Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 10,000' or higher peaks

Can someone point me to a list of 10,000+' peaks that are within 4-5 hours of the Bay Area? Goal is to acclimatize for high altitude climbing.

the summitpost.com website has good info like that....

Tahoe and Yosemite (Tuolome) areas both meet your criteria.

All in the Tahoe area: Freel Peak, Round Top, Jobs Peak, Jobs Sister. Mt. Tallac, Pyramid Peak, Castle Peak, Granite Chief and Ralston Peak are all within a few hundred feet of 10K. Look at SummitPost.com for the info on all of these peaks.

You could also do Mt. Tam,which is a lot closer to you, two or three times in a row to get hiking fit.

while towering Mt. Tam, soaring to about 2600 feet MSL above San Francisco Bay, would give you a good workout to hike from base to summit 3 times (or even once), it will do nothing for altitude acclimitzation.

Sierra Stryder has good suggestions. I have a database with virtually all of the named peaks in the Sierras, and it can tell you exactly how far any mountain is from where ever you are. For example, the closest 10,000-footer to the geographical center of San Francisco is called The Sisters. It is 145 crow-miles away. Road miles, we're talking about 190. The next closest 10,000-footer is Round Top (I would guess the same one mentioned by Sierra Stryder), followed by Red Lake Peak, then Stevens Peak. These are all in the same area--south of Highway 50, off of Hwy 88 near Carson Pass in Alpine County. The closest 11,000-footer to San Franscisco is Leavitt Peak, near the Sonora Pass. The closest 12,000-footer is Matterhorn Peak, above Bridgeport. If you like a more specific list, email me, and I'll send a listing from whatever spot you choose.

By the way, even though Mt. Tamalpais doesn't have the elevation for altitude acclimization, it makes for a great workout. I've done it with a 50 lb. pack from the Golden Gate Bridge and back. Good for the legs, cardio, etc.

Aside from also Mt. Rose and the Freel Peak group, all the major crest peaks of the Sierra south of Carson Pass are over 10,000 feet. Assuming you can beat the rush hour and get to 120 east, the Yosemite peaks culminate with Mt. Dana (13,053'), an easy peak day climb. Tioga Pass area is a great place to camp, at about 10,000 feet.

Down from Tioga Pass to 395, are many high peaks that offer elevation. Sawtooth Ridge, north of Lee Vining, are great for climbing. Almost everything south is pretty high.

I'd get Secor's High Sierra, Peaks, Passes and Trails. Everything listed in there is 10,000 feet plus.

I did Whitney early this month. I slept on a Thursday night @ 8000ft (just above Lee Vining). Friday morning I drove to Tenaya Lake and Hiked to the Dana Plateau (11,500) to check out the 3rd Pillar. I then Slept at the Whitney Portal Trailhead and went to the summit on Saturday.

Avoid the alcohol, eat well, and stay hydrated!

Ed

Mt. Shasta is exactly what you're looking for.

http://www.climbingmtshasta.org/