Kaiser Peak

Labor Day used to mark the end of summer, and I wish it still did. But for people going back to school in August, the end comes sooner, and for me, a trek to the top of Kaiser Peak has taken the place of Labor Day as the temporal boundary between summer and that ambiguous California season, fall.

Elevation Gain: 3,000 feet, from 7,000 at Huntington Lake to 10,320 at the top.
Hiking Time: 3.5 hrs. up; 2.5 hours down
Distance: 6 miles up and another 6 down, from the stables at Dry Creek
Take a lot of water.

(Huntington Lake before College Rock)

(Luke, Sarah, and Gail Bernthal)

(China Peak over the lake)

(At College Rock)

(The trail getting close to Kaisar Peak, over the tree-line)

(Edison Lake)

(In the midst of the Sierra Nevada)