Excelsior Mountain
Photos Maps Summary: Climb up to the border between the Hoover Wilderness and Yosemite National Park for outstanding views from this peak and along the way you may just see a bunch of one of the Sierra's prettiest (and unusual) alpine wildflowers--sky pilot. The Virginia Lakes Basin attracts fishermen for its many lakes and the Hoover Wilderness attracts hikers and backpackers for its beauty and endless route possibilities, especially those beyond into Yosemite. The views from the summit are fantastic in every direction from Mono Lake to the east, Mt Dana and Saddlebag Lake to the southeast, Cathedral Peak to the southwest, Matterhorn Peak to the northwest, and even the top of Half Dome to the southwest. The route to the top is only class 2 (some route-finding needed) but be sure to bring plenty of water, a map, and compass.Distance: 9.2 miles totalElevation Gain/Loss: 2,700' totalSeason: mid-July to late-SeptemberFees & Permits: Permit required for overnighters (none for dayhikers)Finding the Trailhead: 38.04822 N, 119.26256 W (Virginia Lakes Trailhead). Drive to the day-use and trailhead parking lot at Big Virginia Lake by following the Virginia Lakes Road W from US-395 south of Bridgeport to its end (~6.1 miles). The trailhead is located just off of the northeastern end of the parking lot.
The Hike: The beginning of this hike up to the Virginia Lakes pass is the same as the Virginia Lakes and Virginia Lakes to Green Creek hikes. Therefore, I'll just give an abbreviated description of that section and you can look at the other hike descriptions for more detail. After a nice view of Big Virginia Lake the trail descends slightly to a trail junction. Stay right and then stay left as a road junctions with the trail. The border of the Hoover Wilderness is then crossed and Blue Lake is reached at ~0.4 miles. The trail then climbs steeply up the scree field north of the lake before passing through some nice lush sections, an old cabin (~1.0 mile), and then a few more lush sections before reaching Cooney Lake at ~1.15 miles. The trail then continues to climb north of Cooney before crossing the outlet from the Frog Lakes at ~1.4 miles and then the outlet from the largest Frog Lake at ~1.55 miles. As you follow the western shore of the largest Frog Lake, you can see a bright red double peak with a gray peak behind to the right as you look up--you'll be getting a much closer view of both of those peaks later. The trail then leaves the lake and weaves its way up through the sparse trees and then over the exposed talus slope to the base of the switchbacks below the pass at ~2.5 miles. The view looking back over the Virginia Lakes Basin is very pretty with Dunderberg Peak looming over it. The trail then makes its final turn and climbs up to the Virginia Lakes pass, however we left the trail to the southwest just before reaching the summit of this pass at ~2.8 miles. We also came across some California sky pilot (Polemonium californicum) on the side of the trail here. For fantastic views toward Summit Lake, Virginia Peak, and East Lake continue following the trail to the summit of the pass then leave it to the northwest and walk until you can see Summit Lake sufficiently. For another description of the off-trail portion of this hike go to calipidder's page (here). We walked southwest from the trail and stayed east of some rock outcroppings. Soon we descended to the two tarns south of the pass. You can walk between the tarns or around the eastern one (~2.95 miles) but you'll want to aim for a gully to the south of the tarns and follow it uphill to the southwest. Some of the rocks here are pretty large and patches of snow can stick around for much of the summer so be careful with your steps. Soon you should come across some patches of grass above the gully and then the color of the rocks shifts from gray to brownish orange or red. Shortly, the edge of the ridge is reached just west of some hardy, short trees. Hopefully here you'll see the use-trail (~3.3 miles) leading steeply up the side of the 'red' peak to the west. The rocks are loose here, so more care is needed as you make your way up.
A fairly large patch of snow lingers on the eastern slopes of the peak near the top but luckily the use-trail passes just above it. The saddle to the north of the red peak's summit is reached at ~3.5 miles and the use-trail continues down the west side. As you descend, look up to the southwest at the gray peak and scout a route between the snowfields that most likely are still there. There was a nice strip of snow-free ground when we did the hike, so that is where we headed. You could also go more to the south toward a shoulder summit of the gray peak (we came back this way). After the use-trail disappeared and dropping down to the low point between the red and gray peaks we began to climb again and then came across the first group of sky pilot (Polemonium eximium) scattered in the rocks. This was our first introduction to the flower and we admired its view of the Hoover Lakes. From here we continued to climb the talus slopes and just below the ridge of the gray peak we found a nice ramp that climbed the final stretch to the ridge-line to the northwest. At the ridge line (~4.05 miles) our breath was taken away by the view into Yosemite National Park and the plethora of sky pilot covering the top of the western slopes. We spent quite a bit of time saying hello to as many of the sky pilots as we could since they're only found in the high Sierra above ~12,000 ft and enjoying the fantastic views down Virginia Canyon. We dropped slightly in elevation before climbing again to the south and southeast. Most of the way there was a use-trail to follow but it disappeared numerous times. However, it was easy to pick our own way up to the ridge-line again (~4.4 miles). Here we were treated with great views over Burro Lake and toward Mono Lake.
The way then heads south and there are numerous small use-trails making their own way up the final stretch to the summit of Excelsior Mountain. The summit is reached just after all the rocks turn black (~4.65 miles). We didn't find a register. There are plenty of places to relax and get shelter from the wind on the summit. You can't go wrong in picking a direction to look at while relaxing. Innumerable peaks are visible including Tower Peak, Whorl Mountain, Matterhorn Peak, Virginia Peak, Twin Peaks, Camiaca Peak, Dunderberg Peak, Mt Warren, Mt Dana, Mt Lyell, Banner Peak, Mt Ritter, Mt Conness, North Peak, Cathedral Peak, Clouds Rest, the top of Half Dome, and Mt Hoffmann. Take your time and take it all in. We didn't see a single other person after leaving the maintained trail, so we were in no hurry to leave. From up here you can start to put areas of the Sierra together in your head and get an appreciation for the scale of the range and the beauty that it holds. Also take time to appreciate one of North America's oldest lakes--Mono Lake. When you're ready to head back down you can retrace your steps or do as we did and stay closer to the ridge line toward the shoulder summit of the gray peak before dropping steeply down. As we started this descent we found yet more sky pilot scattered in the rocks. This alternate route intersects with the original one near the low point between the gray and red peaks and is ~0.1 miles shorter than the original route. Be careful on the way down the loose talus slopes but stop and enjoy the views down to Burro Lake and toward the Hoover Lakes. Once back on the maintained trail follow it back down to the trailhead.