MOKELUMNE PEAK (9,332') CLASS 2
Location: 9 miles S of Silver Lake, CA
ROUTE A
Drive: Take Highway 88 to signed "Bear River Reservoir"
Road, which is 7.5 miles west from the junction with the Mormon-Emigrant
Road, or 6.4 miles east from Hams Station. Signs indicate "8N03"
and "8." Drive south on new blacktop (2001), and in
1.9 miles, pass the side road left to the resort. Go straight,
following signs to "South Shore Campground 1 Cole Creek 8."
Cross the dams. The road is dangerously potholed from here, but
far worse in the past, so watch your speed! Pass two campgrounds,
and then, at a junction 1.8 miles past the far (south) end of
the dams, go left and up, following the sign to "Cole Creek
5 1/2." After another 2.5 miles more, go straight at a junction
following a sign, "Tanglefoot Trailhead 7." In 0.9 mile
more, go right at a junction following a sign, "Tanglefoot
Trailhead 6." In 2.4 miles more, go left at another junction
following a sign, "Shriner Lake Trailhead 3 1/2 and "8N14."
A sign here also advises, "dead-end road." In 0.2 mile,
cross two one-lane concrete bridges where pavement ends and the
road gets rough. Low clearance passengers vehicles are not recommended
past this point, although with very careful driving, one could
continue to the end of this route. The upper parts of this road
were very overgrown in 2001, so if you have a new finish on your
car, you may wish not to drive this route! After 0.3 mile past
the bridges, go straight through a four-way junction, ignoring
the spur roads signed "8N12" and "8N13." Ignore
the two spur roads in the next 0.8 mile, after which one ignores
the side road signed "8N14A." At a sign, "Tanglefoot
Trailhead 2," some 9.2 miles from the dams, go left. Ignore
the side road left, in another 1.6 miles, signed "8N24."
In 0.3 mile more, ignore the curving, uphill, side road left.
In another 0.4 mile, come to the signed "8N14E." Take
a left on this narrow, overgrown road, driving 0.3 mile to the
primitive parking area with a sign "Tanglefoot Trailhead
Wilderness Boundary 1/4 Shriner Lake 1 1/2 Munson Meadow 9"
and "Attention Wilderness Users Permit Required."
Climb: Take the trail past the signs. Shortly pass a Mokelumne
Wilderness sign, and after about 1 mile, ignore the posted trail
going left to Shriner Lake. Drop the 400-500 feet into Tanglefoot
Canyon, following the trail. Cross the creek, and continue on
the trail uphill. You will come to Moraine Lake, 4 miles from
the start. A good campsite is located here. Continue along the
trail, and after about 2 miles more, head cross-country east around
the right (south) side of Pk. 8,628', or 8,651' (15' map), along
a broad canyon. Do not climb too high, at first, and traverse
low around the bump, avoiding the higher, brush-covered, south-facing
slopes. There is a good, walkable, forested bench roughly 300
feet below the ridge. If you do this right, no heavy brush is
encountered. Once past the bump 8,628', gain the peak's west ridge
quickly, and follow it right (east) with fairly easy walking to
the rocky, class 2 summit mass, which is taken directly up to
the highpoint.
ROUTE B
Drive: Take Highway 88 to the 4WD road south from Tragedy Springs,
which is 2.8 miles west from Silver Lake or 4.8 miles east from
the Mormon-Emigrant Trail junction. Take the 4WD road to Plasse
Trading Post (you will need an USFS off-road vehicle map) and
then to the signed Wilderness Boundary and trailhead.
Climb: Take the trail south and straight ahead. Navigate your
way, using a good map, basically south, with a few junctions.
Good trails can be taken to the north ridge of the peak. Leave
the trail at its highpoint here, and climb cross-country over
easy terrain along the north ridge to the obvious top.
WINTER SKI ASCENT: Route A is closed during the winter, so Route B is the likely choice. Roads can be followed past Mud Lake, or more directly, up and down over three major ridges to the north base of the summit mass. This apparently has been day-toured, but this is probably best done as an overnight tour. The heavily forested terrain will provide plenty of fuel for that snowcamp fire to stay up during the long winter night.
TRIP STATS: Route A, 3,200 feet gain with an additional 500 feet gain on the return, 7-8 miles one way; Route B, 2,000 feet gain, with an additional 1,000 feet gain on the return, 6-7 miles one way; winter ski ascent, very roughly, 2,500 feet gain with an additional 1,500 feet gain on the return, 10+ miles one way.
Notes: This peak is a major highpoint of the Mokelumne Wilderness, and is visible from a few points on the drive to the trailhead, as well as on the hike, seen as the prominent and distinct peak. It can also be seen from many points along Highway 88.
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