TR: Shoulder Season in Ionian Basin ~ October 2013
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 4:28 pm
Day 5 Continued:
The Finger:
Vertical wall on the west side of Finger Col:
View west from Finger Col (click for full size). Cathedral Lake and Midway Lake are below:
The route down the west side of Finger Col started with a steep and loose scree field that soon leveled out slightly to a long boulder field and eventually to Cathedral Lake.
West side approach to Finger Col:
Route down the west side of Finger Col:
Cathedral Lake:
Secor recommends following the south side of the creek from Midway Lake to Portal Lake. After scrambling most of the way down I found that the south side ended at the top of a cliff. I found three places where I might have been able to make it down but after my accident a few days earlier I wasn't going to take any chances. I ended up traversing the entire boulder field, crawling between the boulders and frozen waterfalls in the creek. After an hour I finally found a large cairn along a well used route on the NORTH side. For anybody heading this way take the route on the north side of the creek!
On the way down to Portal Lake:
to be continued.
The Finger:
Vertical wall on the west side of Finger Col:
View west from Finger Col (click for full size). Cathedral Lake and Midway Lake are below:
The route down the west side of Finger Col started with a steep and loose scree field that soon leveled out slightly to a long boulder field and eventually to Cathedral Lake.
West side approach to Finger Col:
Route down the west side of Finger Col:
Cathedral Lake:
Secor recommends following the south side of the creek from Midway Lake to Portal Lake. After scrambling most of the way down I found that the south side ended at the top of a cliff. I found three places where I might have been able to make it down but after my accident a few days earlier I wasn't going to take any chances. I ended up traversing the entire boulder field, crawling between the boulders and frozen waterfalls in the creek. After an hour I finally found a large cairn along a well used route on the NORTH side. For anybody heading this way take the route on the north side of the creek!
On the way down to Portal Lake:
to be continued.