High Sierra Topix

A few years ago someone asked if there's a Class 2 route from Silliman Lake over toward Crescent Lake, and he didn't really get a direct response. Does anybody have any advice on this?

I ask because I'm doing a loop in the area involving either Little Lakes or Silliman Lake, Crescent Lake, Box Canyon, and Tablelands. It looks like a sure thing getting over the crest from Little Lakes, but Silliman I'm unsure about; but Silliman Lake would be preferable as an approach to Mt. Silliman, and (I'm told) is a prettier lake. Any thoughts on this are appreciated.

I might have some photos of the area that would interest you, PM me where you are looking and I will see what I have

google earth has an extremely high resolution image of this area for your survey.
direct route looks tough- even on topo
from crescent lk., going south looks like an easy pass (and route back down to trail) but you will have to find a way to bend around back west to reach sillman.

It looks to me that if one was at Silliman Lake, the best way to get over to Crescent Lake would be to take the pack right to the top of Mt Silliman. The reason is that the cirque walls above the lake appear pretty steep except for the south slope of Mt Silliman, which looks low angle on the topo and is rated class 2 in Secor. Once on the top of Silliman, it looks to me that there are two options: 1 descend the E ridge of Silliman (rated class 2 in Secor) then head to the ridge that descends northeastward above the W side of Crescent L, descend the ridge until clear of the cliffs above Crescent L. then traverse over to the lake. 2. Descend the SE ridge of Silliman. This looks OK on the topo. At the saddle SSE of Crescent head north descending to the lake.

From Crescent L. it is pretty easy to get up onto the Tableland.

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like nobody has firsthand knowledge of this....so it remains a crapshoot.

sparky: PM sent. Thanks!

lostcoyote: I looked at Google Earth, and there's one notch (the first one SE of the Silliman summit mass) that looks like it might go.

giantbrookie: Assuming I can get over the crest, I was thinking of descending the western gully (the one that cuts through the "C" in "Crescent") to Crescent Lake; on Google Earth, it looks like it would go. But if you've been to Crescent Lake and know otherwise, I'll ditch that plan--firsthand knowledge of the facts on the ground is always superior to map planning.

Hi Tom,

Have climb Silliman via Silliman Lake route, it is a class 2 route, and quite pretty.
Here are some photos on flickr of the area: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miguelviei ... 734996975/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Did not continue down to Crescent Lake because I was short on time. Sierra Club had a
trip going there a while back using the Silliman Lake route, though they do not give much
detailed of the route they did rated the trip a Level 3 out of 5: http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/natio ... 2132a.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We met that Sierra Club group at the small lake above Big Bird Lake at the edge of the tablelands. I'm a former national Sierra Club outings leader and the assistant leader and I realized we knew one another after seeing the group reach a gap just below the small lake at the same time that we did and a few minutes later shouting greetings across the small lake. They had come up a different way from Big Bird. We didn't talk much about their route, other than it was adventurous and seemingly enjoyable. They then took off for a lake in the tablelands while we headed for Moose Lake. A fun chance meeting.

TehipiteTom wrote:giantbrookie: Assuming I can get over the crest, I was thinking of descending the western gully (the one that cuts through the "C" in "Crescent") to Crescent Lake; on Google Earth, it looks like it would go. But if you've been to Crescent Lake and know otherwise, I'll ditch that plan--firsthand knowledge of the facts on the ground is always superior to map planning.

I probably have a different topo copy than the one you're looking at, so the lettering is in a different place. I'm looking at my old school Triple Divide Pk 15' (Wilderness Press waterproof version). If by "western gully" you mean the one that drains ENE to the west side of Crescent L, the upper part of that gully especially between 10000 and 10400 looks a bit steep on the topo which is why I recommended (for the western of the two options I mentioned) staying on the western bounding ridge above this gully (and W of the lake) until fairly low (say about 10000') and then cutting across low-angle slopes to the lake.

Not exactly from the pass to Crescent, but this old TR by Charles Hayden may provide some insight.

Scroll down to the "July 29 - Lake 10410 to Silliman Lake"

http://www.chayden.net/Sierra02/Sierra02.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SweetSierra wrote:I'm a former national Sierra Club outings leader and the assistant leader and I realized we knew one another....

As am I, and I know him too--he's probably my best source for specific info. Thanks to you and maverick for reminding me of this.

If by "western gully" you mean the one that drains ENE to the west side of Crescent L, the upper part of that gully especially between 10000 and 10400 looks a bit steep on the topo which is why I recommended (for the western of the two options I mentioned) staying on the western bounding ridge above this gully (and W of the lake) until fairly low (say about 10000') and then cutting across low-angle slopes to the lake.

That's the route I worked out based on the topo map (7.5), but in Google Earth the gully looks quite promising--might be brushy, but otherwise it doesn't look like a problem.