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Hello! thanks so much for checking out the vids, I appreciate the support. THE book the sierra is RJ Secor's High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails. It has some beta on 1000's of routes. I supplement the writing with Bob Burd's trip reports, summitpost, and TH-cam, and it usually sets me straight. If you need anything else please let me know, If you can think of video topics that would be helpful to you or others I am open to that idea as well. Have fun out there!

I have many La Sportivas. In this vid, I am wearing the TX Guides, but I have tried the Boulder X, TX 2, TX 4, and climb in Katana laces and Testarossa. The TX guides are better for scrambling than hiking imo and fit best if you have a narrow foot and are ok with a tighter toe box area. The TX 4's hike better than they climb because the toe box is wider and can't be laced as much so edging is compromised for comfort on the trail. Let me know if you have other specific questions and have fun out there!

You totally should! There is a lifetime of adventures to be had in this area and you are very fortunate to live there.

I appreciate the support very much! I am working on a new studio and will have some more of these type vids coming out in the new year. If you have any video ideas or can think of something that would be helpful, please let me know.

It's Robinson Lake hikeable out of Onion Valley in The Sierra

@@Wanksteez Thanks a lot!

Its not the easy moves that make a route, its the hard ones. There are plenty of mid 11 moves throughout, requiring 5.11 technique and 5.11 power to send.

You would be all about this route. The bottom move is a 5.9 smear you wouldn't think twice about, and the hard moves a re more vertical techy, but there is a pump that plays a role toward the top. Clipping is top is hard.

I haven't done Kaiser Peak yet, I'll look into it, thanks for the recommendation

@ you won’t regret the trip.

This is rad, I so glad you had a great time! The closest thing to what you are looking for is RJ Secor's Peaks Passes and Trails. It covers so much, meaning the depth on specific routes / peaks is low. Certain routes only get a sentence or two, and the consensus is that its a little sandbagged. Almost all the sierra peakbaggers and backpackers use it, I just also try to supplement with trip reports or photos from other sources. The other thing to consider are Bob Burd's trip reports, I just google his name and the peak and something will come up.

Thanks so much for the kind words, glad we both love this place so much.

Thanks for the report on Hell's Trail, glad it wasn't a problem for you. Recs for class 2's are a little tricky, as so many of them are not enjoyable, loose / sandy ascents. Agassiz and Bago come to mind as peaks that were enjoyable, and the summit views of each makes any sand slipping worth it. I have vids of both of those if you want to check them out.

@@Wanksteez I will def go check out those videos. Thank you.

You are welcome, hope you get to climb here sometime!

You are very welcome, its a fun one, be safe!

Thanks dude! I loved climbing this one with ya!

Unfortunately no, I would message / call Sage to Summit or the Gear exchange in Bishop.

Agreed, the crux really comes down to endurance, the bane of any boulderer's existence.

Thanks for the response, I appreciate your insight, and I will agree that I was a bit of a debbie downer, but I still stand by everything I said. I have done 12-20ish 4k peaks, including Franconia ridge, a one day presi, a winter ascent of Washington, as well as several 52 WAV's. I am by no means an expert but have certainly been around. Unless you are doing something massive like a pemi, presi, wildcat lopp etc, its not that challenging. Come out west where there is higher elevation so its harder to breath, no trails, and actual technical terrain. The hardest thing on the "terrifying 25" only come in at 3rd class, that's child's play compared to so many routes in the Sierra. I hope you get the chance to come out west, The Sierra or North Cascades are the real stuff as well as the Southern CO mountains, its a different animal. Enjoy hiking your trails, I do welcome the chance to come back, a one day Pemi is a dream.

​@@Wanksteez Hey, that's fair. Thanks for the update. It sounded like you hadn't done any of the things you mentioned at the time of the video, and that your assessment was coming entirely from hiking Mount Major and some surrounding hills on a hazy/cloudy day. Maybe I misunderstood. That resume sounds like you have some serious NH street cred. I don't doubt anything you say about how extreme things can get out West - my point was only that NH offers much tougher hiking terrain (and higher) than what you showed in this video. But not high enough to have difficultly breathing! 😮 That being said, I spoke to someone who said she's from out west, but still struggled climbing Mount Jefferson: "I've been spoiled by all the switchbacks out west". Curios what you'd think of that statement.

Nice thats rad, hope you had an awesome time!

Thanks, a the second most prominent peak in The Sierra you can see for miles, I highly recommend this mountain.

Getting to the top certainly makes it all seem worth it, especially a summit like this one.

Thanks I appreciate the support, and agree its been a great season. Snow was manageable, but its starting to get cold!

Thanks so much!!

Thank you, your video was very helpful. I'm amazed you went straight up that choss.

@@Wanksteez actually did not climb the way you did - I went until under the Haeckel- Wallace col and climbed that talus. From how it looks - you climbed Wallace col - on a route I descended this spring on snow - and yep - I’m happy it was covered up with snow :)

Thank you! The goal is coming back in one piece, and turning around is always the right decision.

You are very welcome. I think Ritter is the coolest summit I have ever been on, if you get the chance to head into the volcanic range, do it.

Thank you! I think it was a combo of only one night at elevation, waiting a bit to long for the sun (I really didn't want the puff in the backpack) and tricky cross country route finding. The ramps to get around picture peak were easier if you stayed high, and when I came around the corner I was almost too high, after climbing down, checking the time I knew both peaks weren't going to happen.

