Hike Stevens Peak, Red Lake Peak, Little Round Top Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, CA

Aug 28, 2024 — There was something about the curvature of the ridgeline arc comprising Stevens Peak, Red Lake Peak, and Little Round Top that made me want to formulate a loop. Even though none of these summits are exactly classics, the existence of a wonderful trail system among the tundra-swept slopes lured me in, and the well-maintained Tahoe Rim Trail bisects this loop. It's certainly more efficient to summit each by coming from the south via various trailheads near Carson Pass, but that would be a far less exciting series of silly out-and-backs. Instead, I schemed, if I came from the north I could more easily form a loop, even if it meant adding significant mileage and vertical gain. The obvious positive is that I would end up seeing a lot more terrain with little backtracking, including a bonus visit to Dardanelles Lake. The issue, however, is that there was no trail system leading directly from Little Round Top to complete the loop without marring the lovely circle that I ended up with, but more on that later.

I chose to start from the popular Big Meadow Trailhead near Luther Pass. I crossed the busy highway CA-89 along the Tahoe Rim Trail, which then started up tight switchbacks through the forest. I met a junction with the Scotts Lake Trail, but I kept right and wandered into a gorgeous clearing known as Big Meadow. I could see Stevens Peak ahead from here, my first summit still a distance away. Past Big Meadow was a mostly forested walk for a while, which gained elevation slowly.

When the Tahoe Rim Trail reached the far north shoulder of Stevens Peak, it dropped down to the west. I'd be coming back up from this way later, but for now, I was first headed to Stevens Peak, so I left the trail before it descended and plodded south into the forest. The bushwhacking was nearly non-existent, but the slope was very steep at times, with occasional deadfall. Various clearings served as lookout points through the trees, and along the rim were cliffs with unique volcanic crevices above Round Lake and the meadows below. It was slower-moving due to the slope angle, but I was able to speed up significantly since most of the distance to Stevens Peak is covered afterward along tundra with wide-open views. There was a random short-lived section of talus along the way, and another one at the summit, where I got great views of the traverse to come and toward Freel Peak in the distance.

I'll note that a bit before reaching the summit of Stevens Peak, I crossed an obviously regularly used trail. I was immediately curious about its origin and scoured a satellite map, finding that it switchbacks up from Scotts Lake. Since I usually prefer to take trails when available, I was a little disappointed I didn't know about this completely undocumented trail sooner. Though it would add a bit of distance, you might want to try to come from that way instead of my more direct ridge route. Still, I wasn't too upset because my route was pretty and not much of a hassle.

Red Lake Peak was next. I dropped south from Stevens Peak on a social trail through talus and made my way to a clear trail etched into the tundra. Since this unmarked trail seems to completely bypass Red Lake Peak, I decided to just take the ridge instead. I added a few extra feet to snag a lump along the way that gave me an overlook toward Crater Lake to the east. It was a bit of a slog up to the summit block of Red Lake Peak, first through steep tundra and then a loose slope. I reached the northern edge of Red Lake Peak's conglomerate summit cluster and followed a social trail on the left (east) side. Shortly after, I noted a Class 3 chimney on my right. I took this up to gain the crest and immediately scrambled over a rib onto the right side of the conglomerate, just below the summit. A ledge continued south for a bit, and a short Class 3 move led to the summit, where I could see Round Top in the distance.

I backtracked to the base of the conglomerate and followed the trail around it, the standard route used to access Red Lake Peak from Carson Pass. I took this much of the way down, but when it bent south, I left it since I wanted to stay along the crest to reach the saddle that separates Red Lake Peak from my next summit, Peak 9452. There was some rocky terrain, but this is mostly a tundra stroll. It was a little disheartening to see the highway so close, knowing that I could have easily gotten here from that direction and saved myself many miles, but I was really enjoying the loop and didn't regret my plan.

There was a cute little pond at the saddle, where I picked up a trail that brought me steadily up to Peak 9452. The trail bypasses the high point, so I took a quick detour to snag this unnamed lump. The trail continues along the ridgeline toward my final summit, Little Round Top. At its eastern saddle, I was met with a junction. Here I left the trail and continued toward the summit, which was still a distance away of easy walking. The views toward the Desolation Wilderness were a wonderful surprise.

I backtracked from Little Round Top to the trail junction and debated my choices for getting back. I could either take the PCT through Meiss Meadow to the Tahoe Rim Trail, basically working through the basin I'd wrapped above along my traverse, or I could be a bit more adventurous. I noted that a trail leads down to Showers Lake from here, and there was a trail leading to Dardanelles Lake from the north, leaving a mile-long stretch that had no trails to connect the two lakes. I felt like the day had been more tame than anticipated, so I decided to try it out. Ultimately, this excursion might not have saved much time, but it did cut off over a mile, and it certainly made my track a much sexier-looking loop on a map than it would have been had I taken the PCT/Tahoe Rim option.

I dropped down to Showers Lake on a maintained trail, joining the PCT for only a few hundred feet. I filled up on water, passed a couple of backpackers enjoying the lake, and headed north off-trail. I wasn't sure what to expect, but satellite imagery revealed that the initial slope descent was riddled with granite slabs and obstacles, which I quickly encountered. I managed to choose a decent route down, pulling an easy Class 3 move here and there on small cliff bands, but you can likely find a true Class 2 route if you care to. A few beautiful slabs formed nice ramps down through the trees, and many little cliffs formed a maze that funneled me through gullies and around drops. I was happy there wasn't any bushwhacking and that I didn't run into any major surprise cliffs. However, looking back up at my route from below, I could see that I very easily might have if I'd chosen poorly. I could hear water loudly falling off one of such cliffs, but I'd managed to steer clear. Once past the initial steep slope, I meadnered generally northwest, which felt unnatural since all drainages and slopes wanted to push me farther west. I scrambled over numerous Class 2 granite obstacles and passed a small pond nestled into the granite.

Eventually, I reached the base of a major rock outcropping on the south side of Dardanelles Lake, which I wrapped around to approach the lake from the west. I started to see hints of a social trail, which soon became very easy to follow the closer I came to the lake. I followed the lake's perimeter, enjoying the unique granite features on its banks. I was surprised at how popular it was here. After wandering around Dardanelles Lake a bit, I took the Dardanelles Lake Trail back to the Tahoe Rim Trail to complete my loop, which I took back to the trailhead.