Winter atop Monitor or Ebbets Pass??

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SteveB
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Winter atop Monitor or Ebbets Pass??

Post by SteveB »

Anyone ever spend any time atop Ebbets or Monitor Pass in winter? I'm hankering to spend a night or two up there, and curious if anyone has any thoughts. Gettin' up Ebbets might be a day or two trek in itself, so a question of snowmobile access might be needed here. Just curious: lookin' for a nice winter escape with nobody around! ;)
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JM21760
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Post by JM21760 »

I had an old friend who, with the help of snowmobiles, would get into the Mokelumne drainage along Highway 4. I know it could be skiied, if you have the time. They would leave from Red Lake, on Highway 88. Follow the road to Forestdale creek, and up, (south) to the Lost lakes area, then down to Blue lakes. Continue south from the Lower Blue lake, into Clover Valley, then into Hermit Valley on Hwy. 4. A left turn takes you up to Ebbetts, or the Highland lakes basin. A right, over Pacific Grade Summit, and onto the road closure gate just west of Lake Alpine. I imagine this would be a fairly advanced excursion, demanding some strong skiing. Hwy 4 is closed at Wolf Creek turn off on the east side of the pass, a few miles from Markleeville. This gate is pretty low, so a walk of a few miles to snow line is likely. Then, higher up, north facing steep slopes present a hairy avalance possibility. :paranoid: If you've driven Ebbetts in the Summer, you know what I mean. For the Red lake route, I would imagine you could reach Hermit Valley in a long day, in good weather. Me? I'll take the snowmobile for a weekend trip.
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