McGee to Lake Dorothy?

[krudler]

How hard would it be to get from McGee Pass to Lake Dorothy via an XC route? Is this crazy (ie, more than Class 2-3)?

[giantbrookie]

Looking at the topo, I'd say there are multiple class 2 routes. The most direct is to hit the gap about 0.9 mi E of Red Slate Mtn at 11760+' this will lead you directly to Constance L. I checked in Secor and noticed that this is called "Corridor Pass" and listed as class 2 without any additional details. The route looks pretty obvious on the topo. If I were doing it, I'd go cross country from the trail between the two McGee Lakes, head northward through a minor secondary gap at 11200+ and into the northwest-ascending drainage that leads to the main pass. Once through the pass, it appears there may be a steep step or two, as well as some steep terrain around Constance Lake, but there is plenty of gentle topo that allows avoidance of small cliffs and the like.

An alternative, higher calorie burn (but pick up an big SPS summit) route guaranteed to be no worse than class 2 is to go right over the top of Red Slate Mtn. from McGee Pass. Obviously this is a lot more elevation gain (I've actually done an off trail backpacking route that surmounted a divide via a peak instead of a pass before and it can be fun). It looks to me (it's been awhile since I've done this peak) that you'd finish the peak via the south or east ridge, then descend via the west ridge then follow a north-descending drainage straight to Lake Wit-so-nap-pah.

You can also do the extended trip and drop all the way over then head up the JMT go to Virginia or Purple, then into the Ram Lakes/Franklin Lakes basin, then clear the crest via the breathtaking col (not listed in Secor) that provides the direct route between Ram Lake and Cloverleaf Lake. This is class 2 also (although rather steep on the east side--it's a bit trickier to find the right notch going W to E vs the other way around, too). Such an option would accommodate a longer trip and more fishing options, of course, given that the Mc Gee drainage is fairly limited (and the Convict Creek drainage tends to have rather small fish).

[krudler]

Thanks gb, thats about what I was looking for. My big Silver Divide trip starts next Sat 8/26 and due to scheduling issues with party members it's been chopped down to 9 days (oh, the horror! ), so we'll be going out over McGee (starting at Reds Meadow). I was thinking it might be a shorter walk to cut over to Convict Canyon and go down that way rather than go down McGee, and get some XC action in to boot, but I guess in the end it won't make too much of a difference....
Decisions, decisions!