Member descriptions, photos, and map locations of Cross Country Passes in the High Sierra. This forum is for information only - discussions should be kept in the appropriate categories. This forum is a component of the HST Map. We need your help to complete the database, so please contribute!
GENERAL OVERVIEW: This pass leads from Lake Reflection to the Upper Kern Basin directly to the west of Lucy's Foot Pass.
CLASS/DIFFICULTY: Class 2
LOCATION: Kings Canyon National Park East of Lake Reflection on the ridge with the 7.5 Minute Marker of 3827 Meters. HST Map
ELEVATION:12,625
USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt. Brewer
ROUTE DESCRIPTION: The West Side of this pass is straightforward if you find the correct chute to climb up. From Lake Reflection climb up the steep wooded hillside directly across from the outlet. On the map you will see that a tarn is several hundred feet up from the lake. You will pass this tarn on the South side and continue side-hiling across mostly stable talus. This should all be easy Class 2 terrain. From here you will be tempted to enter into a chute that is directly to your east. You will likely be staring up it. DO NOT ENTER THIS CHUTE! Rogue Photonic and I made the mistake of thinking this was the proper chute and unfortunately it was not. We ended up on major Class 3 and even Class 4 climbing at the top of the chute on the ridge to get into the proper chute to get to the top of the pass. The chute that you need to enter is further South and slightly to the East. Since we did not enter this chute I can not account for the exact terrain but from other photos I've seen and TR's I've read it is just as stable and straightforward as the chute we climbed, which was Class 2 Talus and boulders mixed with sand.
The top of the pass had 2 cairns on top when we went through in August of 2016. The East side is nothing more than a basic Class 2 talus and sand walk up.
From other reports it is also possible to enter into this chute from the shoreline of Lake Reflection directly. Although I am not sure if that includes more brush and talus at the bottom.
The proper route and chute.
The hillside by the tarn that you will stay in the trees and below the major outcroppings of rock.
The chute that we entered looked like this. From other photos the proper chute looks very similar.
Same chute.
The Major Class 3 ridge that we traversed to get into the proper chute.
Looking down on the proper chute.
The East side of the pass.
Never put off a backpacking trip for tomorrow, if you can do it today...
Alpine Mike-
Back in the early 70's, I did a day hike from Lake Refection into the Kern headwaters via Milly's, returning via Little Joe. One of the cairns at the top of Little Joe contained a bandaid can placed by campers from the Bob Mathias Boys Camp. A dozen or so campers signed the note in the can and they named it Little Joe Pass. I was really happy to have had an alternate route to Lucy's. The can in the cairn was no longer there when I revisited Little Joe in the 90's.
Of the 3 foot passes while north facing Harrison is still snowy, north facing Lucy's Foot Pass is snowy, steep and loose, west facing Milly's Foot Pass is steep and loose at the top, west facing Little Joe's reads the least dangerous and looks such on the topo. However at 2000 feet of steep vertical, a really long ways down a steep chute even though class 2 from step to step can be frightening as well as dangerous due to rock fall unless a group is glued together. I measured the 200 meters of vertical between 3500 and 3700 meters that is similar to the whole chute as 72% grade or 36 degrees that is like skiing down directly below the end of the launch ramp on The Wall at Kirkwood but in this case for a lot further ways. Given the smooth bedrock in some sections at the center of the chute, if one slipped there would be little to stop accelerating if one did not stop at first contact and for that reason is borderline class 3. Google Earth view shows the center of the chute is mostly bedrock that has been polished by rockfall that makes it stand out versus anything not right in its center. And it is 250 feet higher than Lucy's though that is balanced by less talus to endure on the west side. If one can get past the much steeper top 250 feet of Lucy's, the rest of that route has a much lower gradient.
The above noted, one must be careful which chute to enter both at the top when descending or at the bottom when ascending as from either location the full chute paths are not in view. Accordingly I did some work with Google Earth and the topo to assist this heretofore lightly used route. Of note near the bottom at the debris fan, one ought ascend the right side that angles up on scree that also contains some whitebark pines versus where the direct main chute enters as the latter goes over a steeper bedrock band. That debris fan is actually beyond the main Little Joe's debris fan and more the result of the adjacent Z chute debris fan. And when descending, after reaching the crest of the ridge point, one must go down past chutes Z Y and X, then take the next chute, Little Joe's, that curves around out of sight left looking down. (Mouse select to enlarge.)
Researching this pass I noticed that, in Caltopo the MapBuilder view basically shows this same route, but labeled as Lucy's Foot Pass. Is that incorrect?
Goat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2020 12:42 pm
Researching this pass I noticed that, in Caltopo the MapBuilder view basically shows this same route, but labeled as Lucy's Foot Pass. Is that incorrect?
Yes, it is wrong. Lucy's goes north-south at the northwestern foot of Mt Ericsson.
SSSdave's post on this thread, including the link, is probably the best information for the Little Joe route.
If you are not in a hurry, this is not a difficult descent. There are some steep, slick rocks to go down, but I remember plenty of nearby vegetation to grab onto in most of those areas. The last time went down it, my football knee was swollen pretty badly and I had somewhat limited mobility. I was tired at the bottom but I wasn't in good shape for that trip.
I have attempted going up Little Joe just once [see: http://www.sierrahiker.com/KernBasinII/index.html]. I went way north of the chute and had to make some interesting moves to get over to it from about half way up. I was in exceptionally good shape for that trip
Meant to post this a while back, but here's some GPS coordinates taken going up it. I ended up starting in the "wrong" chute - I had to hop over to the proper one to my right at some point, but while the wrong one was a bit narrower it was also a bit more stable, so that might be a good thing.
GPS waypoints taken
looking up at the wrong chute (one N of the main one)
looking down the wrong chute near the bottom
Looking down the proper chute - wider but less stable. Was glad to go up the ‘wrong one’ and then class 2 transition over. Could have done it a bit later heh
top of the proper chute looking down - the chute itself was decently cairned as well
Thanks for the photos. That section down the main chute you mention as looking less stable is the reason my route shows moving off south from the direct fall line that was apparently out of your view from where you came up the "wrong" north chute. These two Google Earth images show that area. The bedrock "rib" at the bottom of the chute is between the W and S chutes and results in that pile of "rockfall" being deflected off towards image right. One ought avoid the rockfall as it would be unstable and rather stay in the S area that has vegetation. One would be able to tell they are climbing up the the correct route by crossing the talus fan into the large talus until reaching the talus free vegetation finger. Between the "rockfall" and "large talus" appears to be a bedrock "fall" area that rockfall rolls over before coming to rest.
I'll be interested in seeing some photos long the S route. Also just above P is steeper section of the chute that appears to be bedrock polished by rockfall, I'd be interested in seeing photos of as that may be the crux.