Langley being a lot more south makes the difference in most places for the snow (except Old Army Pass). Full disclosure, this was actually last fall (2023) which was a big winter. I think I only went out twice all season without my axe that whole year.

That's rad, this is a great one, big mileage and scenery, all while being not too difficult.

@@Wanksteez I agree. I've done Langley 4 times and Cirque is almost as fun, with no people.

I did Matterhorn from Horse Creek Pass, video will be coming out sometime in the spring I hope. What do you mean by rank? Difficulty or enjoyability? Difficulty I would give it 3rd class for accessing the final ridge, I looked all over and didn’t see anything that kept it to second class. In terms of enjoyability, I wouldn’t put it super high. From the pass to the final ridge was a SLOG through some very loose stuff, with less than 100 yards of actually fun solid rock. The summit is nice, but nothing on Agassiz or Middle Pal. I am not itching to do Matterhorn again.

@@Wanksteez sounds like an uncomfortable scramble. i haven’t peaked anything in the sierras yet but plan on going to matterhorn this week. you said that it’s not the most enjoyable scramble but im pretty dead set on trying it. is it a reasonable endeavor for someone like me who is just getting into hiking up mountains?

​@@gromgang548 How new are you to this? If you are just getting into hiking mountains, I would say it is not a reasonable endeavor. The gain is pretty big if you are trying to do it in a day, and the altitude will not be doing you any favors. When we did it we weren't acclimated, and moved less than a mile an hour from the pass to the summit. The trail is a little tricky to follow in many places and you can make your life much harder if you end up off trail. If you are going to be in Bridgeport, I would say Mt. Dana or North Peak are more reasonable, I have vids of both, but didn't do the hiking route on North Peak. Dana is prettier but North peak is more of a challenge if thats what you are looking for. Be safe with whatever you decide.

@@Wanksteez thanks for all the info! Despite your advice I did end up hiking up matterhorn and got to the top 😭. The wind was pretty damn nuts though.

@@WanksteezAlso I’m thinking of quickly doing mount star before i start college next week but I can’t find any routes on alltrails. Where should I find a good route that I can follow online?

Nice have fun, you will rock it!

Thanks, it really was.

This was actually last summer, sometime early aug 2023, moderate snow year with some lingering patches. I haven't actually been in the sierra since mid July, but snow was low and melting fast. The JMT beta is no need to worry about snow / bring traction and I believe that.

I was up there Aug 26th and the trail was snow free.

That is correct. If you saw the previous Emerson video, we got into some trouble and were happy to have the rope so we brought it out for round 2. The crux is 5.4 like 30 ft above the ground and is shown at about 1:22. The rest of the start is low 5th but since you are in the waterfall it doesn't feel exposed, which is nice. The middle rages from class 2 to a few class 4 moves and the end is the best 4th class ridge climbing I have ever done, with big exposure and some fatal fall potential. If you think gear would be needed, I would bias small to medium pieces, smaller ones will be nice for the first section and then some bigger cracks appear on the final ridge. Hope this goes well for you, its classic for a reason.

How many other sierra peaks have you done? I feel like Gould is pretty par for the course. I don't enjoy it either, but thats the tax you pay to get to these beautiful summits.

Thanks so much, this was an amazing day on an amazing peak!

Get it get it, thats amazing! You can totally do it, while its steep and high elevation, the small mileage means that even if it takes you some time an early start will get you back to the car before dark. The views of Mono Lake really are special.

If you want to cross into the park, you do need a reservation any time reservations are required. That being said, there is ample parking outside of the park boundary very close to the trailhead. If you are on the east side by Lee Vining, this is a great hike to do that wouldn't need a reservation.

Thanks so much! Hope you are doing well, we miss you.

That's a great question, something I have looked into, and found a mess of regulations. My understanding is as follows: Even though some of these peaks are not in SEKI national park, they are all in designated Wilderness areas where it is illegal to take off, land, or operate a drone from. I do not know the exact regulations for non-Wilderness lands within the national forest or BLM boundaries, but it would be pretty hard to get a drone near most of these peaks.

I did this June 19th 2024. It was a normal snow year, I only spiked up for the 150ish yards at the start, wasn't too bad especially compared to the historic snow we got the season before.

You are very welcome, I hope you get a chance to get out sometime and experience these places for yourself!!

Me too, so much fun! I haven't done Lassen but I bet it would be amazing. That volcanic stuff is so brutal on the way up and so fast on the way down.

They recommend it highly early in the season and it becomes less important as it gets later. Apparently as the marmots wake up from hibernation and are trying to fatten up coolant and brake hoses are the dish of choice. Some people don't do it for day hikes and that was initially my plan, until I spoke to the ranger who said a car had recently been towed out. The tarps are free and first come first served, it took less than ten mins to wrap it up, not worth the risk in may and June in my opinion.

Thanks, I really appreciate it, I'll check out soe of your stuff as well.

You are very welcome, I hope you can get to Tam, its one of the most amazing urban peaks in the country. You flatter me, but I have not hiked all the trails on the peak, there are many hundreds of miles all over the mountain. If you want to send me the stats you want to hike, I could try and out something together for you.

Thanks so much, I hope you can get out there, develop some skills, be safe and get to some amazing places!!

Thank you so much! Thats rad you made it out by Courtright, its a great place.