Birch Mountain, also known as Paokrung, is a high summit in California’s Sierra Nevada and one of the state’s fifty highest peaks. Its Northern Paiute name means “Mountain of Stone,” matching its rugged setting in the Palisades, where it lies farther from the Sierra Crest than the area’s other major peaks. Although it is climbed less often than the nearby fourteeners on the crest, as shown by the few names in its summit register, it still attracts peak baggers through its place on the Sierra Peaks Section list. Its relatively low technical difficulty has also made it a popular objective for ski mountaineering.