W6/SS-245 Kaiser Peak

Kaiser Peak is the high point of the Kaiser Wilderness, just north of Huntington Lake. After leaving the Bay Area early Friday morning I got to the trailhead at the D&F Pack Station shortly before noon. There was a lot of smoke in the air from the Detwiler Fire burning near Yosemite. The trailhead parking is just down the road from the pack station. The area was small, with only enough room for five or six cars. The trail leaves from the top of the pack station. There is a board with information about the wilderness area at the trailhead.

First trail junction.

On the map the trail is called the Kaiser Loop Trail, but all the signs pointed to Kaiser Peak. The trail climbs steadily over its 4.5 mile distance. There are views of the Huntington Lake area once you climb out of the stream valley the trail starts in.

Lots of smoke.

Once I climbed up to around College Rock at 9000 feet I got above the smoke, and the views got much cleaner. It took me about an hour to climb to here. After the rock there is a short flat section where I passed the first snow field. Once I finally climbed onto the ridge, the views opened up and it was beautiful. Being above the trees reminded me of the ridges in New Hampshire that are above treeline.

Kaiser Peak by my head.

The ridge walk was nice, with a few snow fields that were easy to cross or avoid. The summit was bare, with a few flat areas. I setup my mag loop and KX3 and got on 20 meters. I had an intermittent 3G signal, enough I was able to get a few spots out. I quickly got five contacts on 20, then figured I try 17 to see if it was open. I only got one contact there. I had line of sight to the Central Valley, so I figured I could get lots of VHF contacts without spotting. I did, but the people who answered my CQs were very chatty, more than those in the Bay Area.

On the summit.

 By this point I had been on the summit for an hour, and above 10,000 feet for longer, and I was starting to get a headache. I figured it was due to the altitude or dehydration, so I did something about both. I packed up and headed down, drinking most of my remaining water. The hike down was easy, following the same trail as on the way up.

One of the lakes (Jewel Lake) north of the peak was still partially ice covered.

I got back to the car, and drove over to Tamarack Sno-park, where the NavX rogaine was starting the next day.

Trailhead: D&F Pack Station, Huntington Lake.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map. Tom Harrison make a nice map too.
Route: Kaiser Loop Trail.
Red Tape: None.