Mount Silliman 11,188 feet 09-28-2003 Distance to summit from Lodgepole (via the slabs): 6.5 miles one-way Trailhead: 6,736 feet Elevation Gain: 4,450 feet Difficulty: Moderately Strenuous Distance to summit (via Twin Lakes, Silliman Pass, & Little Lakes): Elevation Gain: 4,450 + 245 + 350 = 5,045 feet + (245 + 350) on return Silliman Pass Elevation: 10,150 fett Total distance RT: 16.65 miles Hilights: Wonderful granite slab. These are the most fun of the hike. Nice vertical drop-off on the West and North sides of the summit Notes: There is a fairly substantial trail on the right hand side of Silliman Creek that stays above the creek in easier terrain. Although you may occaisionally drift off the trail it is a pretty good trail. Once it reaches granite it is no longer obvious. You will need to start going more to you're right and in a few minutes will be able to see the obvious sloped granite slab that leads up to Silliman Lake. The right-hand side of the granite slabs appears to be less broken and thus easier, though you can probably make you're way up anywhere that looks suitable. The route between Silliman Pass and the peak was not particularly enjoyable. There was no obvious trail anywhere and the brush and terrain were a little trouble at times. Snack bar and store closed at 6:00pm. I seem to recall them being open later on an earlier trip. Maybe they change the hours after labor day. Granite was mostly good and clean with excellent traction. Slope was about 30 to 35 percent at the most. I set a moderate pace on the way up and a moderately brisk pace on the return. Must return to do Twin Peaks at a later date. The two chutes that lead up to Silliman's West ridge (when heading up from Little Lakes) have a lot of loose rock. There are many large blocks perched in precarious positions on the sides of the chutes just waiting to come tumbling down on an unsuspecting climber. The rock is also in poor condition. I stepped on a rather large block that cracked down the middle. Thus, rockfall appears to be a possible danger here. Be very careful what you grab onto and don't spend any more time in the chutes than absolutely necessary. Log: 09:52am - Left trailhead 10:52am - Reached Silliman Creek 11:48am - Reached the base of the granite slabs 12:38pm - Reached Silliman Lake 01:05pm - Reached upper lake (10,430) 02:07pm - Reached summit 02:30pm - Left summit 03:29pm - Reached Little Lakes 04:21pm - Reached Silliman Pass 04:45pm - Reached Twin Lakes 05:25pm - Reached trail junction 05:45pm - Reached Cahoon Gap 06:19pm - Reached Silliman Creek 06:55pm - Return to trailhead Stats: Time from trailhead to summit: 4 hrs 15 mins (inludes a 30 minute lunch break) Time from summit back to trailhead (via Silliman Pass): 4 hrs 25 mins Driving Time: With light traffic it only took about 2 and 1/2 hours to reach Lodgepole from Bakersfield. With heavier traffic it usually takes closer to 3 hours. From the Internet: Once back at Silliman Pass, we set our eyes on Twins Peak. Just 1/4 of a mile from the pass, and it looked like a reasonable class 2. We though it would be an easy consolation prize. But a closer look revealed no easy way up. We finally were able to follow the ridge line to the top. It was a reasonable but airy class-3 friction climb. Pat Ibbetson added: Twin Peaks is generally regarded as a "hard" peak to climb, in fact that is a favorite place of Fresnans to learn rock climbing+mountaineering. I would be very interested in hearing more details about the class 3 route you took up as my brother and I would love to climb this peak but he really has too little rock climbing experience for anything but really easy class 4. When you get a chance, could you please let me know exactly where you started from when you got to the summit block, and any obstacles that you encountered on the ridge. I would really appreciate it! Ron Karpel replied: To climb Twins Peak (Sequoia NP): Starting from Silliman Pass, head North along the ridge and in about 1/4 of a mile veer left. Climb to the saddle between Twins Peak and the picklet to it's south (which would be an interesting climbing problem itself.) From the Saddle descend no more than 100 feet towards the West. If you stay close to the wall of Twins Peak, you will see several crack systems. Chose one that will allow you to climb the wall. There is a bit of route finding, but eventually you will get on the ridge proper. Now the fun begins. It is kind of steep and a little exposed, so you should have good Vibrim soles on your boots, or maybe climbing shoes. I had no problem getting good friction, but my friend needed quit a bit of encouragement. You can bring a long a rope. The "friction" sections are broken up with cracks every so often, so you will have plenty of places for setting belay. The whole thing is no more then 300 ft. Coming down was easier then going up (for a change.) There is also a shorter climb on the Northwest face. But it looks more like class-4. And there are plenty of nice looking class 5 on all other sids. Right on the saddle there is an interesting looking mushroom rock. I think it may be possible to throw a rope over the mushroom to protect an interesting looking mental push to the top.