8-06-2022, This was a long day with an early start. I got to Twin Lakes a little early and then walked through the campground with Rob - we only took one wrong turn in the dark. We started just after 5 am with a pretty good sized crowd. I managed to keep up with everyone until I stopped to take off a layer. Then I just tried to keep up with the back crowd while the leaders pulled away. I caught up with most of the group again near Barney Lake and managed to hang with them until we caught up with Chris (who started early) just before Peeler Lake. I hiked with him and Yumi for a while and then Chris and I stopped for water right before we left the trail to head up to a bonus peak.
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We headed up the hill aiming for a notch and then followed a drainage up towards another saddle. From there we scrambled up the interesting ridge towards Peak 10584. There we had some summit cookies and a snack and then continued on towards the Challenge Peak - Price Peak. As we got close we saw Sean C heading up the final ridge, and soon we caught up to him on the 10717 foot summit just as a few others were heading down. It was pretty early in the day (11 am) for being so far from the trailhead, and we had plans for a few more bonus peaks.
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We dropped down the way most of the people came up Price Peak and then crossed Rancheria Creek before starting up the far side. After some steep duff through the woods we moved onto rock and up a seemingly endless series of slabs up to the summit of Peak 9489. This had a pretty good view of Piute Mountain which was one I considered doing today, but decided it was just a peak too far. We scoped the next peak and then dropped down and crossed another drainage and passed a trail before heading up to the shoulder and then up towards the summit of this peak. It was on the far side of the broad top and we stopped to swim in a little lake before going to the actual summit of Pk 9580.
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We took a diagonal descent working our way down and back towards the trail as conditions dictated. Once we hit more level ground we went to the trail and then started back up towards the pass. There were lots of interesting rock formations and cliffs to look at on the hike including the Incredible Hulk much later. It took quite a while before we made it back to where we were on the trail on the way in. Then it was a matter of making miles on the trail. We did stop for a swim in Peeler Lake - which was refreshing. Then down down down back to the trailhead as the sun went down. There were a few raindrops by Barney Lake, but not enough to get us wet. We made it back without needing headlamps, but only barely. Then we had a pretty long drive down to the Convict Lake trailhead. I drank my protein shake and ate some chips on the way with a bit more food when I got to Convict.
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Total for the day 4 peaks, 2 swims. Strava said 34 mi (moto gpower) and 7488 ft of elevation gain in 15:10 hours. Chris' tracker said 7639 ft of elevation gain.