8/26/2026 Route: from Fryingpan lakes Posted On: 8/27/2026, By: SnowAlien Info: Obviously, it's best to tackle the peak as the ridge run, but if you're as slow as me, don't have a great weather window and lack a car shuttle, it is doable as a standalone hike from the Fryingpan lakes. 5 years ago I hiked the nearby ranked 13ers from the Fryingpan Lakes TH and discovered the good trail on the descent from Wayah. This time, I figured, even if the weather doesn't hold, I can go see the lakes. After reaching the lakes in a couple hours on the trail, I lost any sign of trail and started my slow and tedious ascent of the east slope of UN 13,148. I noticed a ptarmigan just below the summit, seemed a bit high for the nest, but what do I know. The rock is impeccable and I enjoyed the traverse to UN 13,228 (with a short bypass to the left) in a somewhat moody weather. I considered going over the Wayah and descending the same gully I did last time, but the CalTopo contours looked ok, so I descended the gully before Wayah, which was very slow and tedious with huge boulders perched everywhere. Surprisingly, saw a few sporadic cairns. GPS clocked 14 miles and way too many hours :) |