SHR: Snow Tongue Pass or Alpine Col?

[Altheatoldme]

My wife and I are hiking the SHR starting next month, northbound. We did 3.5 out of the 5 SHR sections in 2018 but missed a chunk in the middle from Humphrey Basin to Devil's Postpile, due to altitude sickness. We went over Snow Tongue Pass in 2018, there was no snow but it was really loose and steep. Sketchiest pass on the SHR, it beat out Frozen Lake Pass and Stanton Pass for the pucker factor. This year is another low snow year, and we won't be hitting this section until about July 18 or so (about 10 days earlier than in 2018). This time, we are considering taking the Alpine Col alternate, which is much less steep. However, I've read that the talus on going up and down Alpine Col is endless and horrible. Has anyone here taken both routes? I wouldn't mind seeing Darwin Bench and some new scenery but oh man that endless talus.....

[SNOOOOW]

My wife and I are hiking the SHR starting next month, northbound. We did 3.5 out of the 5 SHR sections in 2018 but missed a chunk in the middle from Humphrey Basin to Devil's Postpile, due to altitude sickness. We went over Snow Tongue Pass in 2018, there was no snow but it was really loose and steep. Sketchiest pass on the SHR, it beat out Frozen Lake Pass and Stanton Pass for the pucker factor. This year is another low snow year, and we won't be hitting this section until about July 18 or so (about 10 days earlier than in 2018). This time, we are considering taking the Alpine Col alternate, which is much less steep. However, I've read that the talus on going up and down Alpine Col is endless and horrible. Has anyone here taken both routes? I wouldn't mind seeing Darwin Bench and some new scenery but oh man that endless talus.....

Alpine Col is slow going to say the least. I don't consider myself super gung ho and I made it up to the top from Goethe side and back down. Just make sure you start heading up the col earlier in the day vs later in the afternoon to make sure you have enough time to go slow.

[Wandering Daisy]

I have done both and prefer Alpine Col. I think it is more scenic and safer, although route finding may be more difficult. Getting up to the highest big lake in Darwin Bench is tricky; I had day-hiked up there years before so had the route figured out. There is some loose talus/scree on the south side just below the pass. The north side rock is pretty solid. I had to do a bit of backtrack. There is a cliff band a bit down from the top and if you hit it too far left you get cliffed out. From the top of the pass you drop down, slightly zig right, drop down, then veer left as you get near the lake. I do recall leaping between two car-sized chunks with a big gap between. You probably could avoid that kind of stuff if you look around a bit for a better route. There was no snow when I did it in Sept. 2010.

I traversed the Goethe Lakes on the west (?) (left side when going south-to-north) . I stayed fairly close to the lake. If you are good at talus walking it is not that bad, but slow. Last year I fished Goethe Lakes and the talus along the shore between the lower lake to the upper lake is not bad at all. There are off-and-on fishermen's paths. I pretty much just hopped on the talus with fishing rod in hand.

I recall I went from Evolution Lake to the lower Goethe Lake outlet in one fairly short day. The camping is better down at Murial Lake. It is a short drop down, but I wanted to fish Goethe Lake.

Sorry about my fuzzy memory.

Edit: I looked at my trip report from 2010 and it was 6 miles, 6 hrs 2040 feet gain from Evolution Lake outlet to Lower Goethe Lake outlet. However, this was my last full day on the High Route, and my pack was light, and I had been out 30 days so was in good shape and fully acclimated.

[SSSdave]

I did Alpine Col in 1989 north to south. There was only vague information available in Sierra South so I vaguely recall choosing an odd route along the east shore. Once beyond the choke against cliffs on the east shore, climbed up southeast through a maze of the most ugly enormous talus where no others had gone before and was lucky to live to see another day. The topo is misleading although it shows as it shows that route less steep than staying along the shore. Taint true as the large talus probably screwed up the way the USGS aerial imaging rendered it. Some of it was quite steep and I did some laborious backtracking. Was a learning experience that has since given this little naked monkey a considerable respect for how bad huge talus can be, especially carrying a backpack. Take WD's advice for a route along the west shore but if one does go along the east shore continue all around the lake until the q in "Goethe Cirque" nw of the pass.

[stevet]

My friend and I crossed Alpine Col a few years ago, south to north. We had no particular route finding issues. Do remember some huge talus blocks on the descent to Goethe Lake. We likewise traversed the west side of Goethe, staying close to the water; a long run of medium sized talus, tiresome but not at all sketchy.

This photo shows the cliff band WD describes. We veered left and stayed "high" (above the cliff band) when descending (right side of this photo).

[Altheatoldme]

Thanks, I appreciate it. FYI when I click on the image icon nothing happens. Is there a trick to opening pictures? I just joined this forum.

[maverick]

http://www.highsierratopix.com/communit ... alpine+col