North King Col (Clarence King)

[cgundersen]

TITLE: North King col

GENERAL OVERVIEW: Connects 60 Lakes basin with the off-trail lakes northeast of Mt. Clarence King

CLASS/DIFFICULTY: Class 2

LOCATION: John Muir Wilderness HST Map

ELEVATION: 3,360 meters

USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt Clarence King

HST Map: HST Map

A couple years ago, I made what effectively was a circuit around Mt. Clarence King and there are a couple off-trail ridges that I'll aim to document for anyone contemplating a similar loop (which is highlighted by winding up in Gardiner Lakes basin). On this trip, my buddy & I entered via Kearsarge and once near the northern end of 60 Lakes Basin, we aimed for the ridge separating us from the un-named lake ( at 3144 meters) in the next basin to the west. This is what the ridge looked like from the East side:

View of ridge from the southeast

The next photo shows the terrain as one is ascending the ridge with views back toward Rae Lakes and Glen Pass:

View back toward Glen Pass during ascent of ridge

This photo includes Lake 3144 and me in search of our tent which had fallen off my pack during the early stage of the descent:

View of the descent from the ridge to Lake 3144

View from the ridge looking north toward Pinchot Pass:

View from ridge looking north

View back toward "North King col" from the basin holding lake 3144:

North King col from Lake3144 basin

Photo with "North King col" labeled:

[tomba]

I crossed this col from west to east in mid-August 2024, a low snow year.

West:

Panorama from the top. Click to enlarge, then click again and scroll left and right:

East:

View of Rae Lakes:

Going down:

Looking back:

View from Baxter Pass trail:

View from Baxter Pass trail several days earlier: