Hello everyone!
I'm looking to climb Pik Lenin in Kyrgyzstan this summer (July). In order to practice and prepare, I would like to tackle some 13k and 14k peaks in California before then. I'm looking to start hiking these mountains in mid March. A lot of list of 13k or 14k mountains is available here and on various other resources, but all of them usually have a climbing season in summer (starting June etc). Assuming I have a 2WD normal car, I'm looking to find mountains which are accessible starting middle of March or April. I will have no problem with snow on the mountain, but would just like easy access to get to it. Here are the constraints =>
1. Easy access in a 2WD car in starting Mid March to end of May. (The most important thing).
2. Elevation gain of <= 5k feet. Round trip distance <= 15 miles. [This is what I consider reasonable for a day trip, I am not interested in camping on really long routes].
3. Class 1-3 (I have no issues with using crampons or snow shoes, but don't want to tackle technical climbing or heavily cravassed and glacieted mountains, also route founding should be generally straight-forward).
Here are some options that I know of ->
1. Mt. Shasta via avalanche gulch in early May.
2. Mt. whitney if I get a permit, maybe other 13k feet peaks around there (but the trailhead is not really accessible before summer).
3. White mountain (Not really accessible before June, because its a rather long walk to trailhead)
4. Mt. Langley (In winter the road is not plowed, so the access is too long).
Any ideas are highly appreciated. Thank you!