For my second outing of the week I selected a slightly harder objective, at least compared to yesterday’s outing to Mount Goode. Earlier in the year I had linked up University Peak and Independence Peak in the Onion Valley area and I planned to return to climb the trifecta of SPS peaks north of the trail here: Kearsarge Peak, Dragon Peak, and Mount Gould.
I expected Kearsarge and Gould to be easy, but on Dragon Peak I expected more of a challenge. The peak is somewhat “famous” (at least among the very small group of people interested in climbing relatively obscure peaks in the Sierra Nevada) for its “no handholds” crack traverse summit-block. From what I had read online the final climb to the summit of this peak traverses twenty feet or so across a rock face with only a crack for footholds. Secor rates this as class 3, but the Sierra Club has since upgraded it to a class 4.0 rating for the summit block in their more recent Scrambler Ratings for SPS Peaks. I expected a challenge and was prepared to back off if it felt unsafe. Obviously you know that I didn’t from the title, so let’s get into it.
I was up really fucking early and headed south for Onion Valley, trying to drink just enough coffee to get me through the day, but not so much that would require a pit stop on the 90 minute drive. Around 7:30 I set off up the heavily used Kearsarge Pass Trail. I passed a PCT hiker headed down to Independence to resupply and a couple of other dayhikers headed up before branching off on the Golden Trout Lakes Trail.
University Peak from somewhere along the Golden Trout Lakes Trail. Almost immediately after leaving the Kearsarge Pass Trail, the trail became much harder to follow. It was overgrown and disappeared under talus now and then. I wasn’t surprised, as this trail dead-ended at a collection of lakes, whereas the other branch was one of the trails most commonly used to access the vast Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness.
A broader view of Onion Valley and the surrounding peaks. Well actually just University Peak, which dominates the area. I was having some trouble with my shoes and had to stop and re-tie them a few times. I had picked up a new pair of La Sportiva Akyras from Eastside Mountain Sports and while they felt good in the store, I was having trouble getting the lacing right. After a couple of attempts I found something that seemed to work.
After losing the trail in some talus and wandering for a while I came across this old mineshaft. It was about 10 or 15 feet deep in some cliffs along the south face of the peak. After taking a few photos I headed back across the talus field to try and find the trail. Above here the trail continued to fade now and then, but I was able to mostly follow it until reaching the base of the talus slope below Lilley Pass where I set off through the sand and talus for the pass.
The view south from near the top of Lilley Pass. The climb to the pass was a sandy and loose affair. Fortunately it wasn’t terribly steep, but it was somewhat difficult.
Some Sky Pilot flowers near Lilley Pass. After reaching Lilley Pass it was an easy 500’ up to the summit of Kearsarge Peak. One down!
The view south from the summit of Kearsarge Peak was quite impressive. There was a good view of University Peak, of course, but Mount Williamson, Junction Peak, and the Great Western Divide poked out from behind as well.
The Great Western Divide with Mount Brewer in the middle with the small snowfield.
After a short stay on the summit to enjoy the views and sign the summit register, which was littered with business cards advertising someone’s YouTube channel, I headed back down Lilley Pass.
Dragon Peak from the traverse back to Lilley Pass. The usual route up Dragon Peak from this side climbs the talus chute left of the peak before gaining the ridge and traversing the other side to the summit.
It was much easier going back down the sandy slopes of the pass and I was back on the trail before too long.
Back on the trail looking up towards Dragon Peak and Dragon’s Tooth. I stopped for a lunch break at the upper lake along the trail, fueling up before the 1,000’ climb up the chute to the crest. I still wasn’t sure if I’d be able to climb Dragon Peak, but I resolved to try until I found a move that I didn’t feel comfortable doing or reversing.
After a short break I set off for the chute that climbs up towards the crest. There was a nice view of Kearsarge Peak to the east. The chute wasn’t too bad, a bit steep but no other challenges. It was getting warm and I was getting higher up, so I was starting to move a little more slowly.
Just below the crest of the ridge south of Dragon Peak, the chute turns and continues before dead-ending at the boulder that’s described in Secor.
Here’s the awkward class 3 boulder at the top of the chute. I found it about as awkward as advertised but managed to surmount it without incident with a beach-whale mantle move up the right side.
The lakes just southwest of Dragon Peak and peaks of Glen Pass area from the Sierra Nevada crest just south of Dragon Peak.
