Amelia Earhart Pass (unofficial)
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2023 1:52 pm
TITLE: Unofficial Amelia Earhart Pass
GENERAL OVERVIEW:
"Amelia Earhart Pass" is my unofficial name for the pass on the ridge south of Amelia Earhart Peak in the Cathedral Range of Yosemite National Park. This relatively easy cross-country route connects two beautiful lake basins: Ireland Lake (accessible by maintained trail) on the west side and unnamed lakes on Maclure Creek on the east side. From Maclure Creek, there are multiple routes to connect with the John Muir Trail.
I've used this pass five times over the last 30 years and have worked out what I think is the best route, so I decided I should write up a description for HST.
According to Caltopo, from the outlet of Ireland Lake to the lower unnamed lake on Maclure Creek is 3 miles with 880 feet elevation gain going west to east, or 1,110 feet elevation gain going east to west. My last backpack trip over this pass in 2021 going west to east took 3 hours at a leisurely pace with many photo stops.
This photos in this post come from several different trips done in July or August. Most of the west side photos are from very low snowpack 2021 (but very rainy on my trip), with the east side ones a mixture of low snow 2021, very snowy 2019, and earlier years going back to 1991.
CLASS/DIFFICULTY:
Approaches are easy class 1. Steep slopes in the last hundred feet elevation on each side of the pass proper might be class 2 to some people. No exposure. Solid footing.
Also see the HST entry for "Earhart Ridge (unofficial)" at viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22627 that describes a more northerly and harder crossing of this same ridge.
LOCATION:
Amelia Earhart Pass is in the Yosemite National Park Wilderness at coordinates 37.7739 degrees north latitude and 119.2931 degrees west longitude.
HST Map
ELEVATION: 11,640 feet.
USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Vogelsang Peak
ROUTE DESCRIPTION & PHOTOS:
I will describe the route going west to east, with some notes on the opposite direction. I'm splitting this into three separate posts to accommodate all the photos.
Ascending west side of pass
This route description begins at the outlet of Ireland Lake. Take the maintained park trail that ends at the northwest corner of the lake and then walk across open, fairly dry meadows to the outlet. The main described route ends at the two unnamed lakes on Maclure Creek at approximately 11,500 feet elevation. I then briefly describe (and show on the map) three routes to get from those lakes to the John Muir Trail.
On the map below, dashed red lines are maintained trails. The main cross-country route is shown as a red dotted line. Alternate cross-country routes are shown as blue dotted lines.
The route heads up the valley behind Ireland Lake. Cross the outlet creek from Ireland Lake on rocks. Head diagonally up the hill on the east side of the lake on grassy slopes and ramps among granite outcrops with widely scattered trees. This shortcuts a big bend in the inlet creek. Here's a photo looking back at Ireland Lake from this hill section, with the Sierra Crest very clear in the background.
Near about 11,000 feet elevation, you reach a flatter meadowy area along the easterly branch of the inlet creek. The photo below looks north across this flatter area.
I stay on the north side of this creek for a short distance to where the south slope looks easily ascended, and then cross the creek and head up that south slope on granite slabs and broken rock, as shown in this photo.
If you stay close to the creek, you will end up in rough and broken terrain, as shown in this photo.
This broad slope south of the creek soon eases to a gentle grade with easy walking, as shown in this photo.
Above this slabby and rocky section, at about 11,300 feet, you enter a broad meadowy upper valley. In this next photo of this upper valley, Amelia Earhart Pass, our destination, is on the far left. The broad saddle on the right leads to the Lewis Creek drainage; that pass is described in the HST entry for "Lewis-Ireland Pass (unofficial)" at viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22625
After walking up this broad open valley for about 1/3 mile, you approach the steeper slopes on the left leading up the pass.
You will see an obvious gully heading to the low point on the left of the ridge (north). That is not the pass. The other (east) side of that low point is extremely steep with much talus.
You will see another grassy strip heading up to a slightly higher, but locally low point, on the right of the ridge (south). That is also not the pass. It has steep slopes on the other (east) side.
The pass is actually the higher section of ridge between these two low points, labelled 11641 elevation on the USGS topo map. This leads to the easiest descent on the east side.
Here is a photo of this steeper slope just before the pass showing the "false passes" and the slightly higher point 11641 between them.
The final slope to the pass at point 11641 goes straight up the middle of the photo on moderately steep and mostly solid rock. I walked up it easily in a zig-zag pattern. Here's a photo on that last steep stretch on the west side of the pass.
Going east to west over this pass, I have sometimes worked my way south on the ridge from the high point and then down an obvious gully, but that can be choked with snow. Straight down the solid rock seems best.
The top of Amelia Earhart Pass has some broad flat sections where you can take a break and enjoy the view.
The lake basin immediately below the pass on the east is very austere. These lakes look quite pristine with very clear water. There are four small lakes nestled close together on a rocky bench, and a fifth larger lake up the valley behind a moraine dam. Mount Lyell is just visible to the right, as shown in the next photo. You can also see your next destination, which is the far end of the farthest of the three main lakes in the photo.
The view north shows the entire Yosemite north country and even some of Emigrant Wilderness to the far northwest, with big blue Ireland Lake in center view, as shown in this panorama.
