Ritter Circle

[sbennett3705]

Always looking for a loop, Backpacker mag recently highlighted this route. I walked up to N. Glacier pass last summer, very nice. Somewhat concerned about the E25 portions (not really into bushwhacking or pack trails). Also, prefer Garnet Lk. over 1000 Island Lk, does the bypass look reasonable, last year the connection from Garnet to the River Trail was sketchy?

Any comments or advice?

https://caltopo.com/m/H7AQ5/95CQ61UP1VDJ09GU

[grampy]

I am unable to open your map. I suspect that you saved it in “private” mode - it needs to be saved as “public”.

[khamike]

Can't open your map either but I assume your plan is to cross north glacier pass then head south along the san joaquin and loop back over granite stairway. Couple of things I would point out: the west side of north glacier pass is quite rugged, expect it to take some time. Not sure if you're aware but hemlock crossing is washed out so you will need an alternative if you plan to cross the river viewtopic.php?t=23102&hilit=hemlock+crossing. And finally the Lions fire burned much of the southern side of the loop in 2018, I haven't been out there since, not sure what condition the trail is in.

[sbennett3705]

I re-saved the map in public mode, hopefully this fixes the issue. Caltopo just pushed an update so perhaps this affected something.

I'm starting to doubt the route based on your advice. I found some other reports that say Lk. Catherine to the SJ River is dicey (even Roper mentions "people can get lost here". And, in Caltopo, I see the burn from 2018 (but Google Earth looks OK?).

In all, perhaps a good route on paper (a loop, right distance, reasonable elevation gain, nice neighborhood), but has issues that make spending a precious summer week probably not a great choice.

Thanks again for all the great advice on this forum!

[c9h13no3]

I’d plan to do this.

I’d also likely do the loop by going over Iron Mountain, with a visit to Iron & Ashley Lake.

[sbennett3705]

Thx, c9h13no3. In Google Earth it looks like a possibility.

Good tip on going through the lakes east of Iron Mtn, they look very nice.

[Wandering Daisy]

I assume that the untitled Google Earth and maps in the previous posts refer to the "tricky" part of Ropers High Route.

The map below shows how I did the route in 2010. Previously in 2008 on a trip up from Hemlock Crossing, the official trail shown on the map was quite accurate and in fair shape. It became faint as it went up towards Twin Island Lake. The route shown in blue is what I took in 2010. I traversed to an old trail that probably was an old mining trail. It switch-backed steeply up left of the waterfall to a flat where there was a thick cable. There are cliff walls adjacent to the waterfall, and the use trail goes above the cliffs.

viewtopic.php?p=169407&hilit=Ritter+Lakes#p169407

When I did Roper's route in 2010 I found the trail continued due north along a little side drainage and followed it. I went up to check it out but before it ended, dropped back to the flat just below the 3200 contour. I specifically wanted to camp at the lower Ritter Lakes, thus my route shown. I cannot say if going directly to Lake Catharine would be harder or easier.

The small lake above Lk 3311 is very cliffy. I checked out the route directly north to the saddle mid-south shore of Lake Catherine. It was a high snowpack year and steep snow going either east or west did not appeal to me. I do not know how it would be if melted. Instead, I went down to the north shore of the small lake. It was tight and had to face into a cliff and step on rocks in the water to get around a short section. I do not recall anything being terribly scary or difficult.

Not saying my route is the best. By the way, the Ritter Lake 3311 was spectacular. Going the reverse direction, If you do not want to go as far west towards Twin Island Lakes, you could drop down a bit earlier, but do not get too close to the waterfall. If you had time, a day-hike to the large unnamed lake on the west branch of the inlet stream to Twin Island Lake 2943 is also very spectacular.

The red dotted line is the old mining trail- I may have placed it a bit too low on the map. It was pretty wiped out for the steep section- more of a game trail. But at some time, those huge mining cables had to be hauled up by someone or mule. Not 100% second photo is correct.

RHR_6_USE_crop.jpg

[Wandering Daisy]

Here is a different photo of the route from 2010 while doing the High Route. You can see a bit more.

IMG_5193_Cropped_Labeled_edited-1.jpg

[Flamingo]

Hi @sbennett3705 -- I'm jumping into an already crowded thread

I'm confirming what's been said by @khamike, @c9h13no3, and @WanderingDaisy -- there are several solutions to the route west of North Glacier Pass. All of them require some homework! Whichever route you choose, you'll benefit from bringing a GPS with waypoints.

This area is wildly beautiful. With a little bit of confidence with navigation, trekking through here is a fun and rewarding walking puzzle.

Here's more detail on the section labeled "Sketchy" in your Caltopo map. . . Overall, it goes! There is an old mining trail for part of it (as mentioned by @WanderingDaisy) and you'll find a use trail for other parts. I've attached a screenshot of my route, which tries to closely follow Roper's HSR. When I went westbound from Lake Catherine, two tricky parts were. . . (1) a waterfall near 10,800', which seemingly blocks further downhill progress. The beta I followed was to stay high, walk over a bald granite plateau, then scramble down Class 2/3 rocks approximately 150 yards west of the waterfall. This scrambling section is short, like 30 vertical feet. (2) a small meadow near 10,450'. Here, turn away from the water course -- instead go northwest across a series of grassy terraces, and connect with the top of an obvious old mining trail. Your Caltopo route indeed includes this northwest turn, and it's also in @WanderingDaisy's route. Overall, as long as I stayed on route, I did not find this section to be sketchy or scary. . . but I do agree that the optics from a distance look crazy

If you're curious, you can read my TR going through this section. (See Day 2) Link to my TR.

Good luck!

Screenshot 2024-05-28 at 3.30.15 PM.jpg

[David_Caruso]

I did a portion of that in late 2022.

From Iron Creek south of hemlock crossing to Corral Meadow the trail is very hard to follow and took me a lot of time and the only water was Cargyle Creek. Lots of downed burned logs and hazard snags. It slowed me down quite a bit it's a good 5 miles of waist high grasses and weeds with downed charred logs. A few carins here and there that were somewhat helpful.