Leavitt Peak

Last weekend, C. and I headed up to the Sonora Pass area for an overnight backpack. The idea was to get ready for our upcoming trek in the southern Sierras, a 10-day hike through high elevation areas along the Great Western Divide. I was looking for a short trip that would help us get acclimated and test our packing lists. The Pacific Crest Trail heading south from Sonora Pass was a good fit: it starts at 9,626′ and stays high for most of the four miles to Latopie Lake, which lies about a quarter mile off the PCT.

Looking down the PCT to the south

Once you reach Latopie Lake, you can continue on the PCT for about 9 miles total to reach Leavitt Lake, then loop back through on some use trails, visiting Koenig Lake and Latopie Lake on the way. This was our initial plan, and we also wanted to climb Leavitt Peak on the way. However, this proved a bit ambitious to accomplish on a Saturday.

We left Sonora Pass at about 9:30 am and had a pleasant walk along the high, exposed crest heading south. As we walked, we watched rainfall and lightning strikes to the north and northeast. We were enjoying the day and feeling quite good when we encountered a PCT through hiker near the pass above Latopie Lake. She warned us that thunderstorms were coming. “Be careful,” she said. It was about five minutes later that we heeded her advice, and decided not to continue along the PCT or hike Leavitt Peak. We turned back to Latopie Lake instead, and continued down to Koenig Lake to find a campsite.

The use trail between Latopie Lake and Koenig Lake was steep and loose, and it took a while to find a suitable site. We set up the tent just in time, as hail began to fall and the lightning struck very close by. We had lunch in the tent and napped as the hail turned to rain. After the rain stopped, I took a walk around Koenig Lake – which is actually three separate pools, fed by a spring – and tried fishing a bit. I saw no sign of trout, but lots of bugs hatching. The sunset that night was quite colorful.

On Sunday, we headed back the way we had come. We dropped our packs just off the PCT and headed up to Leavitt Peak with our lunch, climbing the northeast ridge that connects Leavitt Peak to Latopie Peak. This route was described as a “satisfying scramble” on SummitPost, so I though we’d go up that way and come down the eastern slope, which is relatively easy. The ascent turned out to be almost too satisfying, so to speak – the pitch was steep and there was lots of loose scree along the knife-edge at the ridge line.

Gettin’ scrambly

We made it to the top, and had lunch at 11,572′. The descent took all of about fifteen minutes. I’d definitely recommend the eastern route for most people who want to climb the peak, unless you’re comfortable with vertigo and loose rocks.

Back at Sonora Pass, we encountered a historical sign posted by E Clampus Vitus.

I remembered my mom saying they were some kind of eccentric club, so I looked them up on Wikipedia. It’s an interesting read, though completely useless – I suppose I appreciate their historical signs more than their own history.

Starting point at Sonora Pass

Looking east from Sonora Pass

Looking north towards Sonora Pass

Watching the rain to the north

High ridgeline route on the PCT - most of the day was spent above 10,000'.

Puss's paws

Passing through a piece of the Emigrant Wilderness. The trail crisscrosses the crest, which is the border between Emigrant and Hoover.

Latopie Peak on the left (unnamed on the map) and Leavitt Peak on the right. We climbed Leavitt Peak along the ridgeline between the two.

At the pass between Latopie Peak and Leavitt Peak.

Map lichen

Rain comes and we head for shelter

Following a use trail down to Koenig Lake

Lunch and a nap during the hail storm

3/4" hail

Koenig Lake after the storm

Hail sticking to the high places

Dinner

Sunset over Koenig Lake

Looking back at Koenig Lake on Sunday morning

Latopie Peak

Some hail left over from the day before

Day hike to Leavitt Peak (on the left)

Northeast ridge of Leavitt Peak, looking back at Latopie Peak

Loose shale near the top

Summit register at Leavitt Peak

The way we came up

Looking south towards Yosemite. Banner and Ritter Peaks are visible in the farthest range in the background.

Kennedy Lake

Heading back to Sonora Pass

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Kinney Lakes

Last Friday, W. and I drove up to the Ebbetts Pass area. We walked north for about two and a half miles on the Pacific Crest Trail to Upper Kinney Lake and stayed there for two nights. On Saturday, we day-hiked up to the unnamed peak to the north of the lake, where we had panoramas of the crest of the Sierras to both the north and south. During late spring, the snow lingers on the northern slope of the mountains. From our view, that meant that peaks to the north were mostly bare rock.

Peaks to the south showed us their snowy side

After exploring the peak, we headed down to Raymond Meadow and ate lunch by a snowmelt creek. We had a few bouts of rain throughout the weekend, which lent a dramatic misty backdrop to the scenery and highlighted the neon colors of the lichen that grow on the volcanic rock. On Sunday morning, we retraced our steps back to the car, enjoying the early morning cold as it warmed into an almost-summer day. It was a short but satisfying trip.