Ritter Pass Report
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:37 pm
First, thanks again to Sierra Maclure for the notes on this route; in addition, the web had a short report (and a couple photos)from a group that went over Ritter Pass in Sept. 2005. Both commentaries provided a bit of comfort knowing that others had survived this route.
So, the good news is that most limbs are still intact (on me and my wife). As clearly pointed out by the folks above, there is lots of loose rock (and boulders; when do rocks transition to boulders, anyway?). We went from the Dike Creek side to the Ediza side, and from the residue of this year's snowmelt (still on the rocks/boulders), there had not been any bipeds over that route since the snow melted this year. From how loose the rock was, solid snow might very well have been preferable. I took a run up the chute to dislodge the worst talus/scree before we attempted the thing with packs on. Even so, this "pass" ranks up near the top of my list of least favorite places to go with a backpack (Milly's and Lucy's "foot passes" and Echo col being some of my other favs). The thing I cannot reconcile is: "Why do maps show this "Pass" if it's so seldom used, and potentially dangerous?" I'm certain that if it were more used, the amount of loose rock (boulders) would decline, and so would the risk factor. Anyway, my humble conclusion is that if you want to get away from the teeming masses, Ritter Pass will get you there (very peaceful on the west side of the Minarets, and Dike creek is hugely deserted with very little evidence of human incursion; we saw one other set of footprints on the Dike side), but caveat emptor! The pass itself deserves respect! Regardless, once my wife calms down and can get the photos downloaded, I'll post a link and some commentary on the less adrenaline riven aspects of the loop we made.
CG
PS. We just glanced at our photos, and I think that part of the problem is we chose the wrong chute for Ritter Pass (at least, relative to the web photo from rohan @ sdsu). More later.....
So, the good news is that most limbs are still intact (on me and my wife). As clearly pointed out by the folks above, there is lots of loose rock (and boulders; when do rocks transition to boulders, anyway?). We went from the Dike Creek side to the Ediza side, and from the residue of this year's snowmelt (still on the rocks/boulders), there had not been any bipeds over that route since the snow melted this year. From how loose the rock was, solid snow might very well have been preferable. I took a run up the chute to dislodge the worst talus/scree before we attempted the thing with packs on. Even so, this "pass" ranks up near the top of my list of least favorite places to go with a backpack (Milly's and Lucy's "foot passes" and Echo col being some of my other favs). The thing I cannot reconcile is: "Why do maps show this "Pass" if it's so seldom used, and potentially dangerous?" I'm certain that if it were more used, the amount of loose rock (boulders) would decline, and so would the risk factor. Anyway, my humble conclusion is that if you want to get away from the teeming masses, Ritter Pass will get you there (very peaceful on the west side of the Minarets, and Dike creek is hugely deserted with very little evidence of human incursion; we saw one other set of footprints on the Dike side), but caveat emptor! The pass itself deserves respect! Regardless, once my wife calms down and can get the photos downloaded, I'll post a link and some commentary on the less adrenaline riven aspects of the loop we made.
CG
PS. We just glanced at our photos, and I think that part of the problem is we chose the wrong chute for Ritter Pass (at least, relative to the web photo from rohan @ sdsu). More later.....