Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. This peak can be climbed as part of a three-peak traverse described at the following link: The Giveout Triple Play.  Published November 2019

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Peak 7765 is the second, and higher, ranked summit on a ridge that includes Shale Point (7,740 feet) to the south. The summit plateau/ridge crest is narrow and quite long (about a mile). The south ridge is a fun scramble. The north ridge is not as pleasurable. USGS Meade Peak

South Ridge, Class 2

Access

This ascent is part of a ridge traverse from Shale Point to the south. Please refer to the Shale Point posting for access information.

The Climb

From the narrow saddle between Shale Point and Peak 7765, follow a footpath on the left/west side of a cattle fence on the ridge crest until the fence ends. Continue northwest then north up the ridge. Thankfully, the scrub is shorter and has more gaps higher up. Pass the [lower] southeast summit on the way to the true/northwest summit, which is five feet higher. There is a small cairn on the summit high point. The northwest summit does not look higher when viewed from the southeast summit, BUT IT IS.

More fundamentally, Shale Point is actually HIGHER (both visually and according to my Casio altimeter) than Peak 7765. One of these peaks is mis-measured. Of this I am quite sure. The altimeter gauged Shale Point a whopping 45 feet HIGHER than Peak 7765. While I’m not a USGS surveyor, I know a mistake when I see one. This mis-measurement is obvious, though I can’t resolve it myself. I can only report what I see, and experience, on a mountain climb.

North Ridge, Class 2

Access

Same as for the south ridge

The Descent

From the summit, follow the narrow ridge crest north-northwest for about ¾ mile, dropping to a small saddle and climbing 70 feet up over a ridge point on the way. Thankfully, the terrain here is easy scrub and broken rock. It seems to take FOREVER to reach the end of this flattish summit ridge crest and begin the sharp descent north to the valley floor. Descend down through a steep pine forest to reach a cattle trail along a small stream. This is the terminus of the north ridge, though the journey continues east from here to climb Peak 7638, the third and final peak of the day.