A little Ediza advice

If you've been searching for the best source of information and stimulating discussion related to Spring/Summer/Fall backpacking, hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada...look no further!
User avatar
kpeter
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1449
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:11 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker

A little Ediza advice

Post by kpeter »

On July 21 I am taking a first time backpacker in to the Ediza area. He is very fit and considerably younger than me, and so I think there should be no problems getting there from Agnew on the first day. We plan to set up a basecamp in the Ediza area and then spend day 2 dayhiking up to Iceberg/Cecile.

Ideally, I would like to dayhike on day 3 up to Nydiver, over to the west end of Garnett, over the pass to the west end of Thousand Island, and then up to the gravesite near North Glacier Pass, and then back, probably the long way on the trail. A big day, but I will be the limiting factor and not my athletic young friend.

Then day 4 is out.

***

I have done many parts of this trip before, but I would love some additional advice from those of you are are experienced in the area on a couple of things:

1) I have never camped in the immediate Ediza area, but always closer to Shadow along Shadow Creek. I know we will need to camp on the western side of Ediza. Any advice on good camping spots and the best way to approach them from the outlet?

2) While I have been up to the ridge over Nydiver and looked down on Garnett, that was 25 years ago and I was not looking for a good route down, so I could use advice. (For some reason the High Sierra Topix map is not working for me--perhaps I lack a plugin or somesuch?) Is the cross-x pass between Nydiver and Garnett to the east or west of point 3258, point 3261, or point 3267? While I am sure I can get up to it from Nydiver, how difficult will it be to get down from there to the Garnett basin? I have no worries about the "pass" between the western ends of Garnett and 1000 Island as I have strolled over its gentle incline before.

3) I am watching mosquito reports closely and am hoping that this very dry season will reduce the normal July barrage by the time we get there on the 21st. From anyone traveling in the area, I would love to hear a direct report.
User avatar
Pietro257
Topix Regular
Posts: 110
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 5:03 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: San Francisco, CA

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by Pietro257 »

This will be a great trip.

1. Thanks for remembering to camp on the western side, not the eastern side, of Ediza. For some reason, people tend not to do that although rangers remind everyone not to camp on the east side. The trail goes around the eastern side of Ediza, so if you follow the trail, you have to loop all the way around the lake to get to the campsites on the northwestern side. Here's a shortcut: When you get to the Eliza Lake outlet stream (when you first arrive at the lake), cross the outlet stream immediately. It's not hard to so as this (2014) is a dry year. Then follow the north shore of the lake a ways till you come to the campsites. They are fifty or so yards up the hill from the northwestern shore.

2. I dont' know much about the the cross-x pass between Nydiver and Garnett. I was at Garnett last summer and saw this pass from the Garnet side. It looked steep.

3. Mosquitoes -- I hope it's a dry year too.

I think your plan to dayhike all the way to Treasure Island and the gravesite near North Glacier Pass in one day from Ediza is ambitious. Me and two other old men attempted that from Garnett Lake last summer and ran out of gas at Treasure Island Lake. But then, we're getting old. You could probably do it, and in any case the area between Garnett and Thousand Island is very beautiful.
User avatar
JohnS
Topix Acquainted
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 12:20 am
Experience: N/A

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by JohnS »

The pass name from Nydiver to Garnet is White Bark Pass. Searching that will have many reports.
Edit adding sometimes referred to as "Whitebark Pass".
John
User avatar
kpeter
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1449
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:11 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by kpeter »

JohnS wrote:The pass name from Nydiver to Garnet is White Bark Pass. Searching that will have many reports.
John
Thank you John, that was just what I needed. So I will scratch White Bark Pass from the itinerary--a bit too challenging on the North side for a beginner and an old man.

From the ridge between Garnett and Nydiver, can you simply walk east along the ridge until the descent to Garnet gets less steep, or do you wind up all the way at the trail before that actually happens? At a certain point I might as well take the trail I suppose, but I love the western ends of Garnett and 1000 Island much more than their eastern ends.

