Ruskie Pass

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paul
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Ruskie Pass

Post by paul »

Going on the assumption that some info is better than none, I am putting up what I know based on only having crossed this pass on a ski trip. I came up from the east, from the unnamed lake that is halfway between Merriam and LaSalle Lakes. Due east of the lake is a fairly obvious ramp heading southwest. Follow that up and it leads to a gully that bears westwards directly to the pass. All pretty moderate until just the last bit to the pass, which is fairly steep; I was on snow all the way so cannot say anything about details, but the steep bit is short, something on the order of 50 feet. The west side is easy slopes all the way down to Seven Gables Lakes if you head slightly north as you leave the pass. I did not cross this pass in the other direction as I did a loop, but I will say that coming up from Seven Gables lakes you would want to keep in mind that Ruskie Pass is NOT the obvious notch that is straight ahead and much steeper; it would be off to your left some, and the approach would be to head left soon after passing the last lake, up an easy ramp, then switch back after a while and reach the pass via a long climbing traverse heading slightly southeast.
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: Ruskie Pass

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I did Ruskie pass in 2001. From the lake at 11190, above Merriam, the ramp is very obvious and easy travel at first. I do not recall much in the way of talus. Unfortunately Google Earth photo shows snow on the route so I cannot verify this. I recall there was a little cliff at the top and we had to climb up a small portion on rock (cl3). I remember seeing the little tarn, below the top) on the way up, so I think we veered left accidently and had to traverse back to the main gully. We traversed on the flat on the top (on the Seven Gables side) and then cut back into the main descent gully. I think we did this to avoid talus. I do not have photos of the route.
Ska-T
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Re: Ruskie Pass (east side)

Post by Ska-T »

I agree with everything Paul and Wandering Daisy said. My contribution is some photos taken during my recent crossing from east to west on 23 June 2020, a low snowfall year. Comments appear above the photo.

I turned 70 yrs old a couple of days before the trip and was traveling solo, so I was pretty slow and cautious. Technically I consider this pass a fairly typical class 2 (perhaps low class 2) with no technical difficulties. The talus on the east side was mostly covered with snow so I can't speak to it, but on the west side it was pretty stable. Of course you will always find some boulders that move.

Link to Ruskie Pass on the HST Map.

My route in red is a rough sketch from memory. These are not GPS tracks. The elevation gain from the lake is about 883 ft. Elevations are taken from CalTopo and may be a few feet off.
RP01.jpg
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From the northeast shore of lake ~11194' there is a ramp leading off to the left (southwest).
RP02.JPG
RP03.JPG
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150 ft or so above the lake.
RP05.JPG
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Very roughly half way up.
RP06.JPG
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Looking back down to the northeast.
RP07.JPG
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The upper third or so of the east side.
RP08.JPG
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The last 50 ft or so. The snow was steep at the top and the transition to rock looked difficult from below. So I detoured around to the right on rock slightly above the pass (off picture, class 2+) and walked down to the pass proper.
RP09.JPG
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From the top of the pass looking down the way I came up.
RP10.JPG
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Continued ...
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Ska-T
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Re: Ruskie Pass (west side)

Post by Ska-T »

Ruskie Pass continued on the west side ...

View from the top of the pass to the northwest. Seven Gables on the left.
RP11.JPG
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Part way down. Lots more to go. What I think is Stough Pass is above my pack. I could be wrong.
RP12.JPG
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Seven Gables and Seven Gables Pass to the northwest.
RP13.JPG
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I must apologize. I didn't think ahead of time to document my way down the west side. Even before this photo was taken I had lost sight of Ruskie Pass. The top of the red line is a guess.
RP14.JPG
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View from below the pass but still above the southern most of the Seven Gables Lakes.
RP15.JPG
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View from the largest of the Seven Gables Lakes.
RP16.JPG
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Overall I really enjoyed this pass. It is a great way to get into the Seven Gables basin!
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