Towards the end of September, I got three late season peaks to end the 2025 season.
#145: Winchell
I woke up at 4:30 and was on trail by 5am. I met up with my colleague Marcus and his friend Michael at their camp at 7. We had a beautiful day with perfect weather. The views north to the Palisades are stunning. The scrambling was fun, without getting too spicy.
#146 and 147 Gilbert and Johnson
The next day I was up around first light and started from South Lake. I had a perfect final day of peakbagging in the mountains. The snow had come in a little bit and deposited ice on the high north facing slopes. This gave me pause at times, but didn’t slow me down too much. The views along the traverse were stunning. I got to peer over the edge into the beautiful Leconte Canyon. The vantage of the Palisades was unique. The highlight though, was the final ridge before Johnson. An impressive but trivial class 3 ridge, the final obstacle before my 147th SPS peak. 100 to go! I let out an exclamation of joy atop the mountain to celebrate the milestone. I hope to be back up there in the High Sierra someday soon!
Anthony Ottati 