on a ridge between the Middle Fork of the Kings and Blue Canyon. You will find it on page 212 of the Secor guide book, where it merits 9 words "Class 1 from the saddle north of the peak". It may be the shortest entry in the whole guidebook.

When John Fischer & I did the Complete Palisade Traverse in 1979 ,we bivied seven times . We sleep on South Fork Pass , Bivouac Peak , Norman Clyde Peak,Palisade Crest ,Mt Siil ,& Thunderbolt Peak .We had to tie-in our bivi on Bivouac Peak & in the Palisade Crest . When Jediah Porter & Ian McEleney did the first Winter Complete Palisade Traverse in 2013 ,they bivied four times & sleep on Middle Palisade ,Mt.Williams, Scimitar Pass , & Thunderbolt & carried a tent !

Wow thanks for that, Palisades. Each time I gaze at just the Palisade Crest my knees get wobbly!

A few days ago, went up to Mt Rose and Mt Lola (9/22-23). Can confirm they are great bivy summits, however the conditions were more arctic than I expected! Early season snow made for some great views, though.