East Vidette

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East Vidette is a 12,356-foot (3,766-meter) mountain in Kings Canyon National Park, in the Sierra Nevada of northern California. It sits in Tulare County, about two miles west of the Sierra Crest and roughly 12.5 miles west-southwest of Independence, near the Kearsarge Pinnacles. The north face rises about 2,800 feet above Vidette Meadow in under a mile. The John Muir Trail runs below its north and east sides. The first ascent was in 1910 by a Sierra Club party via the East Ridge. The name comes from vedette, a mounted lookout; the two Videttes were seen as guarding the valley. East Vidette lies in an alpine climate; Pacific weather fronts rise over the range and bring precipitation. Water from the peak drains into Bubbs Creek, a tributary of the South Fork Kings River. The easiest route to the summit is a class 3 scramble.