Route: If the gate is open, one can drive up to 4000 ft and park at the trailhead. Look for a little orange flag as the road does a hard-right switchback at 4000 ft (another road goes straight here and starts down. You can also continue even further up (another 1/2 mile or so) and hike to the lakes from there. If the road is gated, you'll have an extra 3 miles hike in on the road. Not great, but not terrible either. Once on the trail from the switchback, it's well marked with tape, but lots of over-log scrambling and such, and the actual tread is easy to lose. You'll pass the lower lake in maybe 1/2 mile (and if you parked higher up, will also pass the lower lake. You can go around the lake to either side and proceed to the upper lake. Start around the upper lake to the west side, and then swing hard west and go straight up the ridge, staying in the trees. Gain the saddle of the ridge and then drop maybe 100-150 ft down to the PCT. Take the PCT north, around the base of Kendall, up a couple switch-backs and look for a small trail heading up and back towards the south to climb Kendall Peak. Trail is a bit before the catwalk.
Trailhead Location: Exit 54, Cross under 90 and go north as the road turns to dirt. Gate is within the first 1/3 mile from the highway. If open, keep on going to the trailheads higher up.
Distance: From the lower trailhead, maybe 3/4 mile to the upper lakes, and another 2 miles to the summit (but I'm guessing here). Add up to 3 miles if the road is closed.
Elevation Gain: Upper trailhead at 4000 ft, top around 5600, so 2600 gain not counting ups and downs in the middle.
Coments: The bushwack isn't bad, but there is a lot of route finding on this tour. The map shows a "high route" from the upper lake more directly to Kendall. This route involves a lot of steep contouring and is generally a bit of a pain. Bugs can be bad.
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