The "Diamond Double" or "Diamond Lake Double" is a classic peak linkup of Southern Oregon, tying Mt. Bailey (8,376') with Mt. Thielsen (9,183') running past Diamond Lake (5,183') in between. At a marathon in distance, and over 7k' in gain with high-4th/low-5th scrambling, this route delivers.
Mt. Thielsen stands like a gravity-defying tower, almost like something out of a Dr. Suess book, be prepared for class 4/class 5 scrambling to get to the true Thielsen Summit...stopping at "Chicken-out-ledge" does not count for this effort, you have to send all the way to the tip and snap that photo with the summit marker!
There are outdoor, publically available spigots for water available along Diamond Lake, it is my opinion that these are acceptable (for this effort) to count as unsupported, since you need not enter a building, nor pay to utilize them during this effort (however, they may be winterized a portion of the year. This is also an easy route to do self-supported, as you must cross past your starting point at least once on your way to whichever mountain you choose to do second.
Making choices on which forest roads/trails to utilize between the two mountains is up to the athlete, choose your best line.
- submitted by Jason Hardrath