To be continued...
GENERAL OVERVIEW:
"Amelia Earhart Pass" is my unofficial name for the pass on the ridge south of Amelia Earhart Peak in the Cathedral Range of Yosemite National Park. This relatively easy cross-country route connects two beautiful lake basins: Ireland Lake (accessible by maintained trail) on the west side and unnamed lakes on Maclure Creek on the east side. From Maclure Creek, there are multiple routes to connect with the John Muir Trail.
I've used this pass five times over the last 30 years and have worked out what I think is the best route, so I decided I should write up a description for HST.
According to Caltopo, from the outlet of Ireland Lake to the lower unnamed lake on Maclure Creek is 3 miles with 880 feet elevation gain going west to east, or 1,110 feet elevation gain going east to west. My last backpack trip over this pass in 2021 going west to east took 3 hours at a leisurely pace with many photo stops.
This photos in this post come from several different trips done in July or August. Most of the west side photos are from very low snowpack 2021 (but very rainy on my trip), with the east side ones a mixture of low snow 2021, very snowy 2019, and earlier years going back to 1991.
CLASS/DIFFICULTY:
Approaches are easy class 1. Steep slopes in the last hundred feet elevation on each side of the pass proper might be class 2 to some people. No exposure. Solid footing.
Also see the HST entry for "Earhart Ridge (unofficial)" at viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22627 that describes a more northerly and harder crossing of this same ridge.
LOCATION:
Amelia Earhart Pass is in the Yosemite National Park Wilderness at coordinates 37.7739 degrees north latitude and 119.2931 degrees west longitude.
HST Map
ELEVATION: 11,640 feet.
USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Vogelsang Peak
ROUTE DESCRIPTION & PHOTOS:
I will describe the route going west to east, with some notes on the opposite direction. I'm splitting this into three separate posts to accommodate all the photos.
Ascending west side of pass
This route description begins at the outlet of Ireland Lake. Take the maintained park trail that ends at the northwest corner of the lake and then walk across open, fairly dry meadows to the outlet. The main described route ends at the two unnamed lakes on Maclure Creek at approximately 11,500 feet elevation. I then briefly describe (and show on the map) three routes to get from those lakes to the John Muir Trail.
On the map below, dashed red lines are maintained trails. The main cross-country route is shown as a red dotted line. Alternate cross-country routes are shown as blue dotted lines.
The route heads up the valley behind Ireland Lake. Cross the outlet creek from Ireland Lake on rocks. Head diagonally up the hill on the east side of the lake on grassy slopes and ramps among granite outcrops with widely scattered trees. This shortcuts a big bend in the inlet creek. Here's a photo looking back at Ireland Lake from this hill section, with the Sierra Crest very clear in the background.
Near about 11,000 feet elevation, you reach a flatter meadowy area along the easterly branch of the inlet creek. The photo below looks north across this flatter area.
I stay on the north side of this creek for a short distance to where the south slope looks easily ascended, and then cross the creek and head up that south slope on granite slabs and broken rock, as shown in this photo.
If you stay close to the creek, you will end up in rough and broken terrain, as shown in this photo.
This broad slope south of the creek soon eases to a gentle grade with easy walking, as shown in this photo.
Above this slabby and rocky section, at about 11,300 feet, you enter a broad meadowy upper valley. In this next photo of this upper valley, Amelia Earhart Pass, our destination, is on the far left. The broad saddle on the right leads to the Lewis Creek drainage; that pass is described in the HST entry for "Lewis-Ireland Pass (unofficial)" at viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22625
After walking up this broad open valley for about 1/3 mile, you approach the steeper slopes on the left leading up the pass.
You will see an obvious gully heading to the low point on the left of the ridge (north). That is not the pass. The other (east) side of that low point is extremely steep with much talus.
You will see another grassy strip heading up to a slightly higher, but locally low point, on the right of the ridge (south). That is also not the pass. It has steep slopes on the other (east) side.
The pass is actually the higher section of ridge between these two low points, labelled 11641 elevation on the USGS topo map. This leads to the easiest descent on the east side.
Here is a photo of this steeper slope just before the pass showing the "false passes" and the slightly higher point 11641 between them.
The final slope to the pass at point 11641 goes straight up the middle of the photo on moderately steep and mostly solid rock. I walked up it easily in a zig-zag pattern. Here's a photo on that last steep stretch on the west side of the pass.
Going east to west over this pass, I have sometimes worked my way south on the ridge from the high point and then down an obvious gully, but that can be choked with snow. Straight down the solid rock seems best.
The top of Amelia Earhart Pass has some broad flat sections where you can take a break and enjoy the view.
The lake basin immediately below the pass on the east is very austere. These lakes look quite pristine with very clear water. There are four small lakes nestled close together on a rocky bench, and a fifth larger lake up the valley behind a moraine dam. Mount Lyell is just visible to the right, as shown in the next photo. You can also see your next destination, which is the far end of the farthest of the three main lakes in the photo.
The view north shows the entire Yosemite north country and even some of Emigrant Wilderness to the far northwest, with big blue Ireland Lake in center view, as shown in this panorama.
To be continued...