Basin Mountain

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Elevation (feet): 13,181
Elevation (meters): 4,018
Continent: North America
Country: United States
Range/Region: Sierra Nevada
State: California
Latitude: 37.2833
Longitude: -118.65
Difficulty: Walk up
Best months for climbing: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
Nearest major airport: Los Angeles, CaliforniaReno, Nevada
Convenient Center: Bishop, California

Thanks to Brian Reynolds for adding this peak.

Basin Mountain rises over the south side of the Horton Lakes basin, just west of Bishop, California. The summit is not especially notable, except for the wonderful views it offers of Mount Tom, which dominates the skyline just to the north.

Like much of the eastern sierra, the ascent is a seemingly endless talus slog. In this case, the talus slop comprises the last 2500 feet or so of vertical gain. A couple of 3rd class moves may be required near the summit, especially if it is necessary to traverse from the false summit (the Sierra Club peak register is on the northern-most summit), but the climb is predominantly class 2.

One or more class 5 ascents may be possible up the impressive northeast and east faces, in which case access is via a use trail that departs the main Horton Lakes trail shortly after the trailhead.

Trip Reports

NOTE: Trip reports were previously called "Summit Logs" - same feature, new name

There is one trip report for Basin Mountain.

Select any entry from the list below:

  • Log #16531 - by Brian Reynolds on June 01, 2001
    How not to climb a 13,000-footer: stay out until 2:00 am the night before, in Los Angeles, siging bad karaoke and drinking many beers before hitting the highway for a 4+ hour drive to the trailhead;...