Elevation: 9480 feet
Trailhead: Kennedy Meadows
Route: PCT to South Ridge
Difficulty: Class 3
Crag peak is a cute obscurity and detour from the PCT heading north out of Kennedy meadows. We were looking for a peak to climb on the way back from Tucson to California, where I was due to have arthoscopic hip surgery in a few days time. A few peaks are accessible from the Sherman Pass trans-sierra highway among which Crag peak looked appealing. After following the PCT to the foot of the peak we found a typical uphill bushwhack and talus slog capped by some devious class 3 route finding to the top of this local high point. Go for the long easy ramble on the PCT; stay for the wading through the marsh full of rattlesnakes.
We rolled into the Kennedy Meadows campsite late after a whole day of driving from Tucson. We were shocked to find the campground and the dispersed camping mostly full; we were well into the Covid19 pandemic and this was an obscure part of the Sierra. Possibly the closures of Yosemite and Kings Canyon had driven people out here into the southern sierra. It was startlingly cold after the Tucson desert, and the little dog shivered until we wrapped her first in her dog jacket and then in a blanket.
I'm writing this now 2 weeks out from my hip repair. I'm ambulatory now but forbidden from doing anything remotely resembling Crag Peak for the coming months. What I remember most strongly about Crag Peak was how badly my hip hurt, from the first mile to the last, and how I realized that I'd been in denial about this problem for many years. I also remember how beautiful the trail was and how much I enjoyed doing this peak with GG and the little dog, probably because I knew it was going to be the last for some time.
The route starts at the Kennedy Meadows trailhead, where you follow the PCT north for ~5 miles before heading east cross country to Crag Peak. The terrain was some hybrid between true high sierra and the desert. Although we encountered Sierra flora like manzanita thickets (oh, the manzanita), there was also cactus and various desert reptiles.
After branching off the trail and beginning the 2,000 vertical foot bushwhack up Crag peak, the little dog laid down in the dirt and refused to go any further. GG wasn't enjoying himself either and graciously offered to wait with her in the meadow while I tagged the summit. I continued on through the scree and sand and manzanita, my hip screaming and my brain refusing to listen. I finally came to the summit block, a piece of fractured granite with a supposed class 3 route up it. I tried around left; no dice, too scary. I tried around right and it went - so I scrambled up to what I thought was the highest point. As I write this post and upload the maps I realise that I was off by some dozen feet. Will I go back someday, with a repaired hip to tag the true summit? Possibly. The point of this project was as an avenue to really see the whole of the Sierra, and I have seen Crag Peak. But summits matter, so possibly I will be back.
I jogged recklessly back down the scree, figuring that the damage in my hip was already done. When I met back up with GG and the little dog, he had a harrowing story to tell. As they crossed back over the meadow, GG in front and the little dog following, he heard a rattling in the reeds and saw a coiled snake just feet in front of him. He backed away slowly and was able to coax the dog back as well. He was lucky that she didn't spook and run towards the snake, and that the snake didn't strike him!
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