TR : There & Back Again…Lake Reflection, Center Basin, Forester Pass, Milestone Basin – July 26th to Aug. 3rd.

[michaelzim]

@erutan Thanks much for the add-ons to the Little Joe's Pass thing. Very detailed way notes and hopefully you will put all that into the passes section too.
Apologies, but looking at the waypoints and satellite imagery kind of spins my head and even after being there I can't quite see where is what, or what is where. I do not have any electronics when backpacking so would be unable to lock in to any longitude/latitude fixes either if had them.
Thus, plain old photographs are the 'best' for me and I kind of recognize some of the features that you took pics of there, though maybe only because I know where to look now. Chute 7.
As usual too, when closer up or actually on the slope it does not look as steep as the longer views from afar (or telephoto lens), so good to see your photos. However, it still looks to me like it is pushing the current Class 2 rating and your 2.5 is more accurate with maybe some 3 if you get off track a bit.

Oh, I did not make it clear but I went up Chute 4, not 7 then a left at Chute 6. Reason being that 4 looked the closest to the 'map' I had printed out with a dotted route line on it. Also, after much consultation and discussion with those two climbers I met at Reflection we considered 4 to be the correct one. I don't recall us ever thinking that the proper chute would be that far to the right/south!...Oh well.

Thanks @wsp_scott

Best ~ Michaelzim

[erutan]

There’s definitely mantles semi-regularly, but nothing more than a move or two unless you seek it out. I’d put it at 2.5 in my proposed system for sure.

How was going down vs up?

[michaelzim]

Erutan...

How was going down vs up?

Well, seeing as I was in Chute 4 going up and down I can't speak for what the 'proper' chute = Chute 7 is like. Going up was not bad, with some scrambles here and there until got to the more clamber-climb stuff at the top. Going down 4 was fine. Some scree skiing in places as I kept more to the middle of it than the rocks at sides [Ref. that saying: "Rocks up / Sand down"].
With the closer up photos you took of the actual pass v. the typically 'steeper long distance views' of my photos I suspect Chute 7 would be similar. The tops of all of the chutes look like the more demanding places. And I agree that an overall 2.5 designation looks accurate, though definitely Class 3 stuff in the top tangle further to the left/north with that cliff drop-off to add zest.

Hopefully someone will be inspired to do Little Joe's again soon and give us all a re-fresher update, as it is (or could be) a decent short-cut over the Kings-Kern Divide for the mostly Class 2 aficionados like me.

Conclusion to another subject...Putting non-slip sticky stuff on the bottom of Uberlite sleeping pads and if that would void the Thermarest lifetime warranty. Here's what Thermarest said in an email, so I have it in print!:

"I checked in with my team about a non-skid product that might work for your UberLite. Thin strips silicone adhesive may be able to help with your pad from slipping, and a silicone adhesive would not void the warranty."

Silicone adhesive I believe dries hard enough (like seam sealer) to not re-stick to the pad each time you roll it up, but I intend to do a test on similar material first before committing to this method.

Best ~ Michaelzim

[erutan]

7 is straightforward up, a mix of sand but mostly ledges. if you miss the first split to the right you get into some class 3, but can find a 2 - 2.5 crossover easily enough. The top 300 feet get sloggier and you have to routefind a bit - I actually found the last 50 feet or so when it gets more stable a lot simpler than the stretch below it (going up at least). Given you ended up on the descending ridge vs the plateau itself I'd imagine you'd have some exposed class 3/4 to make it over which sounds like an unnecessary life choice you wisely avoided.

I have a pic or two of the bottom of 7, but looking at the satellite imagery would be a good way to provide a more narrative direction for it (past x talus field, before the next one) etc.

I imagine they're all relatively similar, but there's not a ton of boot ski options in 7... I'd always viewed it as being somewhat obnoxious going down vs a hard but safe vert up. Not sure I'll test that some day, I'm more likely to try ascending Millie as the 3 doesn't look as bad as it does from a distance (I just saw the cliff wall from reflection, not the chute running through it).