Sky Haven – July 12-13, 2025
I hiked up to Pt. 12,668 for sunrise last year and it was the best sunrise view I’d seen in the Sierra so far. This summer, I vowed to go back and camp high up on the ridgeline connecting Cloudripper and Sky Haven. I had excellent weather, slept under the light of the full moon with panoramic views of the Palisades, and woke up to watch the first rays of light hit the Sierra.
The day began with a 5 AM wake up call in Mammoth Lakes. I’ve lately been favoring much later starts but the South Lake/Bishop Pass trailhead has limited spots for overnight hikers and the overflow area is a couple of miles and 600 vertical feet down the road. I might not be a morning person but you will never catch me hiking further than I strictly need to! I got a predictably late start heading out of Mammoth and didn’t arrive at the trailhead until 7 AM, where I fortuitously got the very last spot in the overnight lot. I promptly whipped out my privacy shades and slept for two more hours in my car.
Sky Haven can be approached from either the South Lake trailhead (about 7 miles and 3000 ft gain) or Big Pine Creek (many more miles and about 5000 ft gain on a sweltering hot and brushy trail). I hit the trail at 10 AM and made quick time up the pipeline to Brown Lake. The mosquitoes here were horrific and I had to borrow some completely ineffective bug spray from a family on a day hike. The bugs cleared completely once past Green Lake. Once at the top of the ~11,840-foot pass, I peeled away from the trail and dropped into the basin containing Thunder and Lightning Lake. There is a very faint but useful bootpath through the scree here.
I filtered about three liters of water before slowly making my way up to Pt 12,668. The slopes are made up of fairly stable talus and scree and are straightforward walk-up provided you can negotiate that terrain. I ran into a day hiker at the saddle at 12,460 ft who told me he climbed Cloudripper, Vagabond, and attempted Sky Haven before running out of time. It was only 5 PM at this point so I made a leisurely show of setting up camp and eating dinner.
My plan was to head up to the true summit of Sky Haven for sunset to scope out the route before returning for sunrise the next morning. Secor describes the route along the ridgeline from Cloudripper as class 2. I wasn’t able to find a class 2 route and ended up doing a few class 3 moves to get over obstacles on the ridge. The rest of the route was class 2 but any deviations felt like they would have quickly gotten me into class 3-4 terrain. It took me a full hour to go the half mile from my camp to the summit and another hour to go back. Given my poor sleep the night before and the fact that I was now at almost 13,000 feet above sea level after being at nearly sea level 24 hours prior meant that I was absolutely beat.
Labeled panorama of the Palisades from Sky Haven.
The worst of my symptoms were some mild nausea and a headache. I took the time to eat some snacks and drink plenty of water and a Tylenol before turning in for the night. Despite the high elevation, I slept very well and got in a full 8 hours before sunrise. Well-rested, I took a few photos, ate breakfast, and quickly broke down camp. When I was back on the trail, I met an older gentleman spending four days in the area who told me he met Secor years ago. We had a good chuckle about some of his sandbagged route descriptions.
It was an unseasonably hot day for my hike out but I took extra care to hydrate and keep up on electrolytes and made it back to the trailhead in four hours. I finished this trip feeling reassured about my upcoming week-long hike I have planned with my friend Paulina in SEKI.
—Justin
