cross country routes near goddard

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Sierra_Summits
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cross country routes near goddard

Post by Sierra_Summits »

hey there this is my first post and i am lovin all the info on here. i am about to take off in a week and head out to martha lake. leaving from muir trail ranch. i am wondering about some of the cross country routes up near there. i have done cross country before ( north glacier pass, feather pass, lamark col, blue lake pass,ruskie pass, ) and i am curious how reinstien, confusion, gunsight, hell for sure and finger peak col stack up to these? i know this is a subjective question, but i guess i dont want to attempt any dangerous passes. do any of these have any cornices on top that would make it hard to get over? thanks for any help! i look forward to sharing some of my experiences as well.

drew
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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by cgundersen »

Drew,
I'll leave it to one of the moderators to offer a formal welcome; but, welcome anyway. It sounds like you have a choice chunk of country in your sights. Relative to the other class 2 passes you've done, you'll have no problems with cross country passes in that area. Even in this high snow year, by now things should be through enough melt cycles to have deep snow cups that provide plenty of footing as long as you wait for things to warm up in the morning. BTW, the Sierra photothon (in Photography) has some nice shots of terrain in that area, including the very unusual patch of pink granite.
cg
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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by pez_leon »

I went through this country in 2010 well after melt-out - see here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5454" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Please disregard what that report says about Blue Canyon Pass. Since I writing it, I realized that we didn't actually cross Blue Canyon pass at all- we were one saddle to the east!
I'll second that these are mostly straightforward passes, but do note that the east side of Valor Pass gets a bit exposed near the very top; I think it earns its reputation as class 2-3. It's quite a bit steeper than I remember either side of Lamarck col being. Reinstein is great- all nice solid low-angle slabs.
Have fun out there!

James
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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by fourputt »

All the passes except Hell 4 Sure are solid class 3's with the usual suspects: talus, ramps, route-finding challenges, etc. They should be mostly open by now but expect some long stretches of snow. I haven't done Valor or Confusion; probably even more talus than the others.

I did Hell 4 Sure Creek, er Pass, a little over a week ago in the other direction. Nothing technical, but major watery slog, especial if coming up Goddard Canyon.

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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I did Confusion and just found my own route, basically ignoring the description in Secor's guide. On the Martha Lake side, you can avoid all the steep talus if you gradually traverse up to it from the north. Start about where the "T" is on the 7.5 minute map in the word "national". You eventually get on this great bench with grass, meltwater creeks, even some good camping. If you find the route, it is barely Class 2. I traversed Confusion Lake high on the east. Although the guide says to stay in the slot, it is easier to stay well east of the outlet creek, high above the slot and walk on nice slabs.

Reinstein is easy. I went around Martha Lake on the north to avoid steep snow on the south- it is longer but safer. Again, with good route finding it is low Class 2. I only had trekking poles so had to divert around several snow fields. This year I suspect it could be solid snow.

If you want to go into Ionian Basin, the unnamed pass directly east of Martha Lake is a much faster way to get there. IF you want to go down to Goddard Creek, then use Reinstein.
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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by Sierra_Summits »

thanks to all who have commented. that definitely helps me!

anyone with experience on gunsight pass? approach/descent tips?
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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by paul »

This might be another useful tidbit - there's a saddle just south of Hell for Sure, above Arctic Lake, that takes you over the LeConte Divide and down into a nice little valley branching off from Goddard Canyon. I've only been over it on skis, but I saw a report from someone else who had been over it in the summer - http://users.humboldt.edu/wsfraser/LeCo ... ipRpt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - and it sounds pretty easy. This site has a number of photos of the area and some of the passes, and descriptions of some as well:
http://sierrahiker.home.comcast.net/~sierrahiker/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are going out that way I might suggest a loop sort of route. If you are starting from Florence Lake, you can go right up from the dam to Dutch Lake, Dutch oven Meadow, Summit Lake, to Thompson Pass ( or from the far end of FLorence you can go straight up to Thompson Lake/Thompson Pass), over into Red Rock Basin, Reddy's hole, Red mountain basin and on from there, and come back by going down Goddard canyon. Or of course you can do the loop in the other direction, or many variations along the way. Basically, there's so much nice country there that it would be a shame to retrace your steps anywhere.
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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by lostcoyote »

hi,
i have wandered around ionian basin many times.
lots of comments on the passes which cross the leconte divide so i won't add any more comments there.
a few passes on the north side of ionian... both wanda pass and solomons pass are class 2. i have done solomons many times. the north side would definately have lots of snow but as long as it softens up, it provides good footing at perhaps a 35 degree angle. early in the morning, an oce axe would be needed. stay off the moraine, as the rocks on it are lose. the south side of these passes are easy.
another pass to consider is black giant pass which starts out heading south at helen lake. it's anotrher class 2 pass which i have not done... but there doesn't seem to be any problems with it according to reports i have read.
i have also headed north from goddard creek to get into southern ionian (where the pink rock is located) and it's easy. you can get into this lovely area by heading south from martha lake, over the saddle, and down to lake 10,220 which is a beautiful area. then simply head back north to northeast into the southern chain of lakes of what i call western ionian basin. ionian basin proper on the map encloses chasm lake and the lakes north and eastward of chasm.
i've never been down enchanted gorge but the view into it from chasm is neat.
scylla has a great view from the top and of course, mt goddard.
have a great time & i hope you find solitude.
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Re: cross country routes near goddard

Post by giantbrookie »

My impressions of the passes echo those of Wandering Daisy. These are not difficult as cross country passes go if the best routes are taken--certainly class 2. Given your (Sierra Summits) prior experience with cross country passes you should not have a problem with these passes. One thing that should be mentioned, because it tends to be overlooked, concerns navigating through Ionian Basin. There are lots of cliffs that are too small to really show themselves on the topo. This tends to lead to a bit of improvisation when passing through given that what appears on the topo to be a most efficient route can be blocked by a strategically placed small cliff or steep snowbank. On the other hand, it is this sort of improvisation that makes off trail travel more interesting and fun than being trailbound. With care one can get through Ionian Basin and avoid anything of class 3 or higher degree of difficulty (ie keep all travel to class 1-2).
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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