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Me and Aaron were lucky enough to spot one over the weekend! He was about 20-25lbs, big ears and feet. COuldnt have been more than 15ft away. When Aaron spotted it, he hopped up level with us to out right and stopped for a good 10sec of viewing. Of course, I said the word camera and he split...But what a cool moment! I rarely hear folks seeing these guys in the Sierra. Anyone else seen them in the Sierra or have anything to share?

I loved the W Harding story of the FA of NER of Williamson, he talked about how both climbers spotted the white sierra hare, but thought they were hallucinating so didnt bring it up until post-climb

Biggest hare, or any other rodent for that matter, I ever saw was on top of Split Mtn. Big as a mid-sized dog.

Mt. Starr, just above Mono Pass. Unfortunately it was June, so his (her?) coat was changed for the summer.

I thought, "Mmm... Dinner." It thought, "Come and get me!!"

I've only seen one and it was a "twilight zone" experience. I was traversing a wide open flat field of white (dolomitic) rocks at about 13,500 ft, in the White Mtns when I was startled when this large and unconcerned white-footed jackrabbit suddenly appeared from nowhere, standing about 6 feet away. He posed for a picture and then slowly moved away. (check out the size of those feet)

Nice storys and pics! Thanks for sharing

Laura-Thats funny you said that. We were thinking the same thing. After it ran away first thing Aaron said was that we wouldnt be able to finish it in one sitting

I guess they are somewhat rare, but thats cool there are folks that have gotten that picture. Damn I wish we would have gotten this one, he was so white!!!

Oct 2010 Above 12k near the base of Mt. Tyndall. He ran back and forth several times. Biggest ears i have ever seen on a rabbit.

Blair, my buddy Ron saw one January two years ago in Humphrey's Basin. He claims it was at least 40lbs and maybe as much as 60lbs, but he smokes a bit of the ganja when in the backcountry.

From Tioga pass a few years ago:

I've been researching Sierra Nevada rabbits for a few years now, so this was a great post to stumble onto.

These are all White-tailed Jackrabbits, Lepus townsendii, and a really big female might crack 10 lbs (despite appearances of being much larger). Nevertheless, they are quite a bit bigger than the Black-tailed Jackrabbits everybody's used to from lower elevations, and maybe twice the mass of a Snowshoe Hare.

Blair, is that Warren Harding story in print anywhere? I've been hunting for it, unsuccessfully.

jmcc, your photo is a fantastic example of mismatched camo, and I'm wondering if I might be able to use it in talks?

PS - I'd be really interested to hear of any sightings south of Langley. Thanks!

I had no idea there were rabbits in the Sierra until a couple of years ago when on back to back weekend backpacking trips I saw two of them. They were huge and could run uphill at altitude at what appeared to be about 35MPH.

I'm pretty sure that Harding story is in the Porcella and Burns Sierra 14ers book, probably in the chapter on Mt. Langley.

I saw two huge rabbits while hiking cross-country near the Horseshoe Meadows parking lot (Cottonwood Pass Trail head) on Labor Day weekend last year (2015). I've never seen rabbits that large. And they were fast! They looked like they were just loping along, but at great speed, and they were gone before I could swing my camera up. This is a few miles south of Langley, BTW...

In 48 years of climbing & backpacking I've only ever seen one, on Mt. Tom about January 1975. The coat was completely white and blended in perfectly with the snow.