Gale Peak 10,700’, Sing Peak 10,540’ and Redtop 9,973’
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 8:30
Distance: 12.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 6,100’
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Quartz Mountain, no services
At the southern boundary of Yosemite National Park, the Clark Range ends in a series of summits roughly 10,000’ in height. Not on any peakbagging lists that I was chasing, the summits still offer a moderate outing and a chance to get over 10,000’ in elevation without too much effort. The peaks can be approached from a number of trails- either within the park, Chiquito Pass or a few other trailheads off Beasore Road. I elected to climb them from the Quartz Mountain trailhead at the very end of Sierra Sky Ranch road, looping over Redtop, Sing Peak and Gale Peak before dropping into Chain Lakes and heading back to the trailhead. I figured that this would make for about a 12 mile day with a little under 2 hours of driving on each end. The furthest I had driven up Sierra Sky Ranch Road was to the Fresno Dome Trailhead, just when it was starting to get rougher. The road seemed to be at it’s worst shortly after that with a series of ruts and sharp rocks, but mellowed out in the higher pine forest. A large fallen tree blocked the last 100 yards of road to the trailhead proper, so I parked in a clearing with a number of other cars and headed cross country through the forest to join the trail. The Quartz Mountain trail starts off with a descent of several hundred feet, dropping to Chiquito Lake near Chiquito Pass. The lake was quite beautiful, and I paused long enough to take a photo before being swarmed by mosquitos.
Crossing a small dam at the southern end, I left the trail and headed cross country through the forest up solid granite slab and over boulders. I was worried the cross country travel would be similar to the loose talus I encountered on Red Peak, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the rock very solid as I moved along.
The lower ridge line was mostly class 2, with a bit of class 3 near the very top, summiting Redtop in only about 1.5 hours from the trailhead. I was quite pleased with my time, and enjoyed the views north to the rest of the Clark Range including Sing Peak and Gale Peak along the ridgeline. A lazy lizard sat with me near the summit, only moving when a fly was close enough to lunge for.
Dropping off Redtop, I reached the first bit of solid class 3 for the day, with significant exposure to the north requiring me to drop to the talus slopes a handful of times to reach the low saddle between Redtop and Sing. The western ridgeline of Sing, similar to the western ridgeline of Redtop, was mostly class 2.
Aside from one from one false summit, it was similarly easy hiking to the summit, taking a bit over an hour between the two peaks. Despite the proximity to one another, the views dramatically improved with the summits of Mammoth Mountain to the east, Madera Peak directly to the south and a series of lakes on all sides. This one deserved a longer break even without a lizard friend, and I laid out on a large flat rock for a mid morning snack and enjoyed the views of the Minarets.
I hadn’t researched the traverse between the three summits much at all, and looking down the northeast ridge of Sing Peak, it was clear the final traverse to Gale would be much more challenging. I encountered steep class 3, albeit briefly, on the initial descent, with plenty more scrambling along the ridgeline and series of false summits. It was easy enough to drop off to one side or the other for any significant difficulties, although the rock was certainly the most solid along the crest.
After surmounting one final false summit I followed a direct line of class 3 to the summit, finding the only summit register of the day. The views on Gale were similar to Sing, although with a better vantage point of the Chain Lakes below And Yosemite Valley in the distance.
My plan was to drop off on a western ridge of rock from Gale into the Chain Lakes basin. This ridge of rock was quite steep, and about 1/3 of the way down, I bailed onto talus slopes above the uppermost of the Chain Lakes. While the talus slopes looked like they would go all the way to the water from above, I was surprised to encounter some significant cliff bands about 2/3s of the way down. Weaving back and forth, I eventually found an incredible ramp, cutting into a steep gully to the north which would bring me the remaining distance to the lake.
A faint use trail around the lake brought me to the outlet, where I stopped to refill water before continuing on the more well defined trail to the west.
I began to pass the first people I had seen all day, small groups of backpackers heading to the Chain Lakes to spend the night. The trail wove around several of the smaller lakes, eventually reaching the trail junction that would bring me back to Chiquito Pass.
My trailhead above the pass meant I would be ending the day in a slow uphill, another throw back to my Grand Canyon days. After one final junction, I hooked west, climbing the final bit of uphill back to the Quartz Mountain trailhead.
The entire day had only taken about 8 hours, not bad for 3 new summits. Driving down Sierra Sky Ranch Road, I made the poor decision of trying to cut over to Beasore Road on a connecting dirt road, taking me down some of the worst driving of the day. At least I’ll know better for next time…