Tells Peak - a "must-climb" Sierra Peak for a Swiss!

After my failed attempt to climb Tells Peak last week I did my home work, studied what went wrong and why I didn't find the Highland Trail. After checking the different topo maps on caltopo.com, I  realized that the US-Topo Map which I had with my (and was on my GPS) was outdated and contained an old version of the Highland Trail. On the FSTopo map from 2016, I did see the current version of the trail. Judging from my track I was actually very close to this new trail at the point of return last week and would I have continued less than 50m then, I probably would have found it... Anyway, equipped with this new information and up-to-date maps, I was eager to give Tells Peak another try and this time made it to its top without any problems.

The snow situation and road conditions are pretty much the same as last week and despite some additional snowfall last weekend, I am able to drive to the same starting point. The first 2.6 miles to the weather station are the same as last week. There I notice a sign "Highland Trail" which I didn't see on my last visit and follow the obvious path. Even with some snow on the ground it is relatively easy to follow this trail. A small confusion comes after about 3.5 miles where a trail marker suggest to go south, but an obvious path actually goes north. I decided to follow the marked path for a few hundred yards, but then decided to take the other option anyway. It looks like the marked path takes a little detour south to avoid a swampy meadow. Eventually these two options join up again.

A little later after another mile I decide to put on my snow shoes since there is more and more snow on the ground now. After a little more than 5 miles from my starting point, the terrain gets steeper and I finally gain some altitude. The path here is obvious because it's more or less the only option through the rather thick manzanita bushes. After P. 7582 I cross the creek and walk up along it's south side. It is not very obvious any more where exactly the path would be, but thanks to the snow and no dense bushes any more it doesn't really matter.

After almost 6 miles I reach Forni Lake at an altitude of almost 8000 ft which is completely frozen already and I can easily walk on it to it's eastern end. From here on there is a considerable amount of snow, my snowshoes are definitely needed and it is quite exhausting too. I continue east up the steepest part (shortly around 30°) and get out of the forest. From here I walk up to the summit in a straight line. In the winter this part is most likely much easier than during the summer (where - according to several sources - the trail does not always seem to be obvious and hard to follow). Due to the snow covered bushes and/or rocks it doesn't really matter now where I walk and there is no need to find the trail, I'm just heading to the highest point.

The view from the top of Tells Peak is amazing. The Crystal Range is the first Big Mountain Range above 8000ft when coming from the Pacific and therefore its peaks offer wonderful views down to the Foothills & the Central Valley and even to some coastal mountains which are more than 100 miles away can be seen. In addition part of Lake Tahoe is visible from Tells Peak and of course much of the Desolation Wilderness.

After an extended break at the high-point of Tells Peak I retrace my steps back to the car.