14,000 Foot Peaks in California To Hike

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There are roughly 12 peaks in California that are considered to be above 14,000 feet (some peaks like Polemonium (14,080 ft), Starlight Peak (14,080 ft), and Thunderbolt Peak (14,003 ft) are not considered to be true fourteeners by certain criteria). One of these peaks is the highest peak in the lower 48 states, Mt Whitney. Many people who have made this journey to the top of Whitney are inspired to ascend other peaks, but find that many of the other dozen mountains are in fact rather technical and require rock-climbing skills to reach the summit.

The following are a list of mountains in the fourteener list that a hiker in good condition, with some agile scrambling abilities can summit without the need of ropes or technical skills (maybe bring some acetazolamide or coca tea to ease into the high altitude effects).

Mt Whitney: class 1-2 route

- a 24 mile roundtrip walking trail. Many switchbacks. Non-strenuous except for distance and altitude gain.

White Mountain: class 1 route

- essentially a fire road most of the way. The last mile is a narrower walking trail.

Mt Langley: class 2 route

- easy walking trail. The peak ascent can either be a class 2 bouldering route up 200 yards, or you can take the trail up the hog's back of the peak

Split Mountain: class 2 route

Mt Tyndall: class 2+ route

- long rountrip - roughly 28 miles from trailhead

Mt Shasta: (though crampons are advised): class 2-3 route

- half of the route is a basic walking trail. The upper portion is more strenuous and may require an ice axe for safety

With the exception of Mt Shasta, all of these peaks are south of Bishop, California, around the Inyo and Tulare counties. Mt Shasta is located in Northern california along the Cascade Range. Mt Whitney, Langley and Split are along the Sierra Crest range and White Mountain is across the Owens valley toward the Nevada border. For information and wilderness access permits, go to the Inyo National Forest site.

List of the 13 14,000 ft peaks in California and top two "peaks" (**) that the US Geological Survey does not recognize officially as a 14er because the summit of the nearest high peak and the nearest saddle is less than 300 feet difference (hence, not a technical peak).

1. Mount Whitney 14,494 Sierra Nevada

2. Mount Williamson 14,375 Sierra Nevada

3. White Mountain Peak 14,246 White Mountains

4. North Palisade 14,242 Sierra Nevada

5. Polemonium Peak** 14,200 Sierra Nevada

6. Starlight Peak** 14,200 Sierra Nevada

7. Mount Shasta 14,162 Cascades

8. Mount Sill 14,153 Sierra Nevada

9. Mount Russell 14,086 Sierra Nevada

10. Split Mountain 14,058 Sierra Nevada

11. Middle Palisade 14,040 Sierra Nevada

12. Mount Langley 14,042 Sierra Nevada

13. Mount Tyndall 14,025 Sierra Nevada

14. Mount Muir 14,012 Sierra Nevada

15. Thunderbolt Peak 14,003 Sierra Nevada

Make sure that you have a good understanding of the routes. Peaks like Whitney and White have fairly clearly marked trails to follow, but Split, Langley and Shasta have several alternate routes of varying degress of difficulty. Make sure that you know the route that fits your abilities. There is an excellent source of topo maps here.