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Lake Reflection

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 5:37 pm
by obxcola
Is it possible to get past Lake Reflection by the south shore coming from the east over the GW divide or must you cross the outlet and take the northern shore to go west towards Longley Pass?

Thanks!

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 8:26 pm
by Wandering Daisy
I have done the route from Longly Pass to Lake Reflection outlet via the north side. the route finding is very tricky so I am not sure my route was the best. It may have been the worst! I dead-ended quite a bit trying to traverse the slabs above Lake Reflection, but finally found a way. I ended up going quite high (at least 100 feet above the lake). The crossing of the outlet was on a ton of floating logs. I remember lots of steep talus on the south side of the lake. I reacall also a cliff down to the water near the inlet. I certainly was looking for the easiest route around Lake Reflection, and I chose the north side. Although I do not remember exactly the cause, there was a good reason I did not go along the south shore. I traveled in a day from timberline on Cunningham Creek to East Lake. It was at the end of a long trip and I was fully aclimated at was only carrying 2 days of food. On the map it looked like an easy day, but it turned out to be a long hard day. The slabs on the north side have a bit of exposure. I am a rock climber, so would not necessarily recommend the route to just any backpacker.

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 8:50 pm
by Wandering Daisy
Here are a few photos.

Outlet of Lake Reflection showing the log crossing and south shore from the outlet.
Image

South Shore Lake Reflection taken on way down from Longly Pass. I am not 100% positive about the cliff, but I think it was at the inlet just off the photo.
Image

Longly Pass, east side - I got around the cornice on the south (left side of photo) side . The guidebook says to go around it on the north, but it did not look good to me. The trip was in September and I was surprised to see the cornice still there.
Image

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 8:02 am
by oldranger
WD wrote:
Longly Pass, east side - I got around the cornice on the south (left side of photo) side . The guidebook says to go around it on the north, but it did not look good to me. The trip was in September and I was surprised to see the cornice still there.
I think she made an important point. Just because a guidebook describes a route does not make it the best way. 1. Maybe it is simply the route the author or an acquaintance of the author took. 2. Maybe the route described or recommended was appropriate only for the specific conditions/year/time of the year the route was ground checked (if at all).

Just because something is published does not make it authoritative. My recommendation to inexperienced folks is to pay much more attention to people like WD or maverick and several others on this forum when interested in specific routes. They may not claim their route is the best but they will let you know what worked for them in the conditions they confronted.

Mike

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:05 pm
by maverick
You say your coming from the east, I assume from Harrison, why don't you want to
follow the use trail (use term lightly) that ends up south of East Lake, then just
head up to LR, and on to Longley Pass?
I agree with OR that Secor's book should be used as a guide only, and not as something
etched in stone.
There are many passes that have easier routes than the ones described in his book, also
what ones class 3, maybe anothers class 2, it really is arbitrary, and left to each
individuals interpretation, and comfort level.
So many class 2 passes vary from one to another in difficulty that I used his guide only
to pin point the exact location of some passes early on, but never really relied on it
for accurate ratings.

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 7:07 pm
by kpeter
I cannot comment on the main subject here. However, there was an alternative to crossing the outlet on the logs. I camped downstream from the outlet on the West side of East Creek--a little further than the pond that lies downstream from the outlet. A little further yet downstream I found a sandy bottomed part of the creek with thigh-high, slowish water that was relatively easy to ford.

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 7:52 pm
by obxcola
Yes it does appear that WD has the good beta! Thanks Daisy and really nice photos.

So how about Ouzel and Brewer Col as a route to the west side and how about the east arm and through the notch up above the SE Brewer Col instead of the valley and col? I've read where some say that's actually easier or just as easy as going up the valley.

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 8:53 pm
by Wandering Daisy
kpeter- the logs were actually not difficult to cross, but that was in September. May be more difficult and partially submerged in early season.

I have climbed Mt Brewer via the northeast ridge. I think this is the "pass" alternative if the col has a snow cornice. It is pretty straight-forward rock scrambling - except for one little part where you would probably have to take off the pack and lift it up a few steps. I did the climb with just a day pack, so hesitate to say it would be easy with a full pack. It really gets close to Class 3 for short distance near the top. But you do not need to actually go to the top of Brewer to get over the "pass". Depends on if you carry a very light pack or not. I did not go down the other side- but it appeared to just be talus. This pass would put you in a different drainage on the west side. It is still pretty easy to get to South Guard Lake or Big Brewer Lake. I did not go up Ouzel Creek - rather traversed up the next drainage north from the outlet of East Lake. I got on the ridge from the north side, not from Ouzel Creek. Overall, I think it is an easier route, except the one crux mentioned above. Sorry, no photos, as I did not take a camera on this trip. The west side of Longly Pass is very easy sand and grassy slopes, whereas the Brewer route is talus on the west.

By the way, Langly Pass itself is not that difficult (if you can get through the cornice), but getting to it is not easy. With this years high snow, the cornice may be a real problem.

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 2:07 pm
by DoyleWDonehoo
kpeter wrote:...A little further yet downstream I found a sandy bottomed part of the creek with thigh-high, slowish water that was relatively easy to ford.
Yes, I got across the same way, and it was easy.
Now...crossing Bubbs Creek this year, that will be the real trick.

Re: Lake Reflection

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:49 pm
by obxcola
Say Mr. Donehoo,

I followed your link and read about your? visit to the Brewer Basin and trip to the summit. It appears you went up the south side and maybe stayed a little further west than was optimal as you discovered when you made the top and could see the route or faint use trail back down along that SE ridge that leads down towards Brewer Col or pass. Looks like staying east up the south face avoids more of the loose talus as you described here: http://www.doylewdonehoo.com/sphinx/sphinx50.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have I got that right? The east face looks pretty severe in this shot: http://www.doylewdonehoo.com/sphinx/sphinx52.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is the notch from the east ridge above or below what's shown in that photo?

Plus anyone have a description of the transition or the notch leading from the east ridge to the south face?

Thanks!