Recess Peak

Recess Peak 12,813′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 9:20
Distance: 17.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 7900′
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Lake Thomas Edison dam, no services

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In an effort to visit some of the Western Sierra trailheads I had been neglecting, it was time to bite the bullet and head over Kaiser Pass. Despite its’ proximity to home, the extremely windy and potholed one lane road to Lake Thomas Edison and Florence was among my least favorite drives in the range, and my last visit was a climb of Silver Peak in 2020. But there were a number of SPS peaks I had yet to climb accessed from these deep trailheads, and landed on Recess Peak for a reasonable day hike. I left home at 4 AM, the sun rising as I drove through the town of Shaver Lake towards Huntington Lake. It was the first time I had driven up this far since the Creek Fire, the heart of the burn scar looking like a nuclear warhead had been dropped on the area. Thankfully, the devastation did not seem as severe near Huntington Lake and China Peak, with the forests heading up to Kaiser Pass seeming unscathed. From the pass, the road slowly deteriorates, the paved road first narrowing to single lane and becoming more and more potholed, some easily a foot deep. It was close to 7 AM by the time I reached the Bear Ridge trailhead near a vista point at the Lake Thomas Edison diversion dam. Although this deep section of the Western Sierra is unquestionably beautiful, many sections of the area trails are notorious grinds, typically long and dry to get to the deeper sections of the range. The Bear Ridge area was among the most notorious particularly for JMT through hikers, with hot, steep and dry switchbacks and little views through the thick forest. Luckily I was hitting the hot trail fresh and with early morning light, passing a few through hikers that had spent the night at VVR and were making their way back to the JMT/PCT. After an initial steep stretch, the trail flattens out and I was able to find a good rhythm, traveling the 5 miles to the junction with the JMT/PCT in a little under 2 hours.

I took my first break of the day to apply sunscreen and chatted with a handful of through hikers that were pausing at the junction as well. After a quick snack, I crossed directly over the JMT/PCT in search of a use trail towards Volcanic Knob, a popular quick side trip for through hikers. There were actually a couple use trails that led off into the forest, but cross country travel was so easy, I made little effort to stick with any of them, trending to the southeast along a shallow ridge towards the general direction of Recess Peak. Aside from the sun overhead, there were few visible landmarks to use through the thick forest and I relied on GPS a few times to keep on track. The trees thinned as I neared one of several drainages I needed to work across, and I had my first view of Recess Peak for the day.

Despite being under 13,000′, it was a striking mountain with a jagged NW Ridge to my left, the sweeping SW ridge to my right, and 500+’ of sheer granite cliffs between forming the namesake recess directly ahead. I crossed a broad meadow at ~10,500′ and took another break at a small stream, filtering a liter of water for the summit push.

It was now about 10 AM and with the summit a bit over 2,000′ above, I was hopeful I could summit by noon. With waters refilled, I started up the sand and scree to gain the SW Ridge of Recess Peak. I initially kept to the high point of the ridge, but found too many small pine trees to progress with any real efficiency, dropping to the south on broader sandy slopes.

I kept to the south of 11,705′ and regained the ridge at the shallow saddle leading up to the summit. The cliffs to my left were impressive, although the slopes to the right were so gradual, it was easy to avoid unnecessary exposure and less solid rock. The small pine trees fizzled out as I climbed above 12,000′, the talus surprisingly solid with good boulder hopping along the ridge and short sections of class 3.

The summit was fairly rounded which meant the ridge seemed to go on forever; my lack of sleep, acclimitization and general fitness catching up to me on the final push, topping out at about 12:30 PM. The highpoint was covered in flying ants, so I moved to a flat rock and took in the tremendous views, with the southern edge of the Clark Range and Merced Peak to the northwest, Ritter and Banner Peaks to the north, Red Slate, Bloody Mountain and Baldwin to the northeast, and the Abbott group to the east. To the southeast, I could pick out Mount Humphreys peaking through, along with Darwin and Goddard. To the southwest, Seven Gables dominated the skyline, one of the dayhikeable peaks in the area, although it would make for a 30+ mile day.

Nearby SPS peak Mount Hilgard looked close, although I knew there were two large false summits and two miles of talus ridgeline to negotiate, which would easily add 4 hours on to what was meant to be a reasonable day. So I started back down the way I came, making short work of the solid talus in the upper section before dropping on the sandy slopes to the south. I stayed low of the saddle before traversing around 11,705′, the loose rock and small pines making things more tedious than I expected.

I reached the stream in the recess below shortly after 2 PM, taking about half the time as the ascent, and filtered another liter for the hike out. My goal was to hit the trailhead by 4:30, which would put me home in time to put my daughter to bed. This meant there was no way I’d have time to tag Volcanic Knob, as even though it would probably be a 30 minute side trip, I had a good 7 miles to try and cover in about 2 hours. I started off through the forest, relying on GPS a good deal to bring me back to the junction with the JMT/PCT, taking a bit under an hour to cover the 2 miles of cross country back to the junction.

With nearly 5 miles still to go, I wasted little time heading down Bear Ridge, half trotting down the trail at times and taking swigs of water in the flatter sections. The ridgeline was a good deal hotter than the terrain I had been on early that day, and I did pause once to soak my hat in a small stream to keep myself from overheating. I was able to make it to the trailhead a few minutes before my goal of 4:30, my car reading 91 degrees as I turned it on and started back down the road. I was surprised to find that a good number of the potholes had been patched during the day, although I got stuck behind a construction truck on the ride out, negating any time I would have made up for the slightly smoother road. A quick stop for dinner in Friant put me home just after 7, just in time to shower and help put Avery to bed before passing out shortly after myself.