As I was finishing up the CDT and making my way back to California, Matt and I plotted a trip to catch up and climb some more Sierra Peaks. The SPS list had become a mutual fascination, and even though we had both been very busy the last few years (him with starting a company, and a relationship, and me with hiking the AT, CDT and going to South America), we were always plotting ways to sneak in a few SPS peaks.
I had a few days before starting a new job, so we met up near Mt. Adams, the northern most SPS peak. That first day we climbed Adams, Elwell and Sierra Buttes. It was interesting to see the range get slowly lower to our north, and it was so clear we could even see Mt. Lassen on the horizon.
The next day we climbed English and Lola. All of the hikes were under ten miles. It was definitely a change of pace to be driving instead of walking between peaks. It was great to spend the weekend with Matt though, and after 4,000 miles on my feet in 2024, I welcomed the chiller trip.
On the last morning, we more then made up for the chill nature of the trip with a short but intense climb up Castle Peak. We camped at the PCT trailhead off I-80 and set our alarms for an hour before sunrise. We knew the weather would be unsettled, so the plan was to try to get up and down as quickly as possible.
As we neared the top, the winds picked up and chilled us to the bone. The wind blew us around as we climbed the last 40 feet of exposed third class to the summit. We didn’t linger on the summit for long, scampered down and jogged back to the treeline. We got back to our cars not long after 7am, both amped up from the morning’s dose of adrenaline.
Digital:
Film:
https://mattymorrison.com/pages/trips/peaks/northern6.html
Anthony Ottati 