Southern Sierra High Route & Muro Blanco Loop (the NJTC Loop for lack of a better name)

[Wandering Daisy]

ironmike- I am sorry you felt my posts were picking the report apart for an obscurity. I was simply asking questions concerning MY misunderstanding of the way slopes are stated.

MikeM- thanks, you nailed the decision for me. I think I will pass on the Muro Blanco. Too many other scenic places I yet need to get to.

[crutherford]

All, Just getting caught up with the comments and going through my photos has been a bear (no pun intended).

Adam: it's a very special and unique map, I'll show it to you the next time I see you. Also, thanks for plotting this route for us - it was a helluva hike and I wish you were there.

@michaelzim: If I can do this at 74 like Todd (my father), I'll be VERY pleased. And I think the area is just prone to bears - I see them all the time in the Kings Canyon wilderness.

@maxrr22: that's the exact route. I love caltopo, it's so helpful.

@wandering daisy: yes it was the southern section of Roper's sierra high route plus the Muro Blanco. To your question about % slope vs degrees, honestly I was going off of a website I was using at the time and I'm sure I got it wrong. What I should have said was, "it felt steep and I had to use my hands going up and slide on my ass on the way down." I'm not much of a mountaineer and I'm not a rock climber at all so my appreciation of a slope being "steep" is probably radically different than yours . The chute into Marion Lake was too steep for my comfort as was the drop from glacier lake into the state lake region as well as getting down off of White Pass. Those three sections, plus going up Cartridge Pass from Lake Basin, made me very nervous and felt dangerous (to me). To each their own wrt danger level and limit. I think my danger level stops at "wimp." to your question about the Muro Blanco: the scenery was overwhelming albeit repetitive. We got some good photos as well but I think there are much prettier parts of the backcountry. I guess we did it just to say we did it...and its one of those things we are glad we did and won't ever do again. I've never done the enchanted gorge but we were kicking around the idea of doing the goddard creek-ionian basin-enchanted gorge loop next to see how it compares. I'm sure we'll regret that as well...

@Mike M: Your description sounds right to me. There are some cliffy sections and if i were to do it again I'd bring some kind of close-toed water shoes. We moved a lot slower than you did; it took us 17 hours to get down through the MB.

[crutherford]

Because I'm a dummy I didn't figure out you can post more photos in the comments section until now. Here's the data dump for those who are interested...the photos are all out of order and I apologize about that. Maybe one of these days I'll take some time to repost and organize them.

-Colin

[crutherford]

More pics

[crutherford]

and more pics

[crutherford]

and last one

[Wandering Daisy]

Great photos! Looks like you had good weather too. That chute to Marion Lake definitely has washed out since I did it in 2010. Cartridge Pass looks about the same since I last did it. Back in the early 2000's you could find traces of rockwork and the old trail was still visible. Looks like Muro Blanco is a "long-pant leg" route with knee-high gaiters helpful. There is a description of the route in Arnot's "Range of Light" guide, which is pretty old. He pretty much walked right in the stream and hopped rocks in the stream. That is probably an infrequent option where the water levels have to be just right.

Anyway, if you can find a copy of the book, he also describes Enchanted Gorge. You may have fun reading it. Also, do a search in this forum for "Enchanted Gorge". We used to have a member, Rogue Photonic, who probably did more off-trail than any of us and he wrote detailed trip reports. His take on Enchanted Gorge is that the route is more masochistic than indicated by Arnot.

[crutherford]

ha thank you! I just added captions as well. We actually had to change into shorts because the long pants were catching on the brush and tripping us. If I did it again I'd bring some tear-resistance skin-tight leggings and some close-toed water shoes, although that would have been dangerous as the water gets fast/high/slippery and I fell during our river crossings as often as not. Muro Blanco is a good thing to do if you're into punishing yourself.

I've heard the only thing enchanted about the enchanted gorge is the name. The masochist in me wants to try it just to say "I've done it" but I don't think I'm far enough away from the MB to do it just yet. I'll check out the book and reports - thank you!

[fourputt]

Kim Stanley Robinson's wonderful new book "The High Sierra: A Love Story" has a final chapter entitled "The Thicket" about a descent of the Muro Blanco on a trip following your High Route path.

I truly appreciate that you managed to photo-document the descent so well. Taking pics is the last thing on most peoples' minds while swimming through nearly impenetrable brush overgrowing talus.

[crutherford]

Thanks fourputt - it was slow going and we made a conscious decision to document the Muro Blanco as this was likely the only time we'd make this trek. The photos really don't do it justice as the bushwacking and talus fields were so much worse than the pictures make it seem...