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Read the page on Mt Williamson for details on
how to get to the trailhead and up to Anvil Camp.
Mt Keith shares with Mt Tyndall and Mt Williamson the curse of one of the
worst trailhead and trails in the eastern Sierra.
Mt Keith (4260m) is a tough one, involving a much longer approach and a much longer ascent than most of the eastern Sierra. The few people who summit it usually do so from the gentler northern side. This can be approached either from Kearsarge Pass (a very long way, hardly feasible in one day) or from Shepherd Pass via Forrester Pass (a bit shorter, but no less devastating). The only sensible way to hike Mt Keith in one day is to hike from the infamous Shepherd Pass trailhead to Anvil Camp. At Anvil Camp leave the trail and head for the mountain to your right, which is Mt Keith. The problem is that Mt Keith has dozens of peaks. Orientation is not trivial. If you leave the trail just before Anvil Camp along the dry creek bed, keep heading left (west) as your climb. Mt Keith is the leftmost peak, that you cannot see from Anvil Camp. If you leave the trail past Anvil Camp just before the creek crossing, head up the mountain (lots of scree), then coast it to the left until you can enter a canyon. That canyon (that separates Mt Keith from Junction Peak) eventually splits: a wide chute opens on the right. Climb that one (class-2 but lots of scree) to the very top. This chute is about 800 meters long. You will reach the eastern summit. From there a saddle takes you to the real summit (the western one) in a few minutes. You can also ascend from Pothole via the old John Muir Trail. Again, enter the wide chute to the right of the canyon. Coming down, you can slide down the chute that begins at the saddle between the two peaks. It is a very fast way downhill. Once you reach a plateau, you can continue straight down to Pothole (lots of bushwhacking) or coast the mountain to the left (east) and head for Anvil Camp.
Milestones: Trailhead: (1920 m) First creek crossing: 15' Fourth creek crossing: 30' Saddle: 2770m, 5 kms: 2h 30' Sixth Creek crossing (never dry), 2620m, 7 kms: 3 hrs 15' Last creek crossing before Anvil Camp, 3130m (dry in summer): 4.5 hours Eastern peak: 8h Mt Keith (4260m): 8.5 h Anvil Camp (3130m): 10.5h Saddle (2770m): 12.5h Trailhead: (1920 m): 14.5h Junction Peak (4233m, 36.69150N / 118.3645W) is only 1km from Forester Pass (4017m), which is on the John Muir trail, not far from Shepherd Pass (3672m), but not easy to climb. From Forester Pass one is better off descending the south side of the John Muir Trail until a shapr switchback and then head for the saddle between the peak to the eat of Forester Pass and Junction Peak. The most popular route is the southern route from Shepherd Pass via the Diamond Mesa (best climbed by taking it at the southeast corner, northwest of Shepherd Pass). Alas, the Diamond Mesa's north end is a sharp knife-edge ridge that leads to the southern summit. Junction Peak has two summits: the true summit at the far northwestern end of the ridge. Topomap (click on SOUTH and you will see the trail coming from Shepherd Pass) Note that the unnamed 4000m peak just north of Shepherd Pass is not Junction Peak and it does not communicate with Junction Peak: there is a sandy chute that separates the two. Both this unnamed peak and Junction Peak border to the east on a canyon that hosts the old Junction Trail (apparently, this was the original John Muir trail). The trail, that meets the Shepherd Pass trail at the Pothole, is in terrible conditions (and not marked on most maps) but it does lead from the Pothole to Junction Pass, which lies between Junction Peak and Mt Keith. 
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Pictures
Directions from Pleasanton to Independence: Take the I-580 east towards Stockton Take I-205 east towards Stockton Take the I-5 North exit and follow signs for 120 east After entering Yosemite, turn left on Tioga Rd Drive through Yosemite until the end of Tioga Rd (Lee Vining) and turn right into US-395 Drive south on US-395 until Independence From Hwy 395 in Independence, turn west on Market street, drive 7 kms to Foothill road, turn left. The first parking lot (2kms on Foothill Rd) is the stock trail. In theory, only 4WD can go beyond this point. If you want to reach the hiker's trail, keep going on this very dusty road, and turn right at the next two forks. It's about 2 more kms than the stock trail, which means that it saves you 2kms of hiking. It easily takes 30 minutes from Independence to the trailhead. There is no campground, but one can just pitch tent at the trailhead and leave the car there.
The total is about 500kms from Pleasanton to Independence.
Links:California Highway Conditions Mt Keith weather Highway 395 |