Above the pass the climbing got significantly easier again. I climbed up and across several faint chutes staying just west of the crest. As I neared the top I climbed up to the highest point I could see, but reached the top with no difficult class 3 move. A look around revealed that the summit was probably a little bit farther north, though it was a bit tough to tell. This area is a maze of pillars and chutes rising and descending in all directions.
The east face of Dragon Peak.
The true summit block from a small saddle just to the south. From here, I continued traversing until I reached a cliff just on the other side of the summit block. Then I reversed course and climbed up into the corner near the white rock, which went at class 3. Here, I was at the base of the crack, which didn’t look too terrible. I was able to stick my feet about 6 inches into it and lean against the rock, which felt quite secure because the rock wasn’t too steep. I started shuffling my feet across, holding on to occasional small handholds where I found them. Midway across a break in the crack required a larger step, but it was still manageable. Before long I was across the crack and did the final few moves up to the summit.
The Rae Lakes area from the summit of Dragon Peak.
The Great Western Divide.
Looking south towards Junction Peak, Forester Pass, and Mount Stanford.
Mount Clarence King and the Rae Lakes (and Mount Goddard far behind).
I sat and enjoyed the summit view for a few minutes. The view was particularly nice to the northwest over the Rae Lakes and Mount Clarence King. I also thumbed through the summit register, which contained a lot of nice dragon-themed content. But I was still a bit worried about reversing the crack section. Sometimes those things can be more difficult to get down than up. So after a few minutes I climbed back down to start off towards Mount Gould.
The crack from the top.
The crack from the bottom. Reversing these moves did prove to be a bit tricker, but it still didn’t feel unsafe or anything. In any case I was glad to have the most difficult climbing behind me at this point. As I downclimbed the class 3 terrain back to the chute-traverse.
The lakes between Dragon Peak and Mount Rixford again.
Looking back north towards Dragon Peak from below. It looks quite a bit more intimidating from this angle!
The view south. The low point is obvious just below. From there I spied a route that crossed to the left and climbed through the white rocks towards Mount Gould. There wasn’t supposed to be anything hard on the way and that was indeed the case.
There are a couple of structures on the small peak just north of Mount Gould. I think they’re radio repeaters for the backcountry ranger at Rae Lakes. If you look very carefully from the main campsite at Middle Rae Lake, you can pick them out.
I also found a bunch of garbage hidden under a rock. There were some old oxygen cans and some old Coleman propane fuel canisters. Not sure what they were from, maybe a rescue of some sort?
Sky Pilot everywhere!
The summit of Mount Gould. Gaining the summit is a little bit tricky, requiring a class 3 mantle move. I managed to climb up onto the rock just left of the summit easily and then up, but the register was on the rock below and that’s where I took a short break.
The view south. University Peak, Mount Tyndall, and Junction Peak dominate the skyline.
Looking southwest over the Kearsarge Pinnacles, the Videttes, and the Great Western Divide.
Looking back towards Mount Cotter and Mount Clarence King.
The Palisades to the north.
The register was pretty busy, but I managed to pick out a Peter Croft entry. After a brief rest I started heading down. I headed east off the summit rocks and found them a bit harder on this side, but only for a few moves.
The summit rocks of Mount Gould from the south.
The Kearsarge Lakes and Pinnacles again from lower down. I descended a sandy chute that headed just west of Kearsarge Pass. It was a bit loose in places, but not terrible.
Mount Bago to the west. Before too long I was on the Kearsarge Pass Trail and did a short climb up to the pass. To my surprise I didn’t have company atop the pass. I was pretty happy to be back on the trail and moving quickly after many hours hiking cross country.
The lovely view south from Kearsarge Pass. I moved quickly down the steady grade of the trail towards Onion Valley, stopping to take a few photos along the way.
One of several impressively large Foxtail Pines I found along the trail.
Looking back towards University Peak from lower down.
The cascade tumbling into Little Pothole Lake with University Peak behind. After a couple of hours I was back at my car, ready for a snack and some air conditioning.
I couldn’t not take a picture of this awesome license plate!
After pulling some snacks and water from my pack for the car ride, I headed down Onion Valley Road for 395, quite content with my outing. I had climbed three SPS peaks in a day, a new record, and one of them rated class 4! It was tough, but very rewarding. I’d have to scheme a little bit tonight and identify a worthy objective for the next day’s outing.