Trimmer Peak, Freel Peak, Jobs Sister, Jobs Peak (Tahoe Triple Crown) in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, CA

Hike Trimmer Peak, Freel Peak, Jobs Sister, Jobs Peak (Tahoe Triple Crown) Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, CA

Class 2 13.3 miles 4600 gain 6-8 hrs Loop Aug 10, 2024
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

Trimmer Peak, Freel Peak, Jobs Sister, Jobs Peak (Tahoe Triple Crown) GPX Track

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Chris and I decided to tackle what's known as the Tahoe Triple Crown, a combination of the high-prominence Freel Peak, Jobs Sister, and Jobs Peak, forming a nice loop south of Lake Tahoe. We also decided to tack on Trimmer Peak, which I guess is not part of the Triple Crown traverse route, but walking by this peak felt like we’d leave the range unfinished. These summits are on the edge of the Sierra Mountains and therefore have more of a high-desert vibe rather than a lush mountain aesthetic. We left Luther Pass Road here (38.791352, -119.932678) and drove north along a mostly good dirt road, with a couple of sections that might require at least some clearance, though our Subarus were fine.

From the trailhead, we started along the Horse Meadows Trail, a forested walk that quickly reached Armstrong Pass. There were various trails at the junction at Armstrong Pass, but we took the Tahoe Rim Trail headed north. This section of the hike ascended very slowly along the forested west slope of Freel Peak with only two switchbacks, ultimately plopping us at Freel Pass. First up was Trimmer Peak before beginning the true Triple Crown traverse, a summit that's completely off-trail and not visited nearly as often as the others.

After an initial easy slope starting up to Trimmer Peak, along the ridgeline there were lots of huge boulders, so we found it easiest to side-hill either to the right or left of the crest much of the time. Even though Trimmer Peak barely has enough prominence to be considered a peak, there is a significant intermediary hump to hike up and over that makes the endeavor slightly more work than we'd anticipated. The slope dropping down from the hump is sandy, as was the subsequent ascent slope to push for the summit, both a lot less fun going up then coming back down. The summit block requires some Class 2 scrambling. Trimmer Peak was a nice diversion with some route-finding to minimize the effort. Lake Tahoe and the Desolation Wilderness were clearly visible ahead of us, and looking back we could see Freel Peak rising up. Chris joked that it was clear where California ended and Nevada started: lush green trees surrounding a massive body of water for the former, and brown desert lumps for the latter. Even though I love the Great Basin Desert, I can appreciate a good jab.

Back at Freel Pass, we were on the well-maintained and pretty popular trail and headed up to Freel Peak. We saw many parties now that we were back on a trail. Being as prominent a peak as it is, the views were spectacular in every direction. A clear trail continued east down from Freel Peak and up to Jobs Sister, mostly sandy but not loose. The views here were more of the same, so we continued toward Jobs Peak. At this point, we learned it was good we had done this loop clockwise since the descent from Jobs Sister is steep and sandy. Coming up would have been a tedious and annoying undertaking, but going down was fun and fast. There are multiple eroded social trails carved into the slope, so it was hard to stick to the intended primary trail until reaching the saddle with Jobs Peak below. From here, it was easy hiking up a sandy trail to Jobs Peak, where a short Class 2 move brought us to our final summit.

We backtracked from Jobs Peak and headed south along the Jobs Peak Trail. This was a fairly uneventful part of the hike since it was mostly a forested walk with only hints of views toward the summits we’d just been on top of. Eventually, this trail turns into an old road and leads to the Jobs Peak Trailhead. We had to continue walking along the drivable road in order to finish our loop.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)
Peaks on hike
Elevation
Prominence
1
Trimmer Peak
9915 ft
315 rise
2
Freel Peak
10881 ft
3146 rise
3
Jobs Sister
10823 ft
343 rise
4
Jobs Peak
10633 ft
793 rise

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Starting along the Horse Meadows Trail.
Starting along the Horse Meadows Trail.
View back along the Horse Meadows Trail.
View back along the Horse Meadows Trail.
Reaching Armstrong Pass.
Reaching Armstrong Pass.
Along the Tahoe Rim Trail.
Along the Tahoe Rim Trail.
Hugging the west slope of Freel Peak.
Hugging the west slope of Freel Peak.
Trimmer Peak up there somewhere.
Trimmer Peak up there somewhere.
Freel Pass, view north. First up was Trimmer Peak, left.
Freel Pass, view north. First up was Trimmer Peak, left.
View back toward Freel Peak as we head up to Trimmer Peak.
View back toward Freel Peak as we head up to Trimmer Peak.
Approaching the top of the intermediary hump along the ridge.
Approaching the top of the intermediary hump along the ridge.
View back again after we'd chosen to side-hill rather than hike amongst boulders on the crest.
View back again after we'd chosen to side-hill rather than hike amongst boulders on the crest.
Boulders along the crest.
Boulders along the crest.
Trimmer Peak seen ahead, but first a drop on a sandy slope.
Trimmer Peak seen ahead, but first a drop on a sandy slope.
View back as we hike up a sandy slope to Trimmer Peak.
View back as we hike up a sandy slope to Trimmer Peak.
Trimmer Peak ahead.
Trimmer Peak ahead.
Class 2 summit of Trimmer Peak.
Class 2 summit of Trimmer Peak.
Trimmer Peak summit, view toward Lake Tahoe.
Trimmer Peak summit, view toward Lake Tahoe.
Trimmer Peak summit, view toward Freel Peak and Jobs Sister. You can see the hump we have to re-ascend right of center.
Trimmer Peak summit, view toward Freel Peak and Jobs Sister. You can see the hump we have to re-ascend right of center.
Back at Freel Pass, heading up to Freel Peak.
Back at Freel Pass, heading up to Freel Peak.
Fun little cliff along the way.
Fun little cliff along the way.
View back toward Trimmer Peak.
View back toward Trimmer Peak.
Trail up to Freel Peak.
Trail up to Freel Peak.
View back along the Freel Peak Trail.
View back along the Freel Peak Trail.
View back from Freel Peak, Trimmer Peak seen center, Lake Tahoe right, Desolation Wilderness left.
View back from Freel Peak, Trimmer Peak seen center, Lake Tahoe right, Desolation Wilderness left.
Onward to Jobs Sister, seen left. Jobs Peak is right of center.
Onward to Jobs Sister, seen left. Jobs Peak is right of center.
Pleasant trail all the way to Jobs Sister.
Pleasant trail all the way to Jobs Sister.
View back at Freel Peak.
View back at Freel Peak.
Freel Peak top right on our way up to Jobs Sister.
Freel Peak top right on our way up to Jobs Sister.
Jobs Sister summit, view down toward Star Lake to the north.
Jobs Sister summit, view down toward Star Lake to the north.
Descent on the steep, sandy slope from Jobs Sister. Jobs Peak seen center.
Descent on the steep, sandy slope from Jobs Sister. Jobs Peak seen center.
View back up at the descent.
View back up at the descent.
Nearing the saddle with Jobs Peak.
Nearing the saddle with Jobs Peak.
The trail continues to Jobs Peak from here.
The trail continues to Jobs Peak from here.
View back at the descent from Jobs Sister.
View back at the descent from Jobs Sister.
Jobs Peak ahead.
Jobs Peak ahead.
Class 2 summit block on Jobs Peak.
Class 2 summit block on Jobs Peak.
Jobs Peak summit, view toward Jobs Sister and Freel Peak (right).
Jobs Peak summit, view toward Jobs Sister and Freel Peak (right).
Jobs Peak summit, view north.
Jobs Peak summit, view north.
Headed down the Jobs Peak Trail.
Headed down the Jobs Peak Trail.
Mostly forested Jobs Peak Trail. We had hints of the slopes of Freel Peak through the trees.
Mostly forested Jobs Peak Trail. We had hints of the slopes of Freel Peak through the trees.
Continuing down the Jobs Peak Trail.
Continuing down the Jobs Peak Trail.
A short dirt road walk to the Jobs Peak Trailhead, then along the drivable road back to our cars.
A short dirt road walk to the Jobs Peak Trailhead, then along the drivable road back to our cars.

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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!