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Bear Lakes Passes

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 9:15 am
by BaqPaqr56
Has anyone ever been over the saddle between the upper most Royce Lake and Bearpaw Lake? I may be going over it this year from east to west. Thanks!

Re: Bear Lakes Passes

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 12:31 pm
by maverick
Hi BaqPaqr56,

Welcome to HST! Have done the other three named passes in the vicinity but not this
unnamed one. From the east it looks doable but the western side looks loose and
quite steep on Earth Google. Found this shot from Bear Paw Lake looking up towards
that ridge which confirms its steepness:
https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+ ... B640%3B480" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Bear Lakes Passes

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 3:36 pm
by BaqPaqr56
Thanks! From that angle it does look rather gnarly. I have done some more research and found a number of people have gone over Granite Bear Pass just to the North. I assume that is one of the three you are referring to. I am only looking into this as an option to my current plan of coming in from the west up Bear Cr and over White Bear Pass. HST has a wealth of info from it's members that helps not only with reports but with the pics.

Thanks again!

Re: Bear Lakes Passes

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 3:53 pm
by maverick
There are three passes that one can take eastward from that region, Granite Bear
Pass at the northern part, Feather Pass in the central, and Lasalle Col situated at
the most southern end, but the latter two takes you into the Merriam Creek drainage
not to the Royce Lakes area.

Re: Bear Lakes Passes

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:03 am
by seejay317
So did you try it last year? I've been thinking about trying this from the west side this year, looking for a more scrambly, less snowy alternative to Royce-Merriam saddle. It would enable some really nice day loops from the Granite Park area if this were passable. I passed by here (on the W side) and the pics show a two couloirs that look like they might be class 3, but I'd love to find someone who's tried it. The E side looks Class 2.

At the extreme left of this pic you can see one steep sandy pass that looks possible: http://photos.calipidder.com/SierraAdve ... -QfPTkkR/A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The pics below go down the valley from Feather Pass toward Bear Paw Lake and show the crest between Bear Paw Lake and westernmost Royce Lake and provide views into the two couloirs mentioned above.

Image
Image
Image

Re: Bear Lakes Passes

Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:48 pm
by SSSdave
Buck Forester a regular poster here, few years ago, went over that saddle with his two pups a couple times. Said something about it being steep and loose. Obviously just looking at the vertical topo lines, taking the col (Granite Bear Pass?) south of what I call The Tower above The Baseball Field to Black Bear Lake is a more reasonable idea especially since the snow this year is likely to have shrunk way back from the enclosing rock walls. Thinking about that, have never seen a single granite bear in all my years in the Sierra.

Re: Bear Lakes Passes

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 11:51 am
by seejay317
Well, we were within sight of this pass from the W side. Looks sandy and steep, but totally doable from that side, but it's the other side that counts. It was our first day up there and still suffering a bit from altitude, so we didn't try it. Maybe next time . . .