Black Giant Pass

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ManOfTooManySports
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Black Giant Pass

Post by ManOfTooManySports »

GENERAL OVERVIEW: This pass leads from the Helen Lake basin east of Muir Pass to Lake 11,828 at the far eastern end of the Ionian Basin.

CLASS/DIFFICULTY: Class 2, but with significant boulder-hopping, loose rock, and route-finding challenges on the south side of the pass.

LOCATION: Kings Canyon National Park.
HST Map

ELEVATION: 12,200+

USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt. Goddard

ROUTE DESCRIPTION: The north side of the pass is the easier side. Head south from Helen Lake or Muir Pass to Lake 11,939. It appears that the specific route doesn’t matter, just picks what works. There is a hill near the north side of Lake 11,939, but it flattens before the shore and doesn’t come into play. The pass is the obvious saddle on the south side of the lake. Walk around the east side of the lake toward the saddle.
HST BGP 001.JPG
There is a meadow on the lake at the eastern (left) end of the saddle. This is your mark to go up. Right above the meadow are a couple of rocky ridges. Walk between and on the ridges to avoid the talus to the sides. When you get near the top of the ridges, start traversing to the right (west) to get to the low point of the saddle.

Going straight up the middle of the saddle may work, but it’s lots of talus. There may be a band of snow below the top of the pass, but it appeared that was a detriment rather than a help.

In early season or a heavy snow year, climbing up snow, especially on and between the ridges, is likely the way to go.

Going north from the pass, head right into the ridges. Don’t go to the right of the ridges, however. There should be visible use trails.

The south side of the pass is a challenge. The rock is varied. The granite is fine, the black shale can be loose, but the orange rock is loose, uneven, and maybe even dangerous. Unfortunately, the use trail goes through the orange rock by necessity. The good news is that there is a use trail that is not too hard to pick out. Just take your time.

Coming north up this side of the pass, target the orange rock to the right to find the use trail.
HST BGP 002.JPG
HST BGP 003.JPG
Once down the main portion of the pass, you have to cross a low ridge of big blocks to get to Lake 11,828. There was no obvious route through there. Around the lake, stick close to shore.
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Last edited by ERIC on Mon Aug 06, 2012 7:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: minor formatting edits
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RoguePhotonic
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Re: Black Giant Pass

Post by RoguePhotonic »

Northern side with snow:

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erutan
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Re: Black Giant Pass

Post by erutan »

Coming up out from 11828 we traversed the shore as described, but saw a black fin that was fairly slabby just before (East / climbers left) of the loose orange rock chute. We decided to ascend this to be more on stable terrain then drop into the orange chute when necessary. It was never necessary and it was a surprisingly pleasant ascent, certainly nicer than the loose sloggy push up to the lake from the basin ~11500 west of it.

Coming down the JMT side was trivial. We found the ridges described sticking a little west and they were fun steep slab walks down. I was joking we should rename it vibram pass, because it's a very "do you trust your boots" choice to make. :)

IMG_5564.jpg
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