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I think at this point we’re leaning night1 1000i, NG pass to night2 ~twin island lakes (day hike in that upper basin), pop over Elecra then nights 3-5 in Lyell fork / Hutchings, night 6 at one of my two usual spots W of echo valley for an easy out to get YARTS.
Hi Carl,
If you're doing that hop over by Electra into the Lyell Fork of the Merced, you should have no trouble going over Sluggo into Hutching creek basin. Once over the Sluggo ridge (it is NOT loose), you can traverse comfortably at about 11,200 over to the large lake at 11, 139. It saves a LOT of down/up.
We depart Agnew meadows Tuesday morning (the 3rd), but we'll be going counterclockwise via Donohue pass before leaving trail in upper Lyell canyon to camp below Simmons before hopping that ridge to Ireland and then heading into the upper Lewis Creek drainage. We'll stay high to get into Hutching creek basin, but for the leisurely pace we're targeting, we'll get to Hutching basin no earlier than Saturday. We're planning to spend an extra day there or in upper Lyell Fork of the Merced before working our way out via Rodgers (familiarity breeds confidence even on sluices like that one). Anyway, my wife and I both have big, blue external frame packs (A16) with Bearikades poking out. And, a REI quarter dome..... The long range forecast suggests a lot of swimming weather. And, hopefully incredible Perseid showers! Sluggo is darn clean at the ridge, so if you get there before we do, leave us a cairn (for the cairn averse, I promise to toss it). Cameron
erutan wrote: ↑Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:17 pm
@giantbrookie does this route to the NW of Davis look about right? The solid ledgey stuff from catherine to twin island doesn't really bother me based on roper's description + trip reports Ive read, I'm good at routefinding at or through class 3, but it does drop me a bit further downcanyon than I'd want.
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I missed this query, sorry, so I hope my reply is not too late. The pass I'm thinking of is further west than that. I think it is the 2nd pass west from that one. Many years have past since I did that in 1987, but the 2nd pass west seems to be the correct one when I recall that I was at the lower Davis Lake and I was using the pass to reach Mt Rodgers (particularly its easy SE ridge). I remember a bit of sidehill, round-the-corner, stuff to minimize my elevation loss and the sidehilling northward would not be needed if you were headed to Electra. The pass as crossed was class 2 talus (reasonably firm) and the only minor difficulties were in climbing over spurs while doing the northward sidehilling that you won't have to do.
1 bar of LTE from north fork basin - north glacier pass was scenic and straightforward, but slow. Got to the lower lake (higher in basin) around 6, so are bouncing around the north fork basin and will go over Vernon pass mentioned briefly in secor and the link Druid sent earlier. Surprisingly nice terrain up to it from the basin from what we can see. North clinch looks better than clinch from this side.
Re sluggo it’s more a question of route preference than difficulty. Would be nice to have two days not carrying weight and just dayhiking up to the top of a basin each day. Will be in the basin tonight to Friday morning, so our paths won’t cross.
Sluggo was trivial on the west and not bad but routefinding was a bit concerning on the east - looking at it from Hutchings basin you can see where to go, but it wasn’t clear how things would work coming over it.
Hi Carl,
Well, in spite of keeping my head up, I never caught sight of anyone remotely resembling you. Then again, we called a couple audibles on our route and spent 2 days in the Lyell Fork of the Merced before exiting via Rodgers pass. Sadly, we hit a lot of smoke and that affected the scenery, but it was still better than sitting in LA (I think). I hope to get a TR together before leaving on another trip on the 29th........Cameron
Hi Carl,
Um, we bailed on Sluggo, so I missed the cue......maybe next time? I'm about to start entering the TR, so you'll be able to see where/when we nearly crossed paths. Cameron
