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 Superior Lake to the basin South of Deadhorse Pass along the Sierra High Route.
CLASS/DIFFICULTY: Class 2-3
LOCATION: In the Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Inyo National Forest. To the Northwest of Superior Lake and along the ridge of Red top Mountain. HST Map
ELEVATION: 10,200
USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt. Ritter
ROUTE DESCRIPTION: I know that there is a good deal of debate surrounding the location of Nancy Pass. I have seen multiple routes, some of which utilized the route I took and others that didn't. I did not find the plaque on top of the pass that is dedicated to Nancy. So that likely means my route is not considered the most standard one. My initial guess is the proper chute and pass is further Northwest along the ridge. This route to me looked steeper and more brushy than the one I took. But my route did involve some mild Class 3 climbing and route finding. I left Superior Lake and no more than a quarter mile decided to head up to the ridge. There was plenty of brush but it wasn't thick. Eventually it all gave way to ledges and quite a few cliffs. I avoided the cliffs and went further West until I picked my way through many Class 3 ledges and rock. Eventually it leveled out and the route was Class 2 talus to the top.
The North side is far more straightforward for my route as I went down the steep talus only a little ways and angled Northwest to keep as much elevation as possible. This is suggested by Roper and is highly useful unless your goal is to drop down to the meadows and not try and climb up to Deadhorse Pass and subsequently continue along the Sierra High Route. The initial drop off the pass is steep and definitely has loose rock, some of which is very large talus. But it quickly mellows out and you'l be walking along granite ledges and into a forest on your way to Deadhorse Pass.
Looking up from by the inlet of Superior Lake. I went up the grassy slope and then angled up and to the left and eventually went straight up the rock that's to the left.
Past the Class 3 rock section. Talus up to the top.
Looking straight down the North side of the Pass. I angled to the left in this photo and stayed on the rock.
Looking North from Nancy Pass. The Sierra High Route stays fairly high along the rock and angles to the left. Deadhorse Pass is to the left of center with the trees leading up to the rock.
North Side of the Pass. It is almost directly in the center. Angled this way from the top which would be going left as you stand from the top of the pass.
Never put off a backpacking trip for tomorrow, if you can do it today...
Alpine Mike-
Our route to the Nancy Pass with the plaque has changed over the years. Initially (1970's) we just scrambled straight up the drainage coming down from the pass, but with time the bushes have taken over that route, and so now it is easier to walk about a half mile up the trail from Superior toward Beck, and then turn right and head back toward the pass from there. There is a large talus slope that you work up and to the right, then scramble through small bushes and over rocky outcrops, and eventually you work into the drainage for the last 50 yards or so. It is class 2 the whole way.
Six of us who were at the original dedication of the pass in 1971 returned in 2021 for the 50th anniversary...two of Nancy's sisters, two cousins on her mother's side, and two cousins on her father's side. It was a moving reunion!
Back story? I have encountered similar plaques in a few remote areas. They always invoke contemplation. Nancy's youthful demise is sad... The rock hearts and the totem are compelling. What happened to Nancy, and why the rusted can below the lower left corner of the plaque, perhaps an offering?
Nancy was #3 of 6 little blonde girls born to Don and Polly who met on a Sierra Club backcountry trip in the late 1940's. Backpacking in the Sierras was how Don and Polly met, and it was what they did with their kids from a very young age. In the mid-1960's #2 daughter Susie suddenly got acute leukemia and died. This devastated the parents and the rest of the girls, but they were able to pull together as a family and move ahead. A few years later Nancy also contracted acute leukemia and died within a few weeks. As you might imagine, this put a terrible stress on Don and Polly, and frightened and saddened the remaining sisters. Dedicating Nancy Pass, which Nancy had reached first (in the family) an earlier summer, was the family's way to try to mark the end of mourning, celebrate the lives of both daughters, and begin to move ahead again. The dedication was attended by the nuclear family, their clergyman, and first cousins on both Don's and Polly's sides of the family. Somebody from the family has visited the pass every few years since it was emplaced, and 6 of the original 16 revisited 50 years later in 2021.
The tin can in the bottom of the photo is where the pass register was housed. As of 2021 the register was still there.
