Great advice everyone; thank you!

I was aware that the approach to Russell is in the official Whitney zone. My preference would have been to get an overnight permit, but my schedule precludes that. Next best option is a no-show day permit to pick up tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon.

I'm reassured that this is doable in a day. In terms of mileage and gain/loss on paper, it's not actually a terribly big day. But, that's without taking any of the difficulty of the ridge in to account, and route-finding, and miserable scree slogs and other variables that are hard for me to predict.

So it seems like any of the three routes up to the RC pass are roughly within the same time range....no?

mrchad9, I've read a bit about the Cleaver Col. I recently read brecht's (is that the name?) TR, and it sounds interesting. Not much faster than either of the other two, but interesting. I guess the decision will come down to finding the right balance between keeping the route fairly timely, trying to minimize scree slogs if possible, and minimizing the time spent in the Whitney Zone. It does seem though that Cleaver Col would entail a little extra gain and loss, what with dropping down to the lake and back up to the RC pass...no?

If the day-hike permit doesn't fall my way, I thank you all too for the expeditious tips on the theoretical possibility of avoiding problems with permits.

And that Candlelight peak looks pretty damn cool too!

I did it late September last year. Yes it is slightly more elevation gain on paper, but our feet weren't sinking into the scree at all so it likely evened out. We went up Cleaver Col, down to the lake (well worth it), up the Carillon-Russell saddle, up Carillon, and over to Russell. Came down straight to lower BSL, rather than our ascent route. Nice quick scree run down.

I don't have my pics with me or I could tell you exactly how long it took, but we didn't start or finish in the dark, so less than 12 hours. Easily doable in a day. And going this route you won't need to carry much water. There is safe to drink unfiltered water both running down from the lake east of Carillon and Tulainyo Lake.

MooseTracks wrote:This was put in place to prevent the end-around you describe for Whitney (in particular),

Yes. It is a perfect example of the NFS making a change simply in an attempt to control people's behaviors and prevent people from going out into the mountains rather than doing something that is an actual benefit for the NF based on sound, logical reasoning.

3deserts, there are pics in this set from the Challenge last summer, using Cleaver Col to gain access to the north side of Mt. Morgenson. There is a purported Cl3 route from the col up to the summit of Carillon, but I haven't played around on it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moosepics6 ... 908444149/

The climb to the col is short, but extremely loose. Jim and I decided to wait for it to clear out before heading up last August.

The base:



From about 1/2 way up looking down (one of the best things about this drainage is the fact that you have water all the way, and can tank up right before the climb):



Upper mess to traverse L out of the chute (careful pulling on anything here):



View across to R-C Col:



Conceivably you could stay