Valor Pass
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 12:46 pm
GENERAL OVERVIEW: From Blackcap Basin head towards to Ambition Lake and climb steep slabs to reach hold Valor Lake. Steep talus leads to a broad flat saddle. Descend by first going east and then north towards Martha Lake.
CLASS/DIFFICULTY: Class 2/3
LOCATION: Straddling the LeConte Divide on the border between Sierra National Forest and Kings Canyon National Park HST Map
ELEVATION: 11,600
USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt. Goddard
ROUTE DESCRIPTION: This description is written heading East to West:
From Martha Lake, head upwards towards the far-right flanks of Mt. Reinstein, and then slowly turn right/north, staying towards center of the low basin draining from the pass. The pass has no obvious low point from below. A member of our party went too far right and ended up unnecessarily on Class 3 terrain. The rock here is broken up, though not terribly talus-y, and is quite solid.
The descent into Blackcap Basin was great fun. We stuck to the north/right side of the creek that feeds Valor Lake. Circling Valor Lake on the north, we kept north of the outlet creek and followed a long series of nearly unbroken steep slabs/dikes to rapidly reach the inlet of Ambition Lake. If it was wet, this slab descent would be considerably less pleasant. A more circuitous or difficult route would be a better bet.
We encountered almost no talus on the west side of the pass, despite Secor's mentioning it. I'm not sure how easy the slab line would be to find from below, but my pictures attempt to point it out.
PHOTOS: Apologies for the poor photos. Light was bad due to monsoonal thunderstorms, so we were not in a photo-taking mood when going over the pass.
CLASS/DIFFICULTY: Class 2/3
LOCATION: Straddling the LeConte Divide on the border between Sierra National Forest and Kings Canyon National Park HST Map
ELEVATION: 11,600
USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt. Goddard
ROUTE DESCRIPTION: This description is written heading East to West:
From Martha Lake, head upwards towards the far-right flanks of Mt. Reinstein, and then slowly turn right/north, staying towards center of the low basin draining from the pass. The pass has no obvious low point from below. A member of our party went too far right and ended up unnecessarily on Class 3 terrain. The rock here is broken up, though not terribly talus-y, and is quite solid.
The descent into Blackcap Basin was great fun. We stuck to the north/right side of the creek that feeds Valor Lake. Circling Valor Lake on the north, we kept north of the outlet creek and followed a long series of nearly unbroken steep slabs/dikes to rapidly reach the inlet of Ambition Lake. If it was wet, this slab descent would be considerably less pleasant. A more circuitous or difficult route would be a better bet.
We encountered almost no talus on the west side of the pass, despite Secor's mentioning it. I'm not sure how easy the slab line would be to find from below, but my pictures attempt to point it out.
PHOTOS: Apologies for the poor photos. Light was bad due to monsoonal thunderstorms, so we were not in a photo-taking mood when going over the pass.