Ralston Peak

"Weekend trip to Desolation Wilderness. After meeting up with my friends at Lake Aloha and setting up camp, we climbed Ralston Peak. On day 2, we went around the south side of the lake and climbed up the side of Pyramid until we reached the summit trail. We submitted Pyramid Peak and continued along the Crystal Range Traverse, we went over the sketchy class 3/4 area just below Pyramid and continued along the ridge to Peak 9686, Mt Agassiz, and Price. Then we descended down the saddle at sunset to connect up with the PCT and got back to camp at 11pm. The entire loop took about 12 hours." — timothylaurent • Jul 2, 2022

"Absolutely beautiful day! Parked by the PG&E building across HWY 50 and snowshoed the winter route (starting at Mount Ralston/Sierra Pines Road) for a total of 6.26 miles and 2,710 feet of elevation gain. Stunning views of Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Peak, and the Desolation Wilderness. There were two summit boxes; I signed one box. Did not see a USGS summit marker. Saw one juvenile black bear by Sierra Pines Camp (which was open) and saw the tracks of a larger adult bear about two miles into the hike. Heard a male sooty grouse calling. " — runningvegan • Apr 27, 2019

"Departed Falling Leaf Lake (Stanford Sierra Camp) at 3:30 AM, reaching the summit of Pyramid Peak at 8:30 AM via the "East" Ridge route. Rocks were frosty and slippery on the shaded side of the mountain. Backtracked and crossed the PCT to tag Kieths Dome. Went south to Ralston Peak, reaching the top at 12:30 PM, then over to Echo Peak at about 2:15. I attempted to follow the ridge to Indian Rock and Angora Peak, but my legs were wasted and it appeared to be more of a class 3 or 4 scramble than the "trail" denoted on Caltopo. I turned back and counted myself grateful for the sunny November day in my beloved Sierras." — TynanRammGranberg • Nov 1, 2018

"Intended to hike Pyramid Peak, but the trailhead was not to be found. Ralston Peak was a happy choice. Had the summit and hike almost entirely to myself save for 4 people. Left a radical note in the lockbox at the top, and explored the peaky summit for well over an hour before begrudgingly coming back down. " — ionahscully • Aug 8, 2018

"Headed up Ralston Peak on a clear day with a light wind. Temperatures were in the 60's. The first third of the trail was easy to follow. The middle third was difficult due to lots of snow cover making it more difficult to follow the trail and avoid the brush. The final third was above treeline and navigation was easy. Someone put a nice new register box at the top, along with the old one. The views were beautiful, and most lakes are still covered in snow. Found a nice rock to eat lunch on with some friends who decided not to go all the way to the summit. Carried snow shoes, but did not need them due to pretty good consolidation. In the afternoon the snow got mushy and the traction was poor. It took a bit longer than the normal 2 hours during the summer." — TCH • May 27, 2017

"~10:00am started the hike from parking aside of Highway 50 with about 10 cars; Actually, can drive about 0.1 mile on dirt road to actual trailhead with only one car parked there. ~12:40pm on Ralston Peak with nice view of some snow packs on most of the peaks. ~1:30pm arrived Cup Lake ~3:15pm back to car, surprised to see one car got break-in at such busy highway." — keung • Jun 19, 2016

"Did this while getting over a cold, not the best idea... but we made it! There was some fairly deep snow toward the top, and some ice lower down in the shade. Great views all around." — kaylam87 • Nov 21, 2015

"Out & back hike from TH on rt 50. All sun/heat and no wind meant the bugs drove us off the summit quickly. Followed up with hike out to Horsetail falls, cool water very refreshing on a warm day." — Nimblefoot • Jul 18, 2013