Edit: I found the answer here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9952&p=75160&hilit= ... ass#p75160" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you SSSDave for the details!
User avatar
maverick
Forums Moderator
Forums Moderator
Posts: 11821
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:54 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by maverick »

Bluewater has an excellent write-up of the pass here Kpeter: http://seatosummitultralight.blogspot.c ... etail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My favorite campsites at Ediza are located here: http://WildernessApertures.com/img/s6/v ... 9524-5.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
User avatar
bbayley80
Topix Regular
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:46 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker
Location: Fresno, CA

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by bbayley80 »

kpeter.
I'm heading out to Ediza for two nights on a pretty similar agenda the previous weekend.
my day two dayhike will either be trying to tackle Banner, however should that prove to be over my head I had plans on going over Whitebark Pass and explore as far as a could.

ill be sure to let you know of mosquitoes in the area-although i get home the 20th..so might miss you as you say you head out the 21st..

Maverick-
thanks too for sharing Bluewaters TR on the pass. very useful!
love those campsites too.
User avatar
SSSdave
Topix Addict
Posts: 3523
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:18 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Silicon Valley
Contact:

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by SSSdave »

If OP's don't use the HST map they can always use acme:

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=37.68926,-119.16647&z=15&t=T" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The northwest side of the lake where most groups camp at has a mediocre view of the lake with Volcanic Ridge slopes behind as it is down in a hole backed by trees. But then everywhere else AROUND the lake is un-campable either because it is prohibited, a marsh, or talus. So what is a person that will otherwise become a crazed madman do if they cannot tent within 200 feet of a lake do?

Yes wean thy only next to lake jones. Indeed you may still wake up the next morning breathing. Note the inlet stream and follow that up the southwest branch. See the 2880 elevation line? See that marshy area on the topo? That be a large open green grassy relatively flat meadow. On the east edge of that marshy meadow the terrain and the creek suddenly drops off into mountain hemlock and that is a fine area for a photographer to find spots with seclusion and views. And yes that includes views of Ediza though true it is days away for a black wood ant to reach.

As for going from Nydiver to Garnet, yes class 2-3 Whitebark Pass is the primary HST route but it is loose and unstable metamorphic scree and small talus. Lower and straightforward is to instead go east from Nydiver then down to the 3020 meter contour and up to 3180+ saddle by the 3 ponds around the east side of 3267, and down all class 1.
Last edited by SSSdave on Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
kpeter
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1449
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:11 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by kpeter »

Mav, Dave, thanks for the excellent advice. I am sure you have already contributed to making this a better trip for my newbie friend! At least I won't be breaking his leg on the north side of Whitebark Pass, and we might find a campsite that is scenic and not overrun.

Bbay, I'd love to hear how your trip goes! I will be leaving late Sunday morning. Good luck!
User avatar
maiathebee
Topix Expert
Posts: 470
Joined: Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:59 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Alpine Meadows, CA
Contact:

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by maiathebee »

Here's a photo from the Garnet side looking up at Whitebark Pass:

ImageWhitebark Pass (north side). by snackronym, on Flickr

The route is up through the notch you see just to the left of the low point above the snowfield. It's not possible to walk on the north side of the ridge (cliffs!) and I can't seem to recall what the other side looks like.

Have you thought about changing your route to do it in reverse? Going up the north side of Whitebark Pass is not too terrible if you are careful and take your time (though I agree I wouldn't love to go down it!). The first few hundred feet are shallow-grade talus; it's only the top that is loose scree and a bit sketchy. You could try it and if the pass got too rough you could head down by Garnet to the JMT and then up to Nydiver via the trail that leads out the lowest lake on the east side, then around past all the lakes and down to Ediza from the back (west). On second thought, you could just do your original plan but head back down past the lower Nydiver lakes and down to the trail that connects the JMT with Ediza instead of going over Whitebark Pass...

Last year I took a newbie on a three night Agnew --> Thousand Island --> Nydiver (via Whitebark) --> Cecile --> Reds and he loved the trip. Trip report here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9785" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; including some photos of the pass and the notch, though maybe you already found that via search.
oh hey! you're reading my signature.
that's nice. want to check out my blog?
here it is: plutoniclove.com
ig: @plutonic_love
User avatar
kpeter
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1449
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:11 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker

Re: A little Ediza advice

Post by kpeter »

Thank you all for the excellent advice. I just returned from the trip and will post a TR in the next few days. We wound up using SSSDave's campsite advice above Ediza where we observed 5 deer cavorting in the meadow (the gorgeous campsite in the area Mav suggested was occupied) and also used SSDave's advice about passing from Garnet to the Nydiver drainage via the ponds.

More to come.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], cvasche, Google [Bot], Spicer'sVet and 130 guests