High Sierra Topix

CG:

It sounds like you and your wife went up and down what Secor calls "Piss In Your Pants Pass" -- see page 110 - 111 of the newest edition of his book, which has two photos of the area. He says there is a "vertical cliff" on the Kaweah Basin side of Piss In Your Pants Pass, which makes me think you and your wife are studs indeed for doing the pass given the conditions you found!

The route the arrow points to actually provides an easy decent into Nine Lakes Basin. Getting up from the Kaweah Basin side is harder, but there is no vertical cliff.

Mike

Great photos and report, enjoying it all. Thank you.

Mike,
Hmmm; I'll obviously have to look into this Pants business a little more. Must say though, from the 9 lake basin side, the way you went looks worse. Must be one of those where the closer you get, the better it looks. Still, regardless of the answer, my wife has no interest in re-visiting Pants or its close cousins. She wants to give Pyraqueen a whirl, and from all reports that's the way to go.
CG

Mike,

What is Milestone Pass like? I just have the Tom Harrison map, so there's not much detail, but it looks like you'd be crossing a glacier on the East side.

Milestone Pass is easy from the east side. The pass is actually a ridge crossing. There is a lot of talus on the west side. It is one of my favorite cross country passes -- I've been over it at least 10 times. There are great views of the Whitney range from the east side of the pass. Terrific campsites can be found high up in the drainage between Milestone and Midway.

Mike

To add to what Mike said, Milestone Bowl itself is a pretty neat place too, and there is
no glacier crossing involved.

Thanks guys. I love the basin west of Lake S. America and have always wanted to explore the Great Western Divide area more.