In mid-August, David Stone and I hiked 20-plus miles from the Rancheria trailhead on the east side of Wishon Reservoir to explore Blackcap Basin and the White Divide, an obscure corner of the Sierra in the John Muir Wilderness, just outside the border of Kings Canyon National Park. That first day, we got an up-close view of some formations we’d seen from afar on previous trips. We had a different objective in mind, but when David pointed out the silhouetted west ridge of Oyster Peak (12,323’)—right as the sun was setting—it looked too fun to pass up.

The next morning, August 16, we made the short hike from camp to the left end of the lower buttresses and started up. There are many possible starts; we chose what looked to be the most direct. After three mellow 5.7 pitches, we gained the ridge, where another 1,000-plus feet of exposed, fifth-class simul-climbing awaited us. The rock, views, and long ridgeline were all high quality.

Climbing this route turned out to be a great decision, because our other objective swatted us down the next day. After such a heinous approach, we were happy to get Mother of Pearl Ridge (1,500’ of roped climbing, III 5.7) as a very fun consolation prize. We didn’t see another soul and don’t know of any other technical routes on Oyster Peak.

                  —Daniel Jeffcoach