Elevation: 9977 ft
Trailhead: Sirretta Peak Trailhead
Route: North Face
Difficulty: Trail, Class 3
On our first trip to the Domelands, we decided to climb the easy Sirretta Peak to survey the area and stretch our legs. We took the little dog on 90% of the hike, up until the class 3 summit block. We found great views of Big Meadow and a unique cross sectional view of the high sierra.
On the second day on our trip in the Southern Sierra we continued along Sherman Pass Road to Cherry Hill Road and into the Dome lands. Sherman Pass Road has some magnificent views of the High Sierra from the south, a perspective which I had never seen. Cherry Hill Road is narrow and poorly maintained, and put some more wear on my poor vehicle, which has seen better days.
The most obvious feature of the Domelands when approached from the west is Big Meadow, which lives up to its name. It's a giant grazing meadow surrounded by forest on all sides. The little dog lost her mind zooming around the big open space, like the largest soccer field she'd ever seen. We camped in our cars again and the little dog froze her butt off and refused to come out from under the fleece blanket for most of the evening.
In the morning we climbed Sirretta Peak. We followed the Cannell Meadow Trail briefly until the Sirretta trail branched off to the right. We were using a Caltopo map and left the trail when we felt we were directly east of the summit. Later we realized there is a well cairned route that leaves the trail later and is much less brushy! We came to the summit plateau shortly and each of us waited in turn with the little dog while the other tagged the summit. In contrast to Crag Peak, this is very easy class 3, like a giant staircase. The summit had great views of the Sierra, but the Domelands themselves remained mostly hidden. We followed the cairned trail back down to the main trail and spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the creek and sunbathing.
This was my last peak before getting hip surgery, and it was a good one to end on. The day before we left the Domelands the dog and I went on a trail run to Manter Meadow. My hips hurt and the dog was tired; she couldn't even be bothered to really roll in the mud puddles she found, which is one of her favorite things to do. I felt like some of the joy had gone out of trail running. I was tired of hurting all the time and worrying about what the hurting meant. The little dog was tired of me in general and wanted a summer to lounge in the grass with her tennis balls without being dragged out of bed at 4 am to climb mountains. I'll be back, but it may not be until the fall. I'm sad to miss the wildflower season and the high water season and even the mosquito season. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll catch the end of the Polemonium.
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