Shannon and I made plans to spend the weekend at the Evergreen Lodge just outside of Yosemite. Seeking something to do on Saturday, we planned to head up to Tuolumne Meadows to attempt a climb of Mount Gibbs, a high peak along the crest of the Sierra just south of Mount Dana. There isn’t too much information available online about this peak because it’s supposed to be quite easy. We planned to climb the prominent northwest ridge of the peak, which is a popular route on peakbagger.

We slept in a bit and enjoyed the morning before heading out across highway 120 towards Tuolumne Meadows. The park wasn’t terribly busy, but it did seem busier than when we had come through during the visitor quota period earlier in the summer. That’s a pretty unscientific estimate, though.

We reached the Mono Pass Trailhead and set out hiking at about noon. We followed the trail for about half a mile before hiking into the forest, searching for the northeast ridge. On our way up we missed it by a bit, hiking just left of the creek that ran down between Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs. After a few hundred feet of climbing we climbed through some snow and up onto the ridge proper. From here, the ridgeline climbed another almost 2,000’ above us.

Tuolumne Meadows and the Cathedral Range from the slopes of Mount Gibbs.

Higher up, Mount Lyell and Mount Maclure came into view across Kuna Crest. There was a light dusting of snow from a storm a week or so ago, but it had mostly melted on the west and south aspects.

Shannon climbing to one of the false summits along the northeast ridge of Mount Gibbs.

Mount Lyell again.

To the north we could see Mount Conness and North Peak and a few of the peaks behind.

Looking north towards Mount Dana from a break in the ridgeline.

Shannon climbing as we neared the summit. We reached the summit at about 3:15 and stayed for a little while to take some photos and enjoy the view. Shannon said the altitude had been bothering her a bit, we were pretty high up, hadn’t slept very high last night, and weren’t as well-adjusted to the altitude as we had been over the summer.

Looking south towards Mammoth from the summit of Mount Gibbs.

Shannon sitting on the summit.

Looking north.

West towards Tuolumne Meadows and the Cathedral Range.

Panoramas to the south.

Looking towards Kuna Crest and Mount Lyell. After the usual summit ritual (photos, snack, water, summit register) we headed back down the slope. We thought we’d go down the same way but try and follow the ridgeline all the way down to the trail instead of cutting across like we had on the way up.

Looking north towards Mount Conness from the flat part of the ridgeline near the summit. We continued down and down over easy terrain. Shannon’s headache from the altitude became worse on the descent, unfortunately.

As we neared the bottom of the slope and entered the forest, there was a stunning backlit view of the Cathedral Range. While we had intended to follow the ridgeline, we veered a bit left. Knowing it didn’t matter much, we didn’t bother to correct our mistake. It was a bit steep at the bottom but otherwise quite fine. Soon enough we hit the Mono Pass Trail and started back to the trailhead. The sun was already below the trees and it was getting cold in the creekbeds and other low-lying areas.

Looking back up at Mount Gibbs from the forest below. We got back to the car around 6, just before the sunset. I kicked myself for not having any Advil in the car for Shannon’s now even worse headache. We wasted little time changing to sandals and driving back west to the Evergreen where we enjoyed our much deserved hot showers and burgers.