Hike Raymond Peak and The Sinister Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, CA

Aug 11, 2024 — Raymond Peak is the high point of a volcanic ridgeline covered in pinnacles within the Mokelumne Wilderness. The southern end of this ridge houses Reynolds Peak, and the PCT wraps around this peak complex, providing easy access to the base of the peaks. Chris and I decided to approach from the west via Blue Lakes and parked past the Wet Meadows Reservoir. While we could have started from the south via Ebbetts Pass Road, neither of us had been to this area, and this route allowed us to hike to Deadwood Peak later in the day. Additionally, this direction would allow us to attempt climbing The Sinister, so we packed helmets and webbing in anticipation. Our trailhead requires some clearance, which our Crossover SUVs could handle, but sedans won't be able to get past a large rut in the road (38.60295, -119.87724), nor the couple of subsequent ruts. We parked at a downed tree and hiked north along a connector trail to join the PCT.

The PCT ascended briefly through the forest before dropping down into a drainage as it wrapped around the northern reaches of Raymond Peak. It then ascended out of the trees with excellent views north toward Pleasant Valley. Gradually gaining elevation, it was a great morning warm-up. Once the PCT crested the north ridge of Raymond Peak, we could see some of the magnificent pinnacles on the east side of the volcanic peak, with the trail running right beneath them on a steep slope. A few switchbacks brought us up a minor ridge to a junction with the Raymond Peak Trail, which we took to the right.

The hike to Raymond Lake was slightly steeper, leading through the forest to the gorgeous alpine lake nestled at the base of the pinnacle-riddled crest of Raymond Peak. A social trail led us up a small hump to the east of the lake and toward the northern slope of Raymond Peak. The trail essentially disappeared at this point, replaced by a very steep slope with sections of loose dirt. Fortunately, there wasn't any bushwhacking through the open forest, but the grade was relentless for a few hundred feet. Higher up, we encountered embedded volcanic boulders, followed by a grassy slope leading to the base of the cliffy ridge crest. Keeping left below the cliffs, we found a Class 2 weakness to gain the ridge crest above. Here, we got our first view of The Sinister to the west, a dark cluster of foreboding pinnacles that looked unclimbable from this vantage point. A problem for later. Based on the severity of its east face, we thought the ascent route for The Sinister must be on the opposite side of the peak, but we were actually staring directly at it from here.

Once on the northern crest of Raymond Peak, we dropped to the right (west) and continued along the base of the cliffs until a Class 2 weakness presented itself, leading us to the summit. The views from here were very unique: the interesting volcanic formations leading over to Reynolds Peak and The Sinister were more similar to what you'd find in the desert, but with the added bonus of a blanket of greenery. Clouds were casting fun shadows on all the folds of the rock, and we sat for a moment to observe the surrounding peaks.

To reach The Sinister, we dropped south along Raymond Peak's ridge on steep, loose terrain, staying just right of the crest on a grassier slope. Little cliffies forced us farther to the right and away from the crest, causing us to lose a lot of elevation quickly. A particularly intimidating portion of the crest continued to the saddle with The Sinister, but we kept well clear of it, descending to a lower elevation until we were in the forest and on safer terrain. We started back up through the forest, still a few hundred feet north of the ridge crest, emerging into a beautiful meadow at the base of The Sinister, which loomed overhead. This little meadow was a stunning little feature, especially with Raymond Peak as a backdrop. We continued west through the meadow and up a Class 2/3 boulder-filled weakness to reach the base of The Sinister at a major notch on the peak's north side.

We donned our helmets and peered up at the volcanic columns. The summit is composed of multiple pinnacles, the third being the high point (from south to north). From afar, we had been able to see the pinnacles clearly, but from here, it was nearly impossible to distinguish one from the other. Using a combination of Bob Burd's write-up and Rafee Memon's description of the route, we located the first obstacle. A loose Class 2 ramp led up to the crux of the route: about 20 feet of exposed scrambling up a chute to a ledge on the left. We took turns since loose rock was a potential hazard. There are two options for ascending the chute. The shallower, lightly vegetated option on the right felt safer but made working back over to the left more challenging. Additionally, it would be easy to ascend too high within the chute by taking this option. The second option, on the left, was steeper but had better holds and formed a more direct route to the ledge. We both preferred keeping left. The moves weren't hard, but the questionable rock quality and bad exposure gave this a Class 4 rating in my book, so I took my sweet-ass time. I recommend trying to reach the ledge as low as possible since the exposure worsens higher up.

Once on the ledge, we traversed around the face and dropped into a second chute. Bob mentioned this traverse was scary, but it's likely because he stayed slightly higher up than we did. This second chute was the key to reaching the summit. A Class 3 stemming move brought us up below a chockstone, which required squeezing underneath to enter the chute's depths. We took turns in the chute, as it was a loose mess throughout, and kicking pebbles and small rocks was inevitable. The angle was shallow enough to allow for some stemming and easy scrambling in an enclosed space, and while the gully didn’t exceed Class 3, there were multiple loose spots where we had to be careful not to dislodge anything serious.

At the top of the chute, we emerged into sunlight and kept to the right, scrambling up some low Class 3 terrain to gain the summit pinnacle of The Sinister. We agreed it was a cool route to a wildly unique summit, though the looseness detracted from the fun a bit. We slowly made our way back to safe ground and descended into the meadow once again.

Now all that was left was the return to our cars. We dropped north on a steep grassy slope, keeping left above a drainage but finding a sweet spot below the steeper cliffs. We navigated fairly well through the forest and meadows, with occasional cliffs forcing slight course corrections. Around 8,600 feet, we could have continued north along a more prominent ridge hump to join the PCT again, but instead, we chose to side-hill west for a more direct route to our cars. Aside from some slight elevation gain, there was minimal bushwhacking, and it was straightforward. Later while looking at a map, I noticed there might have been a trail along the prominent ridge hump (see map attached), but I’m not sure if it still exists.