High Sierra Topix

I am posting this here, because not everyone reads the cross country pass forum.

I am very confused about this pass. Last time I tried it (from Cloud Canyon) I had to retreat and go over Lion Lake Pass. I must have hit the ridge in a bad place because I was soon in a horrible loose steep gully that became impossible.

Can someone put a line on a map that shows the exact location of this pass? The HST map shows a location north of Pk 12345. Rogue's description indicates two passes that are south of this peak. The two passes (east and west) are marked but not the route between. Supposedly you get within 20 feet of Peak 12345 but the final 100 feet up that ridge (from the east) looked absolutely horrible to me. The only route I can see as feasible is to traverse on the south side of the east ridge from Pk 12345 and then cross over lower than the place I tried to get on the ridge.

I may want to use this pass on my next trip that I hope to start on Wed.

I tried CMP a couple weeks ago (TR coming) and can tell you which is NOT the pass. Going from the Cloud Canyon side I looked for the switchbacks in the Foxtail grove like OldRanger says in an older post. But I lost them, hit snow, and decided to just walk up to what looked like the pass on the north side of Peak 12345. The Cloud Canyon side was easy but the Deadman was a super loose unstable talus chute with 30 feet of class 3-4 exposure at the bottom. DO NOT recommend!

How about this from caltopo?http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=36.60926 ... a=modis_mp

That cal-topo route looked impossible when I was there. Unfortunately the Google Earth image is too early with too much snow to tell, but the little bit at the top that is snow-free still looks improbable.

In Google earth you can view past images by clicking on the clock looking icon, or just Google it. I think 2012 is the newest one not covered by snow. On Google Earth you can actually see the trail in some places

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My then husband Spencer, me, and a friend (Phil) walked from Glacier Lake and Lion Lake Pass looking for the pass (on the Cloud Canyon, east side). After considerable searching, we found it. We walked north to a big, long slabby hump feature (the only one of its kind on this slope) on the slope under the ridge line. If you walk alongside this feature and up (west) until it ends, that's where we saw a use trail and then switchbacks up the ridge. On the use trail you very quickly make a hard right and cross an exposed section before turning up and climbing (scrambling) up to the pass. At the pass, the trail was good (we knew it was the pass because the trail going north along the ridge started at this point) and moved north along the ridge on a good trail until reaching a point where it's obvious to descend into Deadman canyon (as I recall, the trail doesn't go any farther than this point, which is a saddle).

It was difficult to locate the pass from the Cloud Canyon side. My ex-husband Spencer considered a chute or two (we didn't attempt them because he had done the route before from the other direction and knew there were distinct switchbacks) before we found the trail. The climb to the top is a very short scramble over medium sized rocks. I think going up would be easier than going down because it is steep. I have a photo of Phil coming up the switchbacks to the ridge. I'll see if I can post it.

The route that Zacjust32 pinpointed on the topo isn't the best way. I've read about it and remember folks saying that it isn't the way to go, though some have tried it. I understand it's pretty hairy.

The route that I described is I think the original historic trail that led to the mine. Once you find the switchbacks, it takes only a few minutes and you're on top. After that, it's a stroll as you follow the divide trail past what's left of the mine. The drop into Deadman Canyon is easy (we did it without snow) and past beautiful meadows, hillocks, and creeks before hitting the Elizabeth Pass Trail. (I wanted to mention that when you're at the little lake below Lion Lake Pass, look north and you'll see the granite feature I mentioned above)

I'm sorry. I just realized I got the two canyons mixed up and called Cloud Canyon, Deadman and vice versa. I corrected that in the description above. Still trying to figure out how to shrink my photo to the correct parameters to post it

SweetSierra wrote:The route that Zacjust32 pinpointed on the topo isn't the best way. I've read about it and remember folks saying that it isn't the way to go, though some have tried it. I understand it's pretty hairy.

Agreed, it's real nasty, do not recommend.

The route indicated on the map turns w. too soon and zigzags directly to the peak that splits the deadman, cloud canyon and kaweah drainages. The correct route should angle up toward the ridge to the south of the the peak. Once on the ridge the user trail up toward the peak then down to the saddle between deadman and the Kaweah is obvious. The upper part of the route above the foxtail grove in cloud canyon was always a matter of reading the terrain rather than following a clear trail as it was always covered in snow when I did it.

Oh yeah the route Zac took really does suck. I had to do it once during a search, not by choice, as I had already covered the correct route and had to cover new territory.