There are a number of places you can reach quite quickly from Taboose Pass. Cardinal Mountain is one place a peak bagger may consider right off the pass to the north. Travel in Upper Basin is fast, and he could be anywhere up there or beyond - the lake below Split Mountain is a place I'd consider as base camp for a summit push the next day.quentinc wrote:My name is Claus. I am a friend of Larry's and using his computer to post this message. Larry left on a backpack last Friday, the 19th. He was due back Monday but has not returned. He went in on the Taboose Pass trail. His tentative itinerary was to head up, generally, along the Muir trail toward Mather Pass and possibly climb Split Mt. Then he planned to head back toward Pinchot Pass and explore some of the creeks in that area. I have backpacked with Larry before but it was many years ago and never in this area. I have been trying to help the NPS and Inyo County Sheriff's department. Does anyone here have any suggestions as to areas in this vicinity that might appeal to Larry. I know he often strays from his itinerary and likes to explore new areas. Any help would much appreciated. Thanks.
In the other direction is Bench Lake, always popular, with maybe a summit attempt on Arrow Peak, or the JMT across Pinchot Pass, where the choice to return to Taboose or to head down to 10,000 feet to the Sawmill Pass junction to then exit over Sawmill may have lead him to Sawmill as the possibly faster exit. Sawmill Pass trail is not as easy to follow, but even if you lose it, the general direction is pretty obvious for the most part. Once you get across, it is much longer than Taboose to get down to the desert, but it shouldn't take more than a few extra hours, not days.
In two days you can cover quite some distance up there once you get on the JMT, even considering that you need to return hike within your set time frame. He could be anywhere between Palisade Lakes (considering he would have to return to the car) and Sawmill Pass.
In a hunker-down scenario, if I were to hike up to climb Split Mountain and then foul weather arrived, I probably would abort whatever I was doing and try to get as low as possible using the Muir Trail to reach the south end of Upper Basin where some trees will offer protection and the temps will be warmer. Given enough food, I would then wait as long as possible for the snow to either melt or solidify before heading over Taboose to get back out. Now it is Thursday, though - the weather has cleared, so I'd expect he'd be heading back out. If he doesn't show up today at the trailhead, I'd say this is not what happened.
If injury is responsible for him being overdue, it is much more difficult to assume where he is and he'll be very difficult to find without Spot or other aid pointing at his location. I'd guess the first place to look would be around Split Mountain.
