I did this 11,611' peak in the southern Sierras with a micro influencer I'd met online.
The influencer - let's call her "Soraya Montenegro" - arranged to meet me at the Cottonwood Pass campground. I actually got there on time but didn't see her so started driving around. I ran into her as she was pulling into the lot, and the first thing she said to me was, "you're going the wrong way". So, it didn't start well.
Then, she was faster than me and acclimated. My only recent trip above 10k was doing Baldy from the Notch a couple weeks before. My slowness and huffing and puffing caused some conflict. I don't mind hiking with others who are slower than me, but some people are just that way. Also, since then I've lost over 30 pounds and I'm currently (Spring 2025) doing treadmill intervals where I briefly jog at a 15% grade.
Eventually we made it up the moderately-sloped approach trail (link), briefly turned onto the PCT, and then began an offtrail portion to the peak. That portion isn't that difficult, just a little steep. Route-finding wasn't a major issue.
At the top there's a small boulder with the register. Soraya didn't like me climbing that. I offered to help her up but she refused. So, only one of us got the actual peak that day. The Sierra Club says you can claim a peak without getting the summit block, but I disagree.
As we were leaving, Soraya went ahead and waited in the parking lot. I was just grateful for the time alone. After she thankfully cleared off, I drove to Bishop and thence to Yosemite.
