Raymond Peak

During my outing to Reynolds Peak, I had originally planned to also climb Raymond Peak. Due to some early fall snow, the north sides of the mountains were still covered in snow and I had to give up my trial then. Today I wanted to make up leeway for this missed peak but use a different approach from northwest instead.

I park the car at the end of Sunset Lake Road and follow the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) east for about 4.3 miles. There I take the clearly visible trail on the right hand side which takes me up to Raymond Lake, a beautiful, clear lake in wonderful scenery. After some fishing (I've been told that there's lots of Golden Trout there) I walk up towards Raymond Peak in the steep but unproblematic north flank. From this angle it's not really clear which of the several pinnacles is the highpoint, but eventually it becomes obvious. To reach the top of Raymond Peak I walk around the highest pinnacle on the east to the south side of the peak and get to the top via very easy short scramble (Class II, T4-).

After a break and discovering lots of new goals I then look for an alternate route to get back to my starting point. Immediately north of the highpoint there is a notch in the ridge and after looking down and inspecting the west flank, I decide that this will be my way down. The flank is rather steep with lots of loose rocks, but doesn't pose any technical difficulties (Class II, T4-). The only place where I shortly have to take my hands out of my pockets is a short drop at around 9350 ft, which probably could be bypassed as well. At around 8800 ft the vegetation gets a little thicker, but doesn't cause any headaches. I cross the stream and gain the little hill on the other side  and find an off-road trail which takes me to the PCT and back to my starting point.