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Three SistersSeptember 4, 2005When Jared suggested we should go for a day hike, it didn't take long for me to agree. I had commented about going up some old trail I'd been on before, but Jared had a better idea - exploring the Dinkey Wilderness north of Sequoia. Before you know it, I was looking at a map and discovered that Three Sisters peak would be a worthy and doable destination. I phoned Jared at home and he was in, we'd depart the next day at three-thirty in the morning. Three Sisters is a popular summit, north of Courtright Reservoir and south of the series of Dinkey Lakes. At 10,612 feet ASL, it is not the tallest mountain, but it is the tallest mountain in the Dinkey Wilderness. All we had to go on were some poor trip reports found on the web and a couple of bad maps. So much for pre-planning. Regardless, Jared arrived promptly and we drove off in the dark enroute to the trailhead.
We arrived at Courtright around eight in the morning. It was unusually quiet given the holiday weekend. We snapped a few pictures, and I couldn't help but to think of climbing the spectacular granite domes that surround the lake. Soon though we were ready to go, so on to the trail we went not really knowing for sure the distance to our first stop, Cliff Lake. Enroute we encountered one group exiting and one woman from San Francisco that was camped a mile from the trailhead that asked us some rather bizarre questions about proximity to various lakes.
The hike to Cliff Lake was pleasant on moderate grade, starting at 8,200 ASL and gaining an elevation of 9,436 ASL at the lake. Few people were present, for such a beautiful and easy to approach lake it again seemed unusually quiet. We filtered some water, took some more pictures and contemplated the route to Three Sisters. The peak could be seen above the cliffs and from our vantage point looked to be a good distance away. We chose to take a route that leads around the drainage of the lake, on the gentle east ridge to the base of the mountain, and up the north ridge of the mountain. After our break we set foot off trail for Three Sisters.
Shortly after our ascent off-trail, the views began to open up. The lower trail was mostly under the canopy of trees, but now I was gaining respect for the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness. Jared and I soon realized that to navigate to the peak and back, we'd need to find a common landmark that would be in view most of the time, so we picked Mt. Goddard that stood prominently in the distance. This proved most useful for our return.
The view around Courtright was great, the granite domes are truly magnificent. While two thirds of the off-trail route involved rocks, sand and some trees, we did pass through a wonderful meadow. After a while the view of Three Sisters opened up, still seeming distant. Jared and I were persistent none the less, picking our way up the ridge. When we got close enough to select a route, we agreed on the north ridge rather than a gulley on the east face - a good choice if you ever choose to climb Three Sisters.
After we began our way up the talus, we observed someone on the summit. Not long after, we crossed paths and chatted as the other group (a man and his two kids) headed down. A little while later, another duo passed us on their way down. The lakes north of the mountain came into view about half way up, I knew then the summit views would be great.
We arrived at the summit quicker than I supposed. The summit block is a short class two section. Jared found the well kept register box and signed in while I took a look around a flat area just below the summit block. The views are indeed great, providing 360 degree looks of the other landmarks including the other sisters, Courtright, many lakes and meadows. The walk was well worth the thousand dollar views.
Since we didn't have any company at the summit, we took a leisurely break, enjoyed the views, and read through the entertaining register entries. Jared pointed out a few distant peaks using a compass and map. Time passed quickly, so we got our packs back on and headed down the talus.
After our uneventful scramble down the talus we found our navigation using Mt. Goddard very beneficial as we made nearly a straight line cross country to the cliffs above Cliff Lake (gee, I wonder why they call it that?). We took a few more pictures and returned to the lake for a final refill of water. From that point on it was merely a matter of walking out uninterrupted to the trailhead, which seemed to take forever. The trip wasn't that long, with a mileage of about fourteen roundtrip miles, but the trail gods kept haunting us at the end of our walk leading us to believe we were closer to the end then we really were. We beat the sun to the car and sped off for a celebratory hamburger at "The Dog House" in Fresno, yummy!
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