Tresidder Peak

Tresidder Peak is a twin-summited granite mass in Yosemite's Cathedral Range, visible from the John Muir Trail as a broad, block-like mountain between Cathedral Peak and Tenaya Peak. This isn't a trail hike — there's no path to either summit, and reaching the top means off-trail travel followed by real rock scrambling. It's a serious objective for experienced Sierra hikers and climbers, not a casual outing.

Getting to the Base

The approach starts at the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead on Tioga Road, about half a mile west of the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center. Follow the John Muir Trail roughly 3 miles to Upper Cathedral Lake, with Tresidder Peak rising about 1,000 feet above the water. From there, most parties continue past Cathedral Pass to the saddle between Tresidder and neighboring Columbia Finger before starting the climb; an alternate route follows the peak's northeast ridge directly from Upper Cathedral Lake, though it holds snow into early summer and turns loose near the summit block.

Two Summits, Both Class 4

Tresidder has a south summit around 10,605 to 10,645 feet and a north summit — marked on maps simply as Peak 10,450 — about half a mile away. Both the north and south arêtes are rated Class 4, a step up in difficulty from the popular Class 3 scrambles on nearby Cathedral and Unicorn Peaks.

Where the Name Comes From

The peak honors Donald Tresidder, who married Mary Curry — daughter of Camp Curry's founders — in 1920, ran the Yosemite Park and Curry Company from 1925 to 1948 overseeing construction of the Ahwahnee Hotel and Badger Pass Ski Area, and served as Stanford University's fourth president from 1943 until his death in 1948.