Mount Dana (13,053') - July 13, 2008

It had been a while since we'd bagged a peak (outside of the Lake District, that is), so we figured that something relatively close to the road would be nice. Mount Dana, just up the (big) hill from Tioga Pass sounded good, especially as we had planned to be in Tuolumne that weekend anyways.

After a highly enjoyable ascent of Tenaya Peak the previous day, wherein we enjoyed the only patch of blue sky to be had within 50 miles, we stayed the night just east of the pass and prepared ourselves mentally and physically for the adventure ahead (by eating a tasty dinner and drinking some IPA).

Aside from following a different route up the mountain than most people (ours was a little farther to the west), the ascent went quite well, and we both found this to be a highly enjoyable and worthwhile peak. And, as we discovered when we reached the summit and saw several other parties, it's also a very popular peak. Of course, we would have figured this out earlier had we followed the superhighway of a use trail up the mountain. Just like the previous day on Tenaya Peak, we somehow managed to luck out in the weather department and hiked under the only patch of blue to be had in the High Sierra that day. Fantastic!