Betsy and I spent five days backpacking and climbing in and above Little Lakes Valley in the Sierra in June 2019. Here is my blog of our trip.
Day 1: Sunday, June 16. Betsy and I arrive at the Mosquito Flat trailhead; this is the end of Rock Creek Road at 10,300 ft and the usual start for backpacking in Little Lakes Valley; however, we had to start lower, about a mile and a half back, because several snow patches on the road had not been plowed 
Betsy crosses one of the last bridges on our pack in; after this the trail became less distinct, and we crossed streams on rocks or snow bridges 
Our spectacular campsite was on the rock bench immediately to the right of partially frozen Long Lake; our climbing objectives were the rightmost and leftmost of the four peaks in the distance: Mount Dade (13,600 ft+) and Pyramid Peak (12,840 ft+) 
Day 2: Monday, June 17. We climbed Mount Dade, the high peak on the right; most of the climb was on snow; the steep, 1,000-ft Hourglass in the middle was the hardest part; we originally planned to camp at the Treasure Lakes, shown here, but realized once we got to Long Lake that they would still be frozen over 
View down from the top of the Hourglass to the Treasure Lakes and Long Lake; we still had another 1,000 ft to climb on mixed snow and rock to the summit; the snow above was not so steep but softer, so we often postholed to our knees 
After two more hours of exhausting climbing, we reached the summit of Mount Dade! Here I am on top with Mount Abbot to the right of center 
View from the summit down the last part of the climb; the top of the Hourglass is at the lower left; Bear Creek Spire is the prominent peak in the upper center; the cloudless sky of the morning was replaced by ominous clouds nearby 
Betsy documented our climb in the summit register; as she noted, we had some drama on the last part of the climb, including snow, hail, and thunder! Some rugged guy from Madison did a winter climb this year on skis! 
Day 3: Tuesday, June 18. After 13 hours of climbing and descending the day before, we decided to enjoy an easy day; here Betsy reads in our kitchen above Long Lake 🙂 
This is our bedroom, next to the kitchen 🙂 My clothes are drying after getting soaked in the snow the day before; in the afternoon, we hiked up the talus slope in the middle to the base of the granite tower 
Here I am near the top of the talus slope with Long Lake below 
Betsy and I savor the stunning scenery; Bear Creek Spire is on the left, while Mounts Abbot and Mills are on the right; Mount Dade is behind us, out of view 
Day 4: Wednesday, June 19. Today’s objective is Pyramid Peak on the left; we went right of frozen Dade Lake and then left up the snow and eventually the rock 
Betsy climbs yet another steep snow slope; we used crampons going up and an ice ax going both up and down 
Betsy nears the top of the climb; we traversed alternating ribs and chutes until we found a way to the summit 
Betsy touches the summit cairn! By the time we got back to Long Lake (in the distance), we had spent 14 hours climbing and descending! The next day, we had an easy pack out 🙂
Wayne Pfeiffer 