High Sierra Topix

I'm putting together a loop for this August that goes East Creek -> Longley Pass -> Cinder Col -> Sphinx Pass. Along the way we plan on South Guard, Brewer, and Francis Farquhar. I'm a bit undecided on which way to climb Brewer. We'll be doing the loop in the direction I just listed (although I suppose we could always go the other way).

Should we climb the East Ridge of Brewer from East Creek, or do the south slopes/ridge from South Guard Lake? Has anyone done both routes and has a point of view on which one was more fun?

The one advantage to doing the south slopes as a dayhike from camp at upper Cunningham or South Guard Lake that I can see is that it will give us an opportunity to scout the route from South Guard lake to Cinder Col without our full packs. But the east ridge looks less sloggy and more fun.

Have not done the South Ridge route, the East Ridge route was a fun climb from East Lake up Ouzel Creek,
the views from the peak were outstanding. Met some folks when arriving back into camp at East Lake, they climbed
the South Ridge route that day (they climbed the East Ridge on a previous outing) and said that the ER
route was easier and more fun.

Yeah the more I look at pictures the more I like the look of the east ridge. Pretty and slabby > steep and sloggy.

Well if you take the South slope more on the West side of the climb it's mostly talus scrambling. Although if you do not cross over to the East side of the peak a bit lower down the cross over is a bit difficult. Then you drop down the East side of the South slope because it's very sandy and offers an easy way down. Would be a pain to climb though.