With the Sierra season winding down and snow already on the ground farther south, Shannon and I set out this weekend to climb Mokelumne Peak, the second-farthest north of our remaining SPS peaks. The reports indicated we should expect a relatively short outing (on foot) featuring a mild bushwhack along with some forest hiking, plenty of adventure for us on a fine November morning.

We set out from home around 6 and drove through the sunrise before refueling for gas in Nevada and continuing on our way for the Tanglefoot Trailhead. After turning off highway 88 and negotiating a better-than-expected dirt road, we set off on foot at 10AM.

The hike was indeed as tame as reported. It was a tad rocky descending to the creek a couple of miles in, but everything else was manageable. Before long we left the trail around the 8,000’ contour and stomped over plants for a while before reaching some easier walking. Our route roughly headed directly for the peak before meeting the small shoulder directly to the peak’s west and then following a use trail to just below the final summit plateau.

Shannon hiking before the final climb to Mokelumne Peak.

The lofty perch of Mokelumne Peak ahead.

Around 1 o’clock, we reached the summit and had some water and snacks and enjoyed the views.

The Crystal Range to our north.

The view to the canyons to our west.

The view to the southeast.

After 30 minutes or so we headed back the way we came. It was a bit slow descending the summit talus but then we sped back up to our normal pace once back on the level slope below the summit. The remainder of the hike back was pretty uneventful.

One final view of Mokelumne Peak (the brown bump in the middle) before descending the other side of the rise back to the trailhead.

Once back at the car, we skedaddled, hoping to catch some of the game 7 world series game between the Dodgers and Blue Jays. After a quick stop at Chipotle in Minden, Nevada, we managed to make radio contact and caught the end of it as we cruised south on 395. Listening to the baseball game caused almost as much exertion as the hike had, but hey, it’s nice to get an easy SPS peak in from time to time!