Hey everybody, I am looking for interesting peaks within a 2-hour drive from Sacramento (as I probably won't be able to swing any multiday trips this fall and winter). By "interesting" I mean anything with a class 3/4/low5 route to the summit, couloirs, steep snow, ridges - anything beyond the usual scree and talus scene we have here. I know my standards are pretty low... There's the obvious stuff like Roundtop, Pyramid east side, Tallac couloirs - but do you know of any non-obvious peaks, or non-obvious routes on obvious peaks, that could provide a little excitement? Thanks in advance.

Maybe, Jeff Davis peak

Devils Peak

spending a couple days in S Lake Tahoe in a few weeks, any cool route/mtn suggestions?

Fruitflyman, you ask an interesting question.

Obviously, the Tahoe area lacks a lot of class 3+ peaks and the way to make things more "interesting" is to either:
1. do the ascents in winter
2. do traverse/enchainment (aka "quantity has a quality all its own")

That being said, here are a few ideas that come immediately to mind:

North side of Old Man Mountain
East face of Devil's Peak (helmet is probably a good idea)
south ridge of Snow Mountain (starting near/at/in/Royal Gorge/ the north fork of the American River/
North side of Twin Peaks?
Traverse from Pyramid Peak to Agassiz

http://www.summitpost.org/crystal-range-traverse/25173
http://www.summitpost.org/desolation-cr ... rse/217592

Red Peak to Tells Peak Traverse (Crystal Range)- for an even bigger bite start farther south on the peak before Red peak

(Or, to find the Green Zone, try the Pyramid to Tells Peaks Traverse)

Round Top
Crescent Moon Couloiur:
http://www.summitpost.org/crescent-moon-couloir/156218

East Ridge:
http://www.summitpost.org/east-ridge/156332
East slope of Wade (Peak) from Carson Valley?

Reynolds Peak to Raymond Peak traverse (that stays high on the ridge and includes the highpeak/point between the two peaks.

Highland Peak to Silver Peak traverse (not much class 3+, but still enjoyable)

Thimble Peak:
http://www.petesthousandpeaks.com/Capti ... blepk.html

The Jobs Sister-Jobs Peak-Freel Peak traverse . Castle Peak to Basin Peak traverse.

I had a great time doing all these one winter, and all dayhikeable (wouldn't be as fun in other seasons I don't think)

http://www.summitpost.org/lake-tahoe-ba ... aks/738032

Highlights were Pyramid to Price, Dicks and Jacks, everything around Freel, and Rose to Snowflower. Round Top, Devils Peak, and Castle Peak are also nice and not listed here.

Depending on the conditions, getting Jacks Peak in a day can be a bugger!

Thanks everybody - lots of good ideas. Long traverses are nice. A buddy and I did the Pyramid-Agassiz-Price-Jacks-Dicks ridge-crest traverse a couple of months ago. We were planning to include Tallac, too, but only got halfway between Dicks and Tallac before it got dark so we headed down. Next year, I am hoping to do the whole Crystal Range traverse, from Pyramid to the North end. Also did a 4-summit traverse in the Mt Rose area last winter - that was a bit boring though. The Castle-Basin-Andesite loop is definitely a winter staple. This winter I hope to do Carson Pass to Luther Pass traverse - haven't tried that yet. Another winter trip I would recommend is the couloir on East Sister, followed by ridge traverse to Round Top. And some day I want to traverse all the way from the East Ridge of Round Top to West Sister.

Mtneering - my all-time favorite in the S. Tahoe area is the east slope of Pyramid Peak. Go up Horsetail falls, from there to Ropi Lake, and up from there. You can stay on clean granite ledges and walls almost all the way to the top before it turns to talus. Descend by the Rocky Creek use trail.

Thanks again guys!

Flagpole point from Echo Lake is a quick scramble and includes a nice knife ridge traverse. I have often wondered about the north ridge of Mt Tallac from Cascade falls trailhead it looks open and direct. Anybody ever do this?

I've done the north ridge of Tallac in winter, from hwy 89. In deep unconsolidated snow, it was tough. If you are crossing the north bowl - that's avalanche terrain.

yup, eagle lake buttress, good rock and great views too

I just did the Red-Silver-McConnell-Tells traverse in the northern Crystal Range. We packed very light and overnighted a half mile before Lake 3. Burd has a good TR of this but don't think you can do it as quick as he did it.

Great views and a great way to bag 4 peaks in a day. Red and Silver had the best rock with Class 2/3 blocks. the traverse from McConnell to Tells gets tough with energy draining boulders and trees so we ended up dropping off the eastside of the ridge after the gendarme and regaining the ridge where it was easy.

Didn't see a summit register on Mcconnell (we checked both peaks) and Tells has a pathetic one with a couple pieces of paper.

I would not recommend going the other way mostly because the trail up to Forni Lake below Tells would be very unfun to go up with steep loose switchbacks in a field of brush.

Thanks for the idea, I should try that some time. I've done Crystal Range from Rockbound Pass to Hwy50 in a day (with a car shuttle). The N Ridge of Mt Price is the best part of it, long class 3/4 sections on it. North of that, just easy hiking, nothing special.