Mount Sawyer
Lindsay and I parked on Road 310 at the west end of Tonga Ridge trail
and hiked up the trail. When we were near the pass between Mount Fin
(point 5280+) and Mount Sawyer, we left the trail and ascended via the
west ridge of Mount Sawyer. This was a little brushy with nice views
and optional rock scrambling.
I was surprised to hear voices as we neared the summit of Mount
Sawyer. Who knew there was a trail to the summit? Apparently many
people, judging by the number of parties on the summit. These people
gave me funny looks when I arrived at the top, one asked me why I took
the bushwack route. It's not on either of my maps, but a well-traveled
trail ascends the SW side of the mountain.
We spent more time sunning on the summit than we spent
hiking to the top. Good trip.
Elevation gain:
1,195 feet
In:
Highway 2 Corridor, Alpine Lakes Wilderness
Car-to-car:
5 hours 10 minutes
-
1 hour 39 minutes
ascending
from
Tonga Ridge trail head (west)
to
summit of Sawyer Mountain
-
1 hour 39 minutes
descending
from
summit of Sawyer Mountain
to
Tonga Ridge trail head (west)