R03/R01 TR: 7/28 – 8/3/24 Loop via Taboose Pass

[KT5519]

You've provided great inspiration to get back into that area!

Oh good, I'm so glad; I hope you make it back up there.

[KT5519]

Happy to see so many variations on this Taboose/Lake Basin/Upper Basin loop! My partner and I had planned this same route last August but Hillary had other plans and we ended up going north over Alpine Col, another story. As you said, KT5519, nice to have the route "shelf ready". Enjoyed papercup's variation a week prior as well going down to Amphitheater and over Upper Basin Crossing but hate to miss Palisade Lakes. That description of getting down to Palisade Creeks was both excellent and daunting! So, still weighing the Upper Basin Crossing option. Anybody out there done both?

Hillary got me last August too! 2023 was rough. For me, UBC sounded intimidating, like it would have some exposure, and I don't feel comfortable on that stuff especially alone. And I do love Palisade Lakes, so I agree with you there. Some notes on the Cataract Creek descent that you'll hopefully find helpful: Looking down Cataract Creek and realizing its aptly named - deep chasm in places - I undoubtedly lost some time in the early part of the descent staying too high above the creek thinking if I went down too soon I'd just have to upclimb again around a cliffy obstacle. And then once I did get down to where the crossing of the creek was (a flat-ish area with some willows) right below the old prospect, I did not find the old trail and figured I'd follow the logic of old timey trails, which is that they usually just go right down the drainage. However, I ran into a wall above a dammed pond that I couldn't get around, so back up some steep stuff I went realizing that trail had gone UP to get on top of a rock outcrop from that willowy area, and not down, then found the old trail between the incoming 2nd fork of the creek, and it switchbacked down to that pond nicely. Skirting the pond involved going over talus for a little while, then I did find the trail again. Once I hit the deeper trees, I lost it but could already see Deer Meadow and knew where I needed to go. I did need to start heading sharply to the west in this area, to avoid getting pulled back into the creek drainage. This was through the old 2002 burn area. Burned downed trees were a factor, and getting around and over them took some time. New trees were growing, sometimes thickly, and then there was a good amount of brush, especially deer bush and manzanita. There were also some benches, with rock outruns, so I had to navigate those as well. A few times I stepped onto an old piece of wood and lost balance when I didn't see it in time. I crossed Palisade Creek just at the bottom of a 2-part threaded area and came right out at an old trail crew camp, still complete with a metal storage box.

[KT5519]

We did a very similar trip just a week before yours, with a few variations (Bench/10565/UBC, and no Cataract/Palisade/Mather) and it's really fun to see your photos and impressions of the same area.

I'm glad to see that you enjoyed the flowers and especially the scents. That was a highlight of our trip -- passing through big patches of coyote mint (I think) sent up a beautiful scent that provided a great distraction from my own sweat. And there were so many flowers that varied from place to place, with especially beautiful patches of columbine in some areas.

Oh, you made it to 10,565! I'll go look for your trip report. Did you take Observation Peak Pass, and what was it like? Somewhere I read that Cataract Ck Pass was "gentler" so after going over it I was really left wondering what I would have been in for if I had attempted to get to Lake 10,565.

I saw huge patches of yellow columbine, which are one of my favorites. And oddly, they always seemed to be growing in the middle of some area, like a talus pile, where I didn't want to try and pull out my phone to get a picture!

[papercup]

We did! We took Bear Pass to get from Dumbbell to 10565, and then Observation Peak Pass to get back to Dumbbell. Observation Peak Pass was not bad -- definitely easier than Cataract Creek Pass. The south side of the pass involves scrambling up a willow-laden drainage and then following an easy chute to the top, the north side is grassy ramps near the bottom and a rocky drainage near the top. All pretty straightforward.

The rest of the area around Lake 10565, though, was complicated. There are lots of cliffs and chutes and giant boulders, and figuring out how to get from one place to another is a bit of a maze. Getting around the lake was probably more challenging than either of the passes we took to access the lake in the first place. It's really fun if you have time to spare and like that kind of problem-solving. It's a beautiful spot, and the views west from the area around the outlet are amazing.



Here's a view from near the top of the pass, looking toward 10565.



This is from the top, now looking at the Dumbbell side.



Here's 10565 itself, with the pass clearly visible -- you follow the trees on the other side of the lake to the top of the first ridge, then follow the drainage that leads to Observation's right shoulder. Observation is the peak to the left.



And here's the view west from just past 10565.

[Fviolich]

Thanks KT5519 for the additional beta on Cataract Creek. Sometimes ignoring your intuition is the solution. As they say, “when they go low…we go high!” And the added intel papercup added on Observation Peak Pass is definitely worth considering as an alternative to doing CCP. Plus you can tie in Observation Peak. What a view! F

[KT5519]

Thank you papercup! And also for including the pictures, what a beautiful spot. I do see the rock plunging into the lake in spots; great visual on what you’re describing.

[SkyPilotSky]

Hello KT5519. Thanks for the great trip report. We are considering a similar route over Cataract Pass into Ampitheater Lk on Aug 28ish. I still see a little white dot there on Sentinal/Caltopo - and I laughed when I saw what you wrote! I'm wondering if it is still corniced or if maybe the cornice is gone and the white dot is indicating snow in the chute. Would that have made it any easier? Do you have any guesses regarding current conditions based on what you saw in early Aug?

Would you do that pass again if the conditions were identical to the ones you encountered? Any tips?

Thanks!

[Harlen]

Great route,

Thanks for taking us along.

[papercup]

SkyPilotSky: Question wasn't directed at me, but I'll take a shot at it anyway. When I went over it in late July, there wasn't much of a cornice -- just snow. That said, the angle of the chute is steep enough that I wouldn't have been comfortable trying to descend the snow. Others with more experience on steep snow (and snow equipment) might be willing to try. The snow was beginning to pull back from the north side of the chute near the top, but the bottom part of the chute was still full. It seems pretty likely that with another month of melting, even if the snow is still there, you might be able to squeeze past it by sticking to the north side of the chute.

We descended by going north of the main chute and just picking a route down through rocks and cliffs, with no snow to contend with at all. It wasn't the most fun thing I've ever done, but it wasn't scary. It requires some micro-route finding, but it was all class 2-3 with limited exposure. So even if the snow blocks you from the main descent route, there are alternative ways through.

[KT5519]

Hello KT5519. Thanks for the great trip report. We are considering a similar route over Cataract Pass into Ampitheater Lk on Aug 28ish. I still see a little white dot there on Sentinal/Caltopo - and I laughed when I saw what you wrote! I'm wondering if it is still corniced or if maybe the cornice is gone and the white dot is indicating snow in the chute. Would that have made it any easier? Do you have any guesses regarding current conditions based on what you saw in early Aug?

Would you do that pass again if the conditions were identical to the ones you encountered? Any tips?

Thanks!

Hi SkyPilot - I just got back from another trip and am just now seeing this; glad I caught you before your trip starts. Yeah, that little white dot is the cornice. I have heard of it melting and getting skinnier and people being able to walk down the side of it, I guess that could be possible since a bit of time has passed. Yes, no cornice would have been easier for sure for me! It was vertical on its face, so I'm not too sure how steep it would be if the verticality was gone since this was my first time through the pass. To add clarity, I'm pretty conservative about exposure because I go mostly solo (as I was on this trip). There was an obvious boot track in the loose gravel and rock area just to the left of the cornice (when looking towards Amphitheatre Lake), and I followed that and just picked the way down that felt most comfortable to me from there; I came out maybe about 10 - 15 feet below the cornice. I have a bit of a fear of "getting loose", so that was a factor. There were some steep rocks/rock faces that weren't all that tall, but again I have a bit of a fear of falling and getting injured when I'm alone, so they might not be as epic to someone else. And now that I've done it, I could and would do it again with a lot more confidence should the cornice be present. The other snow field below that with the large rock outcrop in the middle was firm and too steep without traction; the talus was not hard to climb down, just a bit time consuming.