Freel Peak, Job's Sister, Job's Peak

07/29/2013 - 08/02/2013
No running... I need to get back on track with my weekly base mileage. :o

08/03/2013
Broke in my new truck a bit by heading out on the US Forest Service Road  (FR) 051 to Armstrong Pass, so I could go tromping around on 3 of Tahoe's highest summits (including the two highest); Freel Peak - 10,881 ft., Job's Sister - 10,823 ft., and Job's Peak - 10,633 ft.  I picked up the trail from the Willow Creek bridge and headed up towards the Tahoe Rim Trail and eventually, Freel Peak.  This was my 4th summit of Freel Peak and thanks, in part, to a good night's sleep, it was my fastest.  5 miles, ~2,500 ft. in 1:30.  I enjoyed the views from the summit for a moment and spent a little time with a photogenic chipmunk, before heading over to the Job's Sister summit.

Background: Lake Tahoe
Foreground: chipmunk

Background: Job's Peak in the upper left
Foreground: chipmunk

This guy was really wanting some trail mix, but got nothing from me. :(

The latest summit board.  There used to be a much cooler, engraved piece of wood, but it's gone now.

Panorama from the Freel Peak summit.  Job's Sister and Job's Peak are on the right.

After a few minutes, I parted ways with my chipmunk friend and headed over to Job's Sister.  The trail between the summit is ~1.1 miles and drops ~500 ft, traverses the Freel Saddle, and then climbs ~500 ft. to Job's Sister.  I made the trip in ~19 minutes.

Freel Peak on the left and Star Lake, far below on the right.  From the ~10,800 ft. Job's Sister summit.

This was the second time I'd stood upon the Job's Sister summit and I was excited to head over to Job's Peak.  The trail between Job's Sister and Job's covers ~1.6 miles and drops about 1,000 ft. before climbing 700 ft. to the Job's summit.  I briefly chatted with a couple of other guys who were heading there too and we all descended the southeastern facing slope of Job's Sister.  It was steep, sandy, and I knew it was going to be tough coming back up, but no need to worry about that now.  I charged down the 35-40 degree sandy slope and thought about how a snowboard or skis would have come in handy.

Heading down the back side of Job's Sister.  Pictured are a couple of guys from Carson City who I met.  We all had a nice chat on the Job's Peak summit.  One guy had a fried who finished Western States this year

Job's Peak.  Closing the gap on my 3rd 10,600+ ft. peak of the day.

Before long, I was standing on the top of Job's Peak.  A big stick marked the summit and as is true with Freel and Job's Sister, the views were fantastic.

Looking back at Job's Sister and Freel Peak from the Job's Peak summit.  I would climb back to the Job's Sister summit through the trees/rocks, just to the right of the large, bare, sandy slope.

Job's Sister, Freel Peak, Lake Tahoe, and California to the left, Nevada to the right.

Panorama from the Job's Summit.

Summit marker on Job's Peak.

The ridge, heading back towards Job's Sister (not pictured, to the right).

 I spent 20-30 minutes on the Job's Peak Summit, chatting with the guys from Carson City and eating some Vega gels and a Lara Bar.  It had taken me ~2:30 to get there and I was hoping to make it back in less than 2 hours, but that climb back up to Job's Sister had other ideas for me.

The bump in the upper left center is close to the Job's Sister summit.  ~1,000 ft. of vert. in less than 1/2 mile stand in the way.  No trail, straight up.

Typical scene during my return ascent of Job's Sister.

I traversed Job's Saddle back towards "The Sister" and when the time came, I started to climb.  It was a tougher ascent than I thought it would be.  For maybe 1/5 of the climb, I crawled on "all fours" in order to help distribute my body weight and prevent from sliding back with each step.  When I could, I used fallen trees, tree branches, or boulders to climb or help to pull myself up with.  1/2 mile, 1,000 ft. of climbing, I think it took me close to 40 minutes, but eventually (as I knew would be the case), I found myself back on the Job's Sister summit, where I took a deep breath and ran off to visit Freel Peak again.  Atop Freel for the 2nd time of the day, I met a guy in his late 60's or early 70's named Galen, from Lodi.  He had hiked directly up the southern slope of Freel from the Willow Creek trail-head (a route that I could have taken down if I wanted to shortcut my trip by 2-3 miles).  We chatted about all the different peaks we had climbed and/or wanted to climb, pointing them out on the horizon.

My hydration pack's bladder has been a little leaky as of late.  I went to take a pull of water from it and found that it was empty.  Lucky for me, I only had 5 miles left and it was mostly downhill.  I was feeling pretty tired from the return climbs to Job's Sister and to Freel, so I just kind of stuck myself on auto-pilot.  I focused on the trail in front of me and maintained an easy jog, all the way back to my truck, where I was stoked to pop open my cooler bag, chug a protein shake, eat some food bars, and hit the road.

15.3 miles, 4:59:06, +5,300 ft.

Here's the awesome little elevation chart from my awesome little adventure:

GPS Data:

Oh yeah, while I was out gallivanting in the mountains, so was Lucy!  She stayed with Amit and DD of "Amit and DD's Friendly Home Away From Home".  Lucy had a fantastic time with them.  They are definitely who you want your dog to stay with, if you're in Tahoe and want your pooch to have an even better time than you! :)  They gave us updates a few times a day, in the form of awesome pictures and videos!  Lucy was off-leash, out of a kennel, jumping fences, panting, plugging her face in the water, fetching things, running, hiking, bike riding (yes... she rode a bike), you know... just doing all of her favorite things, ALL WEEKEND LONG!  Thanks again Amit and DD!