When I saw the peak of Sierra Buttes last year it was immediately added to my Sierra goals. When looking up some non-standard routes to it's top I couldn't really find any useful information. However, judging from the US topo map there should be plenty of "interesting options" to get to the highest point. Most people who visit...

Last week I added a mountain to my Sierra to-do list. Looking west from the top of Donner Peak, Devils Peak caught my attention. This week I can report that this to-do is already completed. After searching the net about Devils Peak, I found out on Bob Burd's site and on summitpost.org, that climbing this mountain was...

Today I had rather ambitious plans: almost 20 miles of distance and 4000 ft altitude gain. Depending on the snow situation some of the hike would have had to be done on snowshoes as well. The plan was to walk from Donner Pass to Tinker Knob & back and on the way to Tinker Knob bag the 4 peaks which are somewhat on the way...

"Twin Peaks" is probably known best as the fictional Washington town from the famous American television serial drama of the same name. A lot of people probably also heard about San Francisco's "Twin Peaks", the two hills near the geographic center of the city. I doubt a whole lot of people know the "Twin Peaks" in the Tahoe area,...

Last week a storm brought about 10 inches of snow to the Tahoe region. So I was hoping to finally get my skis broken in for the season. In order to make sure an attempt to do a ski tour wouldn't fail this time, I planned to start at an elevation of almost 8000ft and in addition choose north facing slopes for my tour. Waterhouse...

After my last weeks outing in the Carson Pass area, I was hoping for a little more snow on the north facing slopes in the Tahoe region, maybe even enough for a ski tour. However, due to the absence of the white stuff up to almost 8000 ft, I had to leave the skis in the car and took my snowshoes along instead. For my goal today I...

After a long abstinence from the mountains (for several reasons), I finally was able to get back to the beloved mountains. The California Sierras haven't gotten a lot of snow yet this winter, but with a big storm passing by last week I was hoping for enough of the white stuff to take my snowshoes out before it's summer again here....

Dicks and Jacks Peak have caught my attention on many of my hikes in the Tahoe area already. These two mountains are both quite high (almost 10K ft) and stick out. You see them from many other peaks in the area. However, a day hike to these two peaks is about 14 miles long with an altitude gain of more than 4000 ft, no matter from...

Two days ago while hiking in this area I spotted Red Lake Peak on the other side of Carson Pass from the top of Round Top and it's inviting snow free south flank. At home I checked the map to find possibilities which could be combined with this peak. A logical choice would have been to traverse from Carson to Luther Pass bagging...

On their short visit in California Omega3 and partner stopped by at our house and "oh surprise", the next day we planned to go on a hike together. Unfortunately the Sierra Nevada got hit by the first winter storm of the season on the weekend before they arrived. However, judging from webcams and the word from a friend's relative...

continued... I didn't sleep much in my tent that night. Not because I wasn't tired, just because the wind was shaking my tent all night long. A few times I was afraid that it might not hold up against it. At around 5 AM I decided it didn't make sense any more to keep laying awake in my sleeping bag but get up and do something....

Originally Vauacht and I had planned to pay a visit to Mount Lyell and Mount Mclure on this weekend. However, several constraints were not fulfilled (in particular the fact that an overnight stay of any kind at the Tuolumne Meadows is not really feasible any more after October 15) and therefore these plans had to be put to its...

After my "long" hike to Freel Peak a little less than a year ago, I knew I "had" to come back to also bag the close-by Jobs Peak and Jobs Sister. In addition I also still wanted to try the southern access to the 3 highest CA mountains around Lake Tahoe from Horse Meadow. When I saw the report from the "Mountainhiker" to...

During my hike to Hawkins - and Pickett Peak, I saw a very interesting looking mountain somewhat south of me. At home I checked out udeuschle and found out that my newly declared goal was Reynolds Peak. After checking Bob Burds pages, I knew it would be an interesting scramble, in particular the last part all the way to the top....

An altitude of 4000m is not really something which is important in a country where people measure the height of the mountains in feet. Who cares if a mountain is more or less than 13123.36 feet? According to this list California has 123 peaks with a prominence >300 feet, which are above 4000m, more than the Alps. And who wants...

My fitness has somewhat suffered since I moved to California (I sit in cars too often ;-). So for my first hiking day on this extended WE near Bishop, I put something not too strenuous on my want-to-climb list. It should also help to acclimatise to the altitude for the main course on the next day. Today I wanted to climb Hurd Peak...

A. a friend visiting from Switzerland wanted to go hiking with me. His goal was to climb a high peak with a good view and it shouldn't be difficult, but a marked trail. I suggested Mount Rose with the option to also do a little side tour to the close by Church Peak. There's no marked path up to Church Peak, but judging from the...

When I stood on Round Top and looked down towards Caples Lake I saw this interesting little volcanic fellow. At home I looked up what it was and immediately put "Black Butte" on my wish list. It would perfectly do for a short little scramble when I didn't have a full day for hiking at my disposal. On the webpages of Bob Burd I...

After my first outing after moving to California to Pyramid Peak, I already new I would come back and revisit the Crystal Range in the Desolation Wilderness. The view from Pyramid Peak to Mount Agassiz and Mount Price (here) sparked my interest. Friends who visited from Switzerland wanted to go and do some scrambling in the...

The Californian friend X. was interested to do a hike with me which included some scrambling in the Sierra Nevada. Since she didn't have any experience in "interesting" and only little in "regular" hiking I planned something which wouldn't be too difficult but offered the possibility to get a feeling of how some hands on the rock...