(Mostly) Domelands Peakbagging

Peaks: Muah Mountain, Cartago Peak, Cirque Peak, Sirretta Peak, Rockhouse Peak, Taylor Dome

May 2025

A pattern has emerged the last few years: Anthony and I doing a big Death Valley trip some time in the late winter/early spring, followed by a late spring/early summer Southern Sierra trip. Hopefully this pattern will solidify into tradition at some point. And so I found myself making out for the Sierra sometime in May of this year. The plan was to meet late Thursday night or early Friday morning at Cottonwood Lakes to climb Cirque Peak, and then drive down to the Domelands to tag some of the more obscure peaks in the southern reaches of the range.

I decided to head out there Wednesday night to climb Muah and Cartago on Thursday before Anthony’s arrival. These are two seldom visited peaks nestled between the more notable Olancha Peak and Mount Langley. I woke up early and struck out. A couple miles through peaceful meadows saw me to Trail Pass, where I joined the PCT. I never get tired of returning the the PCT, the veritable superhighway of the High Sierra. Eventually I peeled off trail and made my way to Muah Mountain, and soon I was on its summit. I descended southwest from there, met back with the PCT, and eventually peeled off again for Cartago. Cartago Peak is a very strange peak. I hesitate to even call it a peak. It was a confusing maze of buttresses scattered about a broad ridge. I got turned around several times amongst the maze of rocky spires, confusing north for south, and east for west. Eventually, with the help of my GPS device, I was able to locate the true summit and scramble atop it. Back down I went, eventually returning the the PCT where several miles of flowy trails lay in wait. I met a crazy old lady who was hiking the PCT and walked with her for a bit. She asked me if I knew what the tree type was that surrounded us, which is funny because I was puzzling all morning as to whether or not they were Foxtail Pines. I shot my shot and said, “Well, I’ve been debating this all morning and think they are Foxtail Pines, but I’m not sure since I thought they were quite rare, and they seem to be a dime a dozen out here.” She was taken aback by my guess, which robbed her of the ability to display the depths her arboreal knowledge, and she assented to my hunch.

I eventually pulled ahead, longing for some solitude after a good long chat, and sooner or later returned to my car. I can’t remember if Anthony came out that night or early the next morning. I think it was that night. It’s incredible how quickly the past fades when one doesn’t take the time to write things down. Anyways, at some point Anthony and I were united, and certainly by Friday morning we were trotting off for Cirque. We shared a pleasant and uneventful climb to Cirque Peak. Excellent views of the range greeted us at the summit, and the great hulking mass of Mount Langley loomed not far to our north.

We trotted back down to the cars and then made off towards the Chimney Peak Campground, a ways to our south. The plan was to do some trail magic for PCT hikers for the rest of the day. A crusty old fellow was already there with quite the spread for the hikers. Turns out it was the same guy we saw there last year when we were in the area climbing Sawtooth, Lamont, and Spanish Needle. We joined forces, giving the PCTers an even more lavish spread than they already had. Chef Anthony whipped up probably thirty quesadillas over the course of the day, and chef Matt made pot after pot of mac and cheese. We also came armed with tons of fruits and veggies, true delicacies to thru-hikers.

That evening continued towards Sherman Pass which was where our two day backpacking trip would commence. We camped at a really nice dirt turnout somewhere and slept soundly. The next morning we made it to the pass and started our hike. We hiked for several miles on a bike trail I had done a few times in years past, eventually peeling east for Sirretta. The summit was beautiful. Peaks in this part of the range are seldom visited and the solitude one finds on them is hard to match. We continued on, eventually reaching trail once again, and pushed south for Taylor Dome. The last bit of climbing to the summit was engaging class three, or maybe four, rock. Solid granite. The Domelands did not disappoint.

If I remember right, we camped somewhere between Taylor Dome and Rockhouse Peak. We summited the very hard to reach Rockhouse Peak the next morning, and made the long walk out for the rest of the day. There were a surprising amount of backpackers out around Manter Creek which was nice to see. From Sherman Pass Anthony headed east to do some more trail magic, and I dropped west to head back to civilization.