Kaiser Peak via College Rock

Near: Fresno
Trip type: Hike
Distance: ~10 miles
Elevation: 7,200 - 10,300 feet
Vegetation: Thick pine forest to moonscape
Last Visit: 7/22/17

Huntington Lake from College Rock

**Note: the Huntington Lake area was heavily impacted by the Creek Fire of 2020.  Check the Sierra National Forest website for up to date information on trail closures.**

 

Sitting about half-way between Yosemite and Kings Canyon national parks, Kaiser Peak towers 3,000 feet over its immediate surroundings.  It's a bit south of our usual range, but we were camping at Huntington Lake right at the mountain's base for a Nav-X challenge race the day before and despite our sore legs we couldn't resist hitting this summit. Boy were we glad we did.  The summit panorama of the High Sierra to the east was truly one the best views we've had in California.  Had there not been a serious wildfire off to the northwest, we would have had a great view of the central valley, as well. College Rock, halfway up, provides a natural snack spot with fantastic view of Huntington lake too and would make a satisfying enough destination in and of it's self.  Make sure to bring plenty of water on this hike and watch your dog for heat stress.  It's partially shaded most of the way and we benefitted from still running meltwater streams in late July, but that was an unusual benefit of our extra-snowy winter in 2016-2017.  Often this route will be quite dry and the southern exposure means you'll get plenty of warm rays.

Rules:

Kaiser Peak is in the Kaiser Wilderness in the Sierra National Forest.  No permits are required for day use, but wilderness permits are required for overnight camping in the Kaiser Wilderness or any other wilderness areas in the SNF (John Muir, Ansel Adams, or Dinkey Lakes).  There are some nearby areas in the national forest that are not designated wilderness, however, and dispersed camping is allowed there without a permit.  Dogs are allowed off-leash in the SNF provided they are under voice control.

Trailhead:

At the end of Upper Deer Creek Lane (Note there is a Lower Deer Creek lane in town that doesn't show up on many maps.  That is different road.)  The parking lot is just before the D&F pack station.  The trail starts just behind and uphill of the pack station.

The small parking lot at the end of Upper Deer Creek Lane

D&F Pack Station, just beyond the parking area

The trailhead, uphill of D&F packstation on the north side.

Route:

We took the straightforward route up the Kaiser Peak trail.  It switchback's up the southern face of the mountain to College Rock, then climbs straight north over some false summits to the main peak.  It's reasonably well covered to about 9,600 feet, then it becomes completely open.

An alternative route is to hike up Potter Pass to the east and loop around past Twin Lakes and George Lake.  We met a couple near the summit who had backpacked up to George Lake the night before, making a nice two-day trip out of it.

Caltopo Map: https://caltopo.com/m/F6SE

Terrain Profile.  Take note that the mapped route doesn't seem to have nearly enough switchbacks.  I think the distances given here are underestimates.

Starting out, up the dusty but well shaded lower portion of the trail.

Less then a mile in, the trail climbs away from what I think is the only permanent stream on the route.  Due to a heavy snow year, we still had plenty of snow-melt at higher elevations feeding seasonal streams, but you shouldn't count on that in more normal years.  Make sure to water your dog here!

For the first 1.5 miles the trail steeply climbs under lots of shade.  Then, the trail turns west and climbs more moderately for a while, offering the first views of Huntington Lake.

College Rock from the trail, about 2.5 miles and 1800 feet of climb from the trailhead.

There is a great view from the top of College Rock, but it takes a bit of scrambling to get up there.  Our dog couldn't make it up, so we popped up for look, then had lunch in the shade of the rock.

An upper section of the trail.  You cross two false summits above tree line.

George lake from the trail to the summit. Looks like a great place to spend the night.  The cross-country section up to here looks easy navigationally, but a bit steep.

The summit panorama.  As always, the distant peaks don't look too impressive in photographs, but the view is fantastic.  I'd guess you've got a good hundred miles of the pacific crest laid out before you.