The northern Sierra has a resplendent volcanic history – and not just around Mono Lake and the Inyo Craters! Between Lake Tahoe and Ebbetts Pass lies a series of composite volcanoes formed of compressed ash, dirt, and rock. Many of these are worn bare except for basaltic plugs that stick up out of the old crust and dirt. These plugs are formed upon the rapid cooling of monogenic volcanoes, literally capping off the lava once the main eruption has finished. Famous Tahoe-area peaks like Castle Peak, Raymond Peak, and Hawkins Peak have moderate summit blocks built from this unique geological history.

Author Dylan Kilby and friends approach Da-ek dow Go-et, a 585-foot (178 meters) volcanic plug sitting at 9000 feet elevation in the Sierra Nevadas, California. The rock climbing portion is 60 feet (18 meters) of climbing broken into two pitches. (Photo Credit: Dylan Kilby, IG: (@sunbleached_summits)

Dylan Kilby free solos the crumbly 5.2 pitch to secure a rope to safely bring up the friends who joined him on this alpine adventure. (Photo Credit: Brett Marciasini)

One of the most striking examples is Da-ek dow Go-et, which translates from Washoe to “saddle between two points”. This enormous plug is visible from most areas south of Lake Tahoe, especially from the summits of nearby peaks like Round Top and Freel Peak. At 585 feet of prominence and just over 9000 feet of elevation, with 60 feet of 5.2 climbing, it’s quite a bit larger than the tens of feet usually making up other nearby mountains’ summit blocks!

Da-ek dow Go-et’s sheer volcanic faces have inspired plenty of Tahoe-area mountaineers, but the caveat to the beauty is that this basaltic volcanic rock takes protection very poorly (maybe sling a nob?) and is notoriously crumbly - a fall is likely to just destroy the rock, so most don't bother with protection.

​However, climbing Da-ek dow Go-et is a thoroughly unique experience unlikely to be repeated in many areas even in the Sierra Nevada.

Video (19 seconds) of author Dylan Kilby free soloing pitch 1 of Da-ek dow Go-et (Video Credit: Brett Marciasini)

A view through the Class 3 chimney portion of the climb. Dylan establishes a belay station and anchor after the first pitch (Photo Credit: Brett Marciasini)

Taking a rest and enjoying the view at the top of pitch 1 (Photo Credit: Levi Cover)

The only established route is via the South Face – a simple 5.2, 75-foot (22 meter) climb, but definitely the most alpine of alpine climbs I’ve done in terms of rock quality (and I mean that affectionately). The moves are intuitive and very easy for anyone who’s climbed before, but the rock quality means testing each of the yellow lichen-covered knobs until topping out.

There are two short pitches. The first involves face-climbing on lichen-covered rock then ascending through an unprotectable crack for approximately 50 feet before ending at an excellent belay/rest position in front of a short Class 3 chimney. The moves are easy, but the rock quality is poor, so this is a hardcore mental test for a leader.

The second pitch is a short (25-ish) foot squeeze chimney that is around 18 inches wide at its smallest. The chimney opens to a broad summit plateau, and then it’s just a short scramble to the top!

​I summited this with four friends who were all pursuing the “Tahoe Ogul” peakbagging list, which is a list of 63 mountains in and around the Tahoe Basin, northern Sierra, and western Great Basin.

​I free soloed the first and second pitch, established anchors with as much redundancy and equalization as possible, and then belayed up my friends. Two of us finished our Tahoe Ogul peak number-63 upon summiting, and another two had never climbed before! Hell of a good way to make such a beautiful summit your first time on rope and rock.

Summit selfie - Da-ek dow Go-et

We then downclimbed through the second-pitch squeeze chimney (because we felt it was safer than rappelling) and rappelled from a mess of webbing at the top of the first pitch.
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I love an “adventure summit” – and this was exactly that! Fun and unique climbing, a summit totally idiosyncratic to the northern Sierra, and fascinating geology in my favorite mountain range in the world.

• Climber: Dylan Kilby (IG: @sunbleached_summits)
• Other party members: Brett Marciasini (IG: @thehuntindaddy), Philip Frost (IG: @phealthy), Scott Kelley (IG: @sbkelley55), Levi Cover (IG: @levis_a_sketchy_guide)
• Date: 9/7/2023
• Mountain: Da-ek dow Go-et
• Route: South face (5.2, PG-13)
  • Mountain Project link: https://www.mountainproject.com/area/109857514/da-ek-dow-go-et-mountain-aka-sentinel-rock