Sierra County Highpoint Trip Report

Mount Lola North

Date: September 12, 2004
Author: Peter Maurer

From the summit of Mount Lola (see Nevada County trip report) this is an easy ramble across the windswept, rocky ridge line to the north. The summit is in view almost the entire time. At times there a faint use trails but it seems just as easy to pick ones own route. After passing through a small grove of fir and hemlock there is a patch of dwarf hemlock. Skirt to the east (right) of this as it becomes quite thick further on. Less than 1/2 an hour from Mt. Lola will find you at Sierra County's summit. Three distinct rock outcrops line the ridge but the obvious highpoint is the southerly one, where a register sits in a plastic mayonnaise jar.

After signing in, we debated traversing the northeast slope of Mt. Lola to return to the saddle and the trail but due to the easily-eroded soils and steep headwalls of the drainage areas on that side of the mountain, we opted to return to the summit and descend the way we came up.

The total hiking time for both Nevada and Sierra County summits was 6+ hours (including lunch and numerous photo opportunities). Round-trip distance for both county highpoints was 12.5 miles.