Mount Fiske
Ascent of Mount Fiske (Southwest Ridge, class 2), August 20, 2025.
Timeline:
August 19, 2025. Robert Zeithammer was planning a trip to the Ionian Basin with his 14-year old son Lenny and another father-son pair (Lars and Niklas Dreier). He had an extra spot on his Lake Sabrina trailhead permit, which he offered to me. I gladly accepted. My goal was to tag along with the group for part of the approach, but then to strike out on my own to climb Mount Fiske. This is a peak I had tried to dayhike in 2024, but that attempt had been thwarted by bad weather. A wilderness permit would afford a more leisurely pace, as I would spend one night in the backcountry. I packed the bare essentials into a small pack (17 lbs. including water), foregoing a bear canister. Shortly before 8:00, I picked up Robert and his crew from North Lake, where they had left their car, and we drove to the Sabrina trailhead. There were no spots available for trailhead parking, so I drove down to the Sabrina Campground and parked across the street from it. This added a half mile of hiking.
I left the car at 8:12 and rejoined the crew and packs at the trailhead. We set out on the trail at a leisurely pace, as my companions were carrying much heavier packs laden with climbing gear and food for a week. But we made steady progress up the Sabrina Lakes basin, reaching Blue Lake at 10:07, Dingleberry Lake at 11:05, and Sailor Lake at 12:30. We stopped there, in the shade of some pine trees, for a quick lunch. Then on to Moonlight Lake and Echo Lake (14:05), where we took a long break. We continued up the ledges left of Echo Lake toward the cirque that contains Echo Col. At that point, I took off ahead of the others, crossing a talus field, then a snowfield, climbing loose rock to the base of Echo Col, and then class 3 rock to the col proper. I reached it at 15:57. The others were still somewhere on the talus, before the snowfield, and I was able to follow their slow progress from above. About 45 minutes later they rejoined me at the col. I offered to carry one of the teenager's pack up the third class bit but that was declined (youthful pride!).Â
On the descent I again took off ahead of the group, in an effort to get as close as possible to Helen Lake that evening (it was getting late). I descended toward Lake 11,428, and went to the far side of the lake to look for campsites. But the group was nowhere to be seen. Thinking they had stopped for the night, I retraced my steps and found Robert and Lars bathing in the lake, on its northern shore. Their sons had reached their limits and they had no choice but to stop for the night at the first opportunity. By then it was about 18:00. I got my copy of the wilderness permit from Robert, and continued on: back around the western shore of the lake, down some steep slabs and talus toward the John Muir Trail, then up the trail toward Helen Lake. At a tarn just east of Helen Lake, I found a nice grassy ledge on which to set up my camp. By then the light was failing, and it was time to stop. I had dinner and settled in the comfort of my Tarptent. (11:24 hours elapsed, 7:41 hours moving, 11.40 miles, 3,959 feet of elevation gain).
August 20, 2025. A JMT thru-hiker woke me up around 6:00 with the noise of his poles hitting the rocky trail. I got up, packed camp, had breakfast, and set out with my pack toward Mount Fiske at 6:44. I wanted the option to return over Haeckel Col or Wallace Col, so I carried my pack up to the summit of Mount Fiske (thankfully it was even lighter now with most of my food consumed). It was a beautiful day with perfect Sierra weather and great visibility. From camp I hiked a short distance to Helen Lake, skirted the lake over talus on its northeastern shore, and headed to Fiske Col over easy cross-country terrain. I then climbed the class 2 Southwest Ridge, staying left of the ridge when difficulties arose. I reached the summit at 9:40 and was greeted by outstanding views in all directions. It was still early, with perfect visibility, so one could see as far as Mount Whitney, Mount Williamson, and the Kaweah Range. I stared at Wallace Col and Haeckel Col from the summit but neither seemed very appealing from my vantage point (I understood why Bob Burd, on his traverse of Fiske to Huxley in 2007, had opted to return over Lamarck Col - calling the two cols "awful slogs"). I decided to retrace my steps over Echo Col as I had done the year prior - at least it would be familiar terrain, even if a longer option. I stayed on the summit for about 25 minutes and then headed down the broad slope that lies east of the Southwest Ridge (class 1-2). It was 11:42 when I came into view of the JMT, and I stopped for lunch in a sort of improvised campground for trail hikers in a clump of trees. I then headed up a broad talus chute that led back to Lake 11,428 - the easiest way to and from that lake that I found in my six times going over Echo Col (to find this chute, stay on the left side of the broad face that rises north of the JMT, rather than on the slabs on the right side; this leads to a point that is a bit higher than the elevation of the lake, but is much easier than the slabs). Soon I was at the lake, and headed up the drainage at its northern end toward Echo Col (14:15). The descent from the col went smoothly except for stepping on a loose boulder just before the snowfield, which sent me tumbling, hurting my right knee. This was not debilitating, and so I carried on across the snow, over a talus field, down the ledges, and to the outlet of Echo Lake where I refilled my water bottle. The hiking got easier from here on, despite the occasional talus field between the lakes north of Echo Lake. At 16:45 I rejoined a proper trail at Sailor Lake and was able to pick up the pace. At Dingleberry Lake, a fisherman told me I would not make it to the trailhead without taking out my headlamp, but he was wrong. I was starting to feel fatigued but carried on past Blue Lake, down the pocket canyons and forest that lie above Lake Sabrina, across two streams and finally along the path that snakes along the southeast side of the lake. I was back at the car at 19:55. (13:11 hours elapsed, 11:50 hours moving, 15.16 miles, 3,892 feet of elevation gain).
Trip Totals: 24:35 hours elapsed, 19:31 hours moving, 26.56 miles, 7,851 feet of elevation gain.