Flagpole Peak 2549 m

My Swiss hiking projects typically didn't have the same starting and end point, because I was almost exclusively traveling with public transportation and I would often choose to end my hike at a different train station or bus stop than the beginning of my hike. Here in California public transportation is basically non-existent, in...

Mount Tallac is one of the classic and popular hikes in the Tahoe area. It is well known for the spectacular view of Fallen Leaf Lake, Lake Tahoe, two small Alpine Lakes and the Desolation Wilderness. The standard route from the trailhead is about a 10 mile round trip with an elevation gain of about 3300 ft. Don't expect to be...

A friend was visiting from the mountain-less part of this country and expressed the wish to accompany me on one of my Sierra Nevada hikes. Whenever someone asks me if they can come hiking with me I say yes, but hardly ever does it happen that someone actually comes along. My choice for this hike was Ralston Peak from Camp...

Ralston Peak is a popular mountain in the Desolation Wilderness which is typically and often climbed from the trailhead close to Highway 50 near Camp Sacramento. However, my goal was to climb it via East Ridge from Echo Lake and also bag Becker Peak and Talking Mountain on the way up. For my way down I planned to take the...

My announcement to come back to Fallen Leaf Lake and climb Angora Peak and Indian Rock didn't take very long to happen. I hiked up to Angora Peak from the south end of Fallen Leaf Lake, via hiking path and later the not very distinct northeast ridge, followed the connecting ridge to Indian Rock and Echo Peak and dropped down to...

Left the car at the pullout on the north side of Hwy 89, past the (still gated) Spring Creek Rd, and walked to the end of Spring Creek Rd. Couldn't find an obvious trail, and turned back when after half an hour of bushwacking a view up along the winter route showed nothing but more of the same, and not a speck of snow. Next, I...