Kuna Peak & Koip Peak

Kuna Peak, at 13,002 feet, is the third-highest point in Yosemite National Park behind only Mount Lyell and Mount Dana, but it sees a fraction of the traffic either of those get — the approach from the Mono Pass Trailhead is long, remote, and largely cross-country once the maintained trail runs out. I saw exactly one other hiker the entire day, which says a lot about how quiet this corner of the Yosemite high country really is.

The route climbs through Mono Pass and out past Parker Pass before the real work starts: a steep push up to Koip Peak Pass, followed by a talus scramble to Koip Peak's 12,968-foot summit. From there it's a rough, boulder-strewn traverse along the ridge to Kuna Peak itself, with no real trail connecting the two summits — just a lot of careful footwork across large, unstable rock.

Both summits deliver enormous views — Mono Lake and the desert stretching out to the east, the Cathedral Range and Mount Lyell's glacier to the west, and the entire Kuna Crest laid out in between. Standing on top of Kuna Peak, with barely another soul in sight all day, made for one of the most genuinely remote-feeling summits on this whole list.

With Kuna Peak done, I've now stood on top of the three tallest peaks in Yosemite — Mount Lyell, Mount Dana, and now Kuna Peak. A good one to finally check off, and a long, quiet day well spent to do it.