Independence Peak 11,744′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 4:40
Distance: 3.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 2700′
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Onion Valley- water, bear boxes, pit toilets
Independence Peak is one of the easier alpine SPS peaks. Sitting east of the Sierra Crest, it’s actually the shortest SPS summit from Muah Mountain near Mount Langley to the south, and San Joaquin Mountain to the north near Mammoth Lakes. After a few rounds of snow in the Sierra, I thought I would be spending the rest of the fall in Yosemite Valley and the foothills. But sitting off the crest, Independence Peak receives less snow than it’s higher neighbors to the west, and was far enough south that it hadn’t gotten the brunt of California’s early winter storms. I had some errands to run in the morning, so I didn’t get to the Onion Valley trailhead until about noon, a handful of cars in the lot despite the cold and wind. Shouldering my pack, I hiked through the Onion Valley campground and located the Robinson Lake trail near campsite #8. This was my second time on this trail, the first descending University Peak about 5 years prior. After the first few switchbacks, I started to encounter patches of snow. It was nothing more than a few inches and much of it bootpacked, so there was no need for floatation or any added traction. As I climbed higher along Independence Creek, the bootpack I was following lost the actual trail, not surprising given how poorly maintained the Robinson Lake trail was. But the forest was thin enough where it didn’t really matter, and I made steady progress up the canyon.
When I was nearly directly west of the summit of Independence Peak I started to look for my line upslope. Most of it looked like loose scree with intervening patches of snow, so I aimed for some of the larger boulders in hopes that it would be more stable. Considering nearby University Pass is notorious for its looseness (in fact, Sierra Peakbaggers sometimes defined the looseness of a route in “University Pass Units- UPU”), I had little hope of actually finding anything solid. And although it wasn’t horrible by any means, there was plenty of shifting sand and small rocks to make the going slow.
About halfway up I put on microspikes in hoping the snow might provide a bit more traction. But everything was either unconsolidated powder or wind swept ice, so I pivoted back to the rock, luckily finding some decent class 3 closer to the ridgeline. I hit the southern ridge of Independence Peak about 2 false summits to the south.
There was pretty easy class 2-3 ramps that bypassed any trickier spots to the east, culminating in a final short 50′ corner system to the summit. The wind was whipping hard, and I ducked behind a boulder for a short break and some photos. The summit register was essentially destroyed, one of the pens exploding on the register with the entire thing sopping wet. I tucked it back in the ammo can.
After a few photos, I started back down the way I came, staying east of the ridgeline for a bit before dropping down a different notch back onto the west face. I used the unconsolidated powder to my advantage on the descent, plunge stepping down snow and scree back down to the boot packed trail below.
Hiking back to the trailhead, I quickly lost the line I had been following and cut down the switchbacks directly towards the campground, getting back to my car shortly after 4 PM. I took of my wet boots and socks and headed out, stopping in Lone Pine for dinner before continuing home.
