Matterhorn Peak
Sawtooth Ridge, Bridgeport · near Bridgeport · Eastern Sierra
Mountaineering
At a glance
- Grade
- scramble
- Elevation
- 12279
- Best season
- July–September; the East Couloir holds snow into summer
What is here
- Terrain
- alpine-rock
- Amenities
- Horse Creek trail from Twin Lakes (Bridgeport) · Horse Creek basin camps · Guide services offer it · Kerouac's Dharma Bums peak
- Best for
- A literary, wild class-3 scramble in the north
- Features
- Immortalized in Kerouac's Dharma Bums · High point of the Sawtooth Ridge · Snow-couloir approach early season · Wild Bridgeport-country setting
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Steep snow in the East Couloir early season — axe & crampons · Loose class-3 rock on the upper ridge · Route-finding on the Sawtooth crest · Afternoon storms; long day from Twin Lakes
- Beginner friendly
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Guided trips
- Yes
Mountaineering detail
- Skills
- scrambling · snow-ice · altitude
- Style
- mixed-alpine
- Altitude
- 2
- Route notes
- The peak Jack Kerouac immortalized in The Dharma Bums — a class-3 scramble up the Sawtooth Ridge's high point, with a snow-filled couloir approach early season and a wonderfully wild feel above Twin Lakes
- Beta note
- ~12,279 ft; Class 3 via Horse Creek & the East Couloir; steep snow early season
- Intl tip
- The peak Jack Kerouac climbed in 1955 and made the centerpiece of The Dharma Bums. It lives up to the billing — high point of the jagged Sawtooth Ridge above Twin Lakes, a class-3 scramble up Horse Creek, with a steep snow-filled East Couloir that makes it a real axe-and-crampons outing early season. A long, wild day (or overnight) in the quiet northern Sierra near Bridgeport, with loose upper rock and crest route-finding. Hard to beat for scramblers who love a peak with a story.
- Directions note
- Park at Mono Village on Twin Lakes — Horse Creek trail approach
The guide
Matterhorn Peak carries a literary aura few summits can match: Jack Kerouac climbed it with Gary Snyder in 1955 and made it the…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Matterhorn Peak — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.1014, -119.3767