Reversed Peak

Reversed Peak 9,481′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 3:40
Distance: 4.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1700′
Crux: Class 2
Companions: Holly, Avery
Trailhead: Reversed Peak TH, full services in June Lake

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In the center of the June Lakes Loop in the Eastern Sierra is Reversed Peak, rising 2000′ above the surrounding lakes and offering outstanding views of the Sierra Crest. As one of the few alpine summits in the Mammoth area with a trail all the way to the summit, it had been on my radar for some time, particularly as a peak I could drag my wife and daughter up without too much guilt. There are two different trailheads that both lead to a summit ridge trail, one from the southwest, and a slightly shorter one from the southeast. We opted for the latter in the interest of time and left Mammoth for June Lake, turning off the North Shore drive onto a dirt road and climbing up a few hundred feet to a flat clearing where we parked.

The dirt road continued to a water tank, but we turned left on to the well signed trail following a drainage flanked by boulders and small trees. Our 7 month old fell asleep very quickly as we hiked up through the sage brush, the peak in the rain shadow of the eastern Sierra and seeing considerably less precipitation than similarly sized peaks only a few miles west.

We reached the junction with the southwest trail and turned right on to the summit ridge, the trail very quickly gaining elevation up steep, exposed and dusty trail. About half way up we reached small pockets of pine in the higher elevations and paused for a break in the shade, my daughter waking up from the sudden lack of movement.

We continued on through a small pocket of aspens before reaching the final steep incline to the summit, or what was actually a series of false summits on the summit plateau. The highpoint was on the north end, and we stopped 100′ below the summit boulders in the shade of a massive pinyon to take Avery out of the carrier and feed her.

Although the last 100′ to the top did have a use trail, it was a little scrambly and it hardly seemed worth it to bring Avery up with us. So we took turns tagging the high point, Holly going first and scrambling up myself once Holly was back with Avery. The views were outstanding with Mono Lake to the north, cinder cones of the Long Valley Caldera to the east, June Lake and June Mountain to the south, Mount Ritter, Banner and Davis to the southwest and Mount Wood dominating the view to the west.

I signed into the register, a very popular summit although we would see no others for the day despite it being Sunday. I rejoined my family and we started back down the trail, Avery again falling asleep halfway down the mountain and waking up about 10 minutes before we made it back to the car.

Heading down the dirt road, we drove into town to June Lake Brewing for lunch and post summit beers.