Distance: 5.6 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 12363'
Prominence: 1330'
Elevation Gain: 3155'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.5
Round trip time: 6 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 80 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Virginia Lakes trailhead
Difficulty: Strenuous
On our second hiking day in the northern Sierra, we aimed for something bigger. Dunderberg Peak (SPS #152) was a local 12er. It's high enough to dominate the view south from Bridgeport. We were in no rush to start and arrived at the Virginia Lakes trailhead around 8:30 AM. It was cool and sunny, great weather for the steep climb to Dunderberg. There were two popular routes. The route from the east goes over the East summit. It is longer with more gain, but less steep. The route I chose was the SE ridge from Virginia Lakes going by Moat Lake. That route was shorter, but steeper, with loose, basketball sized talus. We didn't know what we were getting into. We took the trail for about a mile, went by Blue Lake, then followed a good use trail to Moat Lake. We were greeted by swarms of gnats and had to wave them off as we passed by. From the end of the lake, our plan was to climb the talus to the SE ridge. From our perspective, we took what looked like the least steep angle up. We gained about 440' before Leisa wisely decided it was too dangerous. Every rock had to be tested, most were loose. Leisa called them wobbly little liars. We descended in parallel to avoid knocking rocks on each other. Back at Moat Lake, Leisa opted to continue on trail to the deeper lakes and I, foolishly, decided to continue up (with her OK).
On the way down, I spotted a use trail a little further east and headed for it. When I got there, I discovered a dirt and gravel trail that was too steep to ascend. It was literally, one step forward, one step back. I had move back onto the talus to make upward progress. Just before the ridge, there were some pine trees that I leveraged. I had hope the ridge proper would be better packed and easier. But no, it was the same loose talus all the way to the top. The ridge offered great views of Gilman Lake and East Lake to the north. The final mile gained 1800'. Every step had to be tested. A short 100' section of the ridge had a class 3 rock band that gave some relief from the talus. I took frequent breaks to keep my heart rate in line and progress was slow. It was both soul and quad crushing. After reaching the false summit, I found a use trail where the rocks had been pressed down. It was only a 100' gain from there. The summit had an ammo box with the SPS register. The views were powerful in all directions. I completed my summit rituals quickly, including sending a Garmin mini text to Leisa, then started down. It was every bit as slow and painful going down. I held onto the pines at the saddle and plunge stepped the scree I couldn't use going up. The one mile round trip from Moat Lake took 3 hours. The trail descent went quickly. At 3:00 PM, Leisa had been waiting for me and was getting concerned. She drove a mile away from the trailhead to get cell reception. She got my Garmin text, and replied, but I was not expecting it and didn't notice. I arrived back at the trailhead at 3:10 PM and found her car gone. After searching the lot twice, I realized she was really gone. I thought maybe she had visited another area not far away and started walking down the road. Before I was off the dirt road, I saw her drive up. We exchanged stories to sort out the confusion, but neither of us were in a great mood. We drove back to Bridgeport and got large soft serves at Jolly Kone. I was in a much better mood after. This was a one and Dunderberg.
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