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Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:06 am
by overheadx2
My brother wants to do the Rae lakes loop next year. I was looking at the map. and it looks like a nice alternate would be to do a little xc from Gardiner lakes to the 60 lake basin. I'm thinking it might be a little nicer and less crowded. The pass looks easy enough. Is there any problems with that pass that I'm not seeing? Are there any good fishing lakes on that loop that I should do a side trip to?

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 12:03 pm
by RoguePhotonic
Sixty Lakes Col is the name of the pass you want but I have not crossed it myself. Knowing the name can help your research though.

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 2:34 pm
by copeg
If my memory serves me correctly, 60 lakes col is a fairly straightforward pass (class 2). East side is a bunch of granite shelves, west side a lot of boulder hopping. I am unclear about the full route you describe - are you wishing to pass over 60 lakes col then over Gardiner Pass?

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 2:49 pm
by Wandering Daisy
Here is a photo of the boulders on the west side. Count on a couple of hours of rock hopping.

Image

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm
by quentinc
Wandering Daisy wrote:Count on a couple of hours of rock hopping.
At least -- the rocks have always discouraged me from going any further than the beginning of the first lake. Gardiner Pass is above the eastern (south-eastern) most lake in 60 Lakes Basin. It's Class 2, although it's a bit trickier than the col into 60 Lakes Basin.

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:17 pm
by overheadx2
Thanks for the input. looks doable, but plan on some travel time.

Yes, I was thinking of going over Gardiner pass and then come back over the 60 lakes column to 60 Lake Basin and then on to Rae lakes and Baxter lake to make the Rae lakes loop a little different, to see some less crowded areas and hopefully catch some bigger fish.

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:05 pm
by cgundersen
overheadx2,
The photo from wanderingdaisy is very helpful, but I'll addanother 2 cents. First, the lake immediately below 60 lakes col (on the eastern side) is a bit of a schlep to get around and takes more time than you'd normally expect. Also, avoid the southeastern shore of this lake, as I recall there being some nearly vertical granite walls that present serious obstacles. Second, even though the eastern side of 60 lakes col looks fairly easy on the map, one can wind up on ledges that require class 3 or worse, and one can spend time lots of time facing dead ends and backtracking. In spite of this, on my last visit to this area, we did get from the far shore of the most distant lake in daisy's photo to Baxter Lake in time for a relaxed evening. If you're thinking about using Baxter Pass, it's a good schlep.
Good luck!
cg

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:26 pm
by sekihiker
The only problem I had with Sixty Lakes Col was the time it took to knock down dozens of superfluous ducks on its east side. Finally, I gave up in defeat. There were too many.

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:07 pm
by John Dittli
I'm on the road and don't have access to my maps or photos, but I have done that loop. There is an old trail alignment that can be followed intermittently from Gardner Pass down stream and then back up the north? fork into Gardner Basin.

The trail disappears in the Basin, but if you are lucky you'll pick up a segment in the talus above the upper lake. Either way you will be doing some talus bounding up toward Sixty Lakes col.

John

Re: Gardiner lakes to 60 lake basin

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:13 am
by hikerdmb
I was in Sixty Lake Basin last summer and I wouldn't count on catching too many fish up there. The NPS was pulling up and resetting gill nets to take out the fish in those lakes in order to try to save the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog. They were working in the lakes below "Four Island Lake" when I was there in late June. Not sure if they got to all the lakes but there were working hard in all the lakes in the middle of the basin. Have a great trip through there. It is a beautiful and amazing area.