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Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:25 am
by Charles2
I would like to do a loop hike with the following itinerary: 1) North Lake to Göethe Lake via Piute Pass; 2) Göethe Lake to Darwin Canyon via Alpine Col across Glacier Divide; 3) Darwin Canyon to Lamarck Lakes Basin via Lamarck Col; 4) return to North Lake. I am planning the trip for late July or early August. I will be solo on this trip. I am a fairly experienced hiker/climber.

I have never been over Alpine Col and would like to have an idea of what to expect. I don't mind a bit of scrambling and talus hopping but, since I'll be alone, I do not want to have to deal with any technical climbing or major exposure. Can anyone tell me what to anticipate on this part of the route? And, have any of you climbed Mt. Göethe from Alpine Col and if so what is the climb like? Thanks.

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:53 pm
by gdurkee
Because you put an umlaut in Goethe (and If I could figure out how to do it, I'd do it too...), I'll answer. It's semi-easy from the north. Big boulders at the bottom, then some scrambling towards the top. Then an easy walk down to the lakes where you walk on the west side of the first lake, then, if memory serves, the east side of the lower lake. No real problems the entire route, except the huge boulders which you've just got to take a deep breath and get by them.

While it is pretty easy, it's not a beginner's route so you do need some fair experience, which it sounds like you have.

The only other thing to keep in mind is to make sure you follow the trail down from Lamarck on the north side. Some people miss it and end up in the chute that drops straight down onto Lamarck Lakes. Some injuries doing that. Nothing else on that proposed route is a technical problem (hmm. Wait. Sometimes the top 100 feet of the north side of Lamarck is tricky with ice -- not a huge problem, but requires caution.)

Not to be too geeky, but I think only 1 in 10 people correctly pronounce it. It usually ends up being Gothe or even Goat.

George
Frau Altman's German Class, 1965

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:17 pm
by BrianF
I agree with gdurkee, nothing technical. There is lots of talus on the north side of Alpine Col, just be careful. My one experience with Alpine Col was in Early october after a snowfall - just enough snow to make the talus fairly harrowing, you shouldn't have any such problem. If the snowfield at Lamarck Col is too icy to be safe with your equipment (and it sometimes is icy) I have used a steep sandy chute that is a couple hundred yards up towards Mt. Lamarck from the Col proper, You can see all the way down that chute and there is a use trail, make sure it is the right one.

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:55 pm
by giantbrookie
Big talus blocks, while not technical, are not for everybody. Some folks absolutely despise the stuff (my wife, for example, although she has no issues with some very difficult off trail stuff), whereas others don't seem to mind (I'm one of them) and even get a kick out of it to some extent (really, I do, as weird as that sounds).

Regarding Lamarck, the one thing about the north side snow field/headwall, is that by the time one gets up there a big backpackers groove has been carved into it by the steps of many hikers. I've been over it three times, once as early as the beginning of July, and the hiking groove gets pretty deep. Were the groove not there, I would certainly feel more comfortable with an ice axe to give me greater assurance of not sliding into that icy tarn at the base of the slope. What I've found very tedious early season are the huge sun cups commonly found in the snow in the section below (N) of the pond noted above. As George notes, it is important not (1) to take the diretissima route straight to upper Lamarck, and (2) when sizing up the gap from Darwin Canyon, not aiming so far right (to what seems to be the lowest point) so as to be hanging on the top of a gap overlooking the Sabrina Basin rather than the North Lake basin.

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:05 am
by Charles2
Thanks all for the information. It looks as though I can make the loop; I look forward to doing it.

For gdurkee: "Because you put an umlaut in Goethe (and If I could figure out how to do it, I'd do it too...), I'll answer. "

Umlaut's are easy. If you have Windows on your computer, just do the following:
Hold down the Alt key and type in the following code, including zeroes for the character you want; the letter will appear when you release the Alt key:
Ä = 0196
ä = 0228
Ë = 0203
ë = 0235
Ï = 0207
ï = 0239
Ö = 0214
ö = 0246
Ü = 0220
ü = 0252
Ÿ = 0159
ÿ = 0255

Other useful codes are
Ñ = 0209
ñ = 0241
¡ = 0161
¿ = 0191
© = 0169
® = 0174
Æ = 0198
æ = 0230
Å = 0197
å = 0229

I have also heard Göethe pronounced "Gerta" and "Gerter". Hard to believe that English is a Germanic language, isn't it? I have a sheet with a lot more of this stuff; if you are interested, get me your email and I'll send you the file.

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:31 pm
by giantbrookie
And for you Mac users out there it's option u, followed by hitting a, o, or u for the desired letter mit umlaut. I have to do that quite a bit in my scientific writing (mainly for citations).

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 7:15 pm
by el cuervo
Vielen Danke Herr Große Brookie.

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 7:16 pm
by markskor
A few more useful ones:

Alt (hold) 0162 = ¢... add my 2¢
Alt 0186 = º (degrees)...32º
Alt 0178 = ², (as in our good buddy B²)

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 7:26 pm
by Buck Forester
And hit "alt 02222" for a registered trademark®.

Buck Forester, Inc.®

Re: Alpine Col from Göethe Lake

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:06 pm
by caddis
©addis


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