On September 10, 1852, Henry Sheldon Anable wrote of crossing the first mountain on the Carson Trail, describing an ascent of half a mile as steep as going up the side of a house, with huge stones in, beside, and all around the road. This point, identified on the Emigrant Trail's Carson River Route as Kit Carson Pass at an elevation of 8650 feet, marked the first Sierra summit, and the trail descended from here to Caples Lake.