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Carol Col/Puppet Pass vs Steelhead Pass
Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:37 pm
by hawkfeather
I just registered and have a question already. Does anyone here have an opinion on the routes over Carol Col aka Puppet Pass vs Steelhead Pass? My husband and I are planning an itinerary for August. I did CC/PP 10+ years ago; it was my first real knapsack pass and at the time I thought it was pretty wild. Although I/we have done a bunch more since then, we aren't getting any younger! (Last summer we did Crabtree with *really* full packs and found it long and tough. I definitely creaked the day after.) Anyway, I would appreciate any thoughts that you might have.
Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:24 pm
by quentinc
I've never done Steelhead Pass. But Carol/Puppet Pass only looks tough. The first time I did it I thought it was tricky too, because I started
out too far south, and there were actually some Class 3 moves needed to traverse. If you look closely, there's a pretty easy route down, starting closer to the round hill that rises up to the north.
Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:42 pm
by Snow Nymph
Both were tough with full packs and lots of snow. Last year we lost so much time on water crossings and deep snow we bailed.
Puppet Pass 2005:
At the top of the ridge from Mesa Lake . . . Blue is where we planned to go (Sierra High Route) and Red is where we ended up going (snow was too soft & deep)
http://community.webshots.com/photo/394 ... 7782ATkuzF
Where we dropped in
http://community.webshots.com/photo/394 ... 7782zFlLTc
Starting down
http://community.webshots.com/photo/394 ... 7782ImFbJk
Steelhead Pass 2002:
Close to the top
http://community.webshots.com/photo/429 ... 6011FVYvXt
This is what it looked like going down
http://community.webshots.com/photo/429 ... 6011ebwKJb
Looking back at what we came down
http://community.webshots.com/photo/429 ... 6011iafZtl
Not fun:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/394 ... 7782dmrlEY
Carol Col/Puppet Pass vs Steelhead Pass--thanks!
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:21 pm
by hawkfeather
Thank you both for your input. Great photos, Snow Nymph! I hope (and expect) that if we end up doing one or the other, there'll be a whole lot less snow. I can't recallthe exact point we started from when I did CC/PP, but I do remember some huge talus blocks near the top and having to lower packs down in one place and then rejoin them..