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Ladder Lake via Hester Lake

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:06 pm
by maverick
Anyone climb up to Hester Lake from Le Conte Ranger Station and
then to Lake 11654 and then on to Ladder Lake?

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:35 pm
by giantbrookie
I haven't done this and I am as interested as you are to see responses. I had long wanted to do this the other way (S to N), going to Ladder then working my way north along that side of the Black Divide (my motivation is less now after hearing reports of smaller fish in Ladder). I first gazed at Ladder from the top of either Agassiz or Goode back in the 70's and my brother and I thought Ladder looked like a real fortress lake to go after.

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:57 pm
by maverick
Hi GB

I plan on leaving Sat to go over Bishop Pass and down to Le Conte
then climb up to Hester and on to Ladder Lake. Climb down and
head towards the Devils Washboard and follow the creek north of it to
the lakes of Observation Peak. Then on to Dumbbell and Amphitheater
Lakes.
Ill be back next Sat evening or Sun.

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:50 pm
by giantbrookie
Wow. That's a heck of game plan with some seriously choice cross country. Have a great trip. Are you going to do the Barrett Creek option (and Knapsack Pass) to close the loop?

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:29 am
by Cloudy
I tried about four or five years ago. Unfortunately, I had a heavy load and it was raining so my motivation suffered accordingly. I remember that once you climb up the other side, you end up in a large U-shaped canyon with the outlet stream from Hester Lake coming down a crack in the smooth , steep surface at the end of the U. I didn't see an easy way up and as I said, being cold and wet gave me an excuse to turn around. I really did want to see if there were any pieces of the B-24 still there though so I hope you make it and can pass on any info :-)

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:06 pm
by maverick
Yes, the Barrett Creek route is my planned route unless I get so
blown away with the Observation Peak area and spend an extra
day there then Ill use the trail ,or if the monsoonal flow picks up
again and throws a wrench into my plans.
Thanks Cloudy for the info. Both the Hester and Observation area
have the added interest because of the possible plane wreckage
to be found!

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:00 pm
by TehipiteTom
I remember that once you climb up the other side, you end up in a large U-shaped canyon with the outlet stream from Hester Lake coming down a crack in the smooth , steep surface at the end of the U. I didn't see an easy way up and as I said, being cold and wet gave me an excuse to turn around.
That does look like a mighty steep headwall above 10,000'. Just based on the map, it looks like it might be feasible to continue up the trail to Lake 10,320+, then follow the valley south to Lake 11,654 and loop around to Hester. Purely map speculation, though.

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:34 pm
by giantbrookie
maverick wrote:Yes, the Barrett Creek route is my planned route unless I get so
blown away with the Observation Peak area and spend an extra
day there then Ill use the trail ,or if the monsoonal flow picks up
again and throws a wrench into my plans.
Thanks Cloudy for the info. Both the Hester and Observation area
have the added interest because of the possible plane wreckage
to be found!
If you've done Barrett Creek before you can disregard the following info, but I figured I had better give a few details given that the last time I advised someone to go that way they were probably cursing my name when they did it, owing to either changed conditions since my wife and I did it in 1993 (there has been a fire since then) or the choice of routes (followed east side of creek instead of west as my wife and I did). If the conditions are anything like they were for my wife's and my trip you will find it one of the nicest off trail routes (except that Barrett Creek won't be booming and spraying as it was in July 1993). In ascending from Palisade Creek you will want to start west of the creek (and not right up against it) and zig zag through openings in the brush before actually coming in contact with the creek at the top of the prominent waterfall/cascade the marks the top of the steep lower section of the drainage. Above the waterfall you can stay very close to the creek along its west side in a spectacular slot canyon until you've ascended to the point where the angle eases and the canyon broadens. Above that the ascent of the drainage and eventually Knapsack Pass is trivial. If the optimal route is not followed it can apparently be pretty brushy. In '93 there was actually a use trail in sections. It is possible that even the best route isn't as easy as it used to be too if things grew back brushier after the fire. This is one of my two favorite slot canyon off trail routes in the Sierra, the other being the outlet of Lake Genevieve in Convict Canyon. The Barrett route is much longer and you are directly in the throat of the slot instead of being above it on a shelf as one is in the narrowest section of the Genevieve climb.

Enjoy

Cheers,

John

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:53 pm
by maverick
Thanks GB for the 411, by the way have you climbed Giraud Peak?
Ive heard it has some great views from the top.

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:29 pm
by giantbrookie
maverick wrote:Thanks GB for the 411, by the way have you climbed Giraud Peak?
Ive heard it has some great views from the top.
I haven't done Giraud and its one I certainly wouldn't mind doing. Some day.