Advice on passes from Merriam Lake into Bear Lakes Basin

[vagabondmountainman]

One of my favorite late summer trips is from either the Pine Creek trailhead or Paiute Pass up to Merriam lake and down into the Bear Lakes/Vee lakes basin, around lake Italy to Lower Mills Creek lake and back. I'm always looking for better or different route options but I sometimes get confused trying to figure out which pass is which on the topos and in person.

I'm heading up there in a couple of days and considering the snowfall this year not sure which route might be the best way through. I was thinking of trying to find Ruskie pass again, or Feather-Light. I've never been over either.

My normal route is to take Feather Pass which can be a bit tricky depending on where the snow is, but has never given me too much trouble in the past. Last year I attempted to go over Ruskie pass, but ended up taking what I believe must be La Salle Col by mistake. My route was left/west up the slope from the lake south of LaSalle lake. From that area it looked like there might be 2 passes/saddles. 1 more to the S and 1 to the N. I took the one to the north which according to this wonderful map I just found was La Salle col.

https://www.highsierratopix.com/high-si ... at=2,&mt=3

The route I took was pretty straightforward on the South/West side, but did involve some careful route finding to get down a steep descent and a bit of tedious talus descent on the northeast side that went down to Gruff Lake and eventually down to Vee Lake. There wasn't nearly as much talus as Dumbbell pass or some others I've been through in the last couple years, but there was still a good amount of it to cross, and the route finding on the way down was definitely more difficult than Feather pass or White Bear pass to the north for that matter to avoid getting cliffed out and having to retrace your steps. The pass I took was a decent way to get from Miriam lake down to V lake but was more effort than just taking Feather pass, and not sure I'd go that way again. I'm wondering if the more southern pass on that same wall was Ruskie pass, or if its somewhere even farther S.

Also for feather light pass my assumption is the correct route for that would be to stay on the left side of LaSalle lake as you're ascending and then just head up the wall midway along the lake?

Could anywhere more familiar with this area shed some light on the correct approach to Ruskie pass from lake Merriam. I'm assuming snow has melted out enough by now to make either feather or feather light navigable, but it would be nice to figure out Ruskie pass to make a loop back to Merriam Lake from V-Lakes. And for anyone who has done both, which would you recommend for a loop over 2 different passes--using Feather and Feather light, or Feather and Ruskie or Featherlight and Ruskie? Also if anyone has traversed White Bear or Gabbot in the last few weeks, how's the snow/route.

Thanks for any info

[cgundersen]

Vagabond,
If you did La Salle col, it's WAY harder than Featherlight. Yes, you are correct for Featherlight; make your way around the west side of La Salle Lake and when you find a spot that looks good, start climbing. There is a small plateau about halfway up that offers a nice break in the climb, and my guess is that you'll run into almost the same level of snow as shown in the photos I originally posted for Feather-light (in the XCpasses section of HST). It's an easy descent to Den lake with or without snow. This is NOT the case for Ruskie (which backtracks up the mini-canyon that cuts off the plateau above Merriam before you reach La Salle col). The western side of Ruskie is steady, unremitting talus (unless you get lucky and hit glissadable snow). Cameron

PS. Thegib may differ, but if you want to avoid talus, I'd avoid Ruskie and return to Merriam via Feather or Featherlight (visiting the canyon leading to Feather is worth it).

[thegib]

We did Ruskie on Aug 25. We camped at the cluster of lakes at 11200', between Merriam and la Salle. Heading towards la Salle it's an acute left up the 'ramp' which turns into a large gully. The route would normally follow the low point but that is, of course, filled with snow. My partner prefers to avoid snow so we did the more laborious rock follow. We stayed on the north side of the snow gully and eventually found some steep rock we couldn't really traverse so went above. Pretty straight-forward. The descent turns into typical talus. Both the lakes at 11200 and Seven Gables were absolutely worth camping at.

[vagabondmountainman]

Thanks a lot for the information guys. You have confirmed my suspicions that I took La Salle Col instead of Ruskie by going very far to up and to the right from the lakes between Merriam and La Salle rather than making a hard left. La Salle was doable --very pretty and interesting, but certainly the kind of pass that is more fun when you get down from it than while you are navigating it. (Type 2 Fun vs Type 1 Fun if you are familiar with that definition) I'm glad I explored it and its nice to have as an option to get down to Vee lake somewhat quickly from Merriam but I would take feather instead next time. As you say Cameron the Canyon leading up to Feather pass is awesome, especially on the Bear Lakes side.

I'm very excited to try out feather light pass on this trip...I didn't even realize there was a route through that way until yesterday.

Ruskie sounds like it is worth a try at some point as well depending on snow level. I generally prefer talus to snow if the slopes are steep. It's more tedious to be sure but I'm OK with the extra workout to cut down my risk of falling if the slope is much more than 45 degrees. I'm usually like a goat on the rocks, but had a back fusion several years ago (car accident) so I go out of my way not to fall/slide on the snow if I can. My favorite time of year to hit a pass is when the steep parts up high are all melted out but the lower slopes below have a nice snow pack.

Did you happen to notice if the mushrooms were fruiting yet in late August Thegib? There was an amazing porcini flush in early September last year and I'm hoping for a repeat. Nothing like eating fresh caught trout with sauteed mushrooms around the lake.

Thanks again
Ryan

[cgundersen]

Ryan,
I suspect the porcini "bloom" is delayed this year, but it's worth scouting a bit. On the trip through the Bears last year (late August), we did not start seeing porcini until we reached the broad plateau below Merriam and they persisted all the way up French canyon. Oddly, very few in the Pine Creek drainage. Yes, a few, but nothing like French canyon.
As for Ruskie, I've only crossed it in early season with plenty of snow and my recollection is that one can pick a line of descent that is very gentle and stretches well down the Gable lake chain almost to the point of ascending to Vee Lake. Then again, both of those trips were done with our dog (a Golden Retriever), who was an expert in navigating.......The last time I looked up at Ruskie (last year), it looked like a remorseless slog. So if you're looking for a talus workout, it'll fit the bill! Cameron

[SSSdave]

https://www.highsierratopix.com/high-si ... at=2,&mt=3

https://www.highsierratopix.com/communi ... =31&t=7713

https://www.highsierratopix.com/communi ... hp?t=21608

https://www.highsierratopix.com/communi ... 31&t=11666

https://www.highsierratopix.com/communi ... hp?t=19084

[vagabondmountainman]

Thanks Cameron. Yes last year in early September the mushrooms were everywhere in French Canyon and along the creek headed up to Merriam. Some around lower Mills creek and I expect there would have been lots had I followed the stream farther down toward the second recess. As you say not many around Pine Creek, although there was a decent flush around the Pine Lakes. It will probably be delayed this year as everything else is but they are worth keeping an eye open for and I will pack in a bit of extra bacon grease to fry them up with just in case. There were some mushrooms (nothing I recognized as edible though) starting to fruit with the early wildflowers up in the valley between Ediza lake and Whitebark pass a month ago, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Thanks for the great links Dave.