Kuna Crests are on right, Lyell and Maclure on rt horizon
The designated challenge peak for the day was Lyell - a long day to a peak I have already done - plus I also cleverly did the nearby MaClure Peak while I was out there, so I needed something else. Kuna Crest N and S were on the Challenge in 2016 when I was off in Colorado. If I was feeling extra ambitious I could continue on to Kuna and Koip farther south. Iris had already done the Kuna Crests so she would be doing Kuna and Koip out of the same Mono Pass trailhead.
2025-08-02, We got up about 5 and packed up quickly to drive into the park before they required a reservation to get in with the added bonus of not needing a park pass. We headed to the trailhead and finished getting ready there. A few others were heading out from this trailhead to do some of the same set of peaks or to go fishing. We started shortly after 6 am. It was cold. Then we dropped down into a valley and it got colder with frost on the ground. We warmed up a bit heading uphill, but didn't really warm up until the sun hit us later. I left the trail and Iris at the end of a meadow and started cross country towards my first summit - Mammoth Peak.
We had radios again and tried to keep in communication with limited success - especially once the voice activated send setting got turned on on my radio and it sent whenever it heard a noise, and the batteries died on Iris' radio. It did work long enough to hear how excited Iris was to see prairie dogs in the meadow on the way up to Parker Pass. I could see someone heading up the trail towards Parker Pass as I got higher up, but I couldn't tell if it was Iris or someone else. Iris got to that pass before I reached the summit of Mammoth Peak which seemed to recede as I got higher and higher. I did finally reach the 12,119 ft summit where I took a short break before heading S along the ridge top.
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Travel S on the ridge went a lot faster than going up to the first summit, but there were enough boulders and cliffs to dodge to keep it from being all that fast. I went up and over Peak 12,116 which didn't have enough prominence to count as a bonus peak. I also saw the first of a few Challenge people going the other direction near here. Then there was another bump - this one had a summit register labeling it as "Little Kahuna Peak" but also did not have enough prominence to count as a bonus peak. Then down to another saddle and up to 12,211 ft Kuna Crest S.
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The easiest way down from here was the NE ridge, but I was still considering how to get to Kuna and Koip - the ridge looked like it got pretty spiky for about 2000 feet, so I would have to drop off one side or another. I hoped to be able to detour to the east and then up from there without losing much elevation. This was probably wishful thinking and more likely I'd have to lose an extra 800 feet or more. I went down to the next saddle and there heard Iris on the radio. I could hear her calling me, but not what she was trying to say. I spent quite a bit of time looking at the map and considering my life choices and decided to bail down to Helen Lake and not continue on up the ridge. Maybe if I had crampons and ice axe I could detour on the steep snow, or if I had more fitness I could just drop down and power my way up again, but I didn't. I was a bit worried about the next day, so I opted to save what energy I had left. Later Iris told me she was trying to tell me not to continue up the ridge towards Kuna and Koip, so I guess I got the message one way or another.
Dropping down from here wasn't as easy as it would have been from the summit of Kuna Crest S, but it wasn't too bad - just a lot of steep boulders and talus. Fortunately it mostly didn't move. As I got lower I detoured around the S side of the lake and stopped on the E side where it looked like a decent spot to swim. As I was wading into the water and getting ready to jump into the deeper water off of a submerged boulder my feet slid on that boulder - this was a pretty undignified entrance and caused a small cut on one heel. The water was refreshing and once I got out the sun was warm and the breeze was drying and kept any mosquitoes away.
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I got dressed and then decided to try to angle up to the Parker Pass trail in the hope I could meet Iris as she came down (in reality she was probably still climbing peaks, so I would be miles ahead of her). For the most part the cross country travel was pretty easy and I saw a few hikers down by the lakes below (that I would have hiked by had I taken the most direct route). I saw a large hare, but it ran off just as I got the camera ready to take a pic. I also saw some prairie dogs. It was hot heading uphill and I tried to find shade every chance I got. Then I hit the trail and started down. I tried to jog the downhills and power walk the few uphill or extra rocky sections. Shortly after I passed the place I left the trail in the morning I caught up with Jim Burd walking back from fishing. I walked the rest of the way back with him.
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Back at the trailhead I had my protein shake and then hung out with Jim and tried to get things ready for the next day. There were more flies than necessary here (something that seems to happen more at horse/mule trails than people ones). Shortly after Jim left Zee came back - he had done Kuna and Koip with Iris and figured he had somehow passed her on the trail trying to catch up on the return. Sure enough Iris had detoured to cold plunge in a creek and came along shortly. We packed up and headed down to the Mobil for dinner and to talk to the other Challenge people there.
Then we drove to Agnew Meadow where we would start the next day.
Total for the day 2 peaks and 1 swim. Garmin said 13.6 mi and 4296 ft of elevation gain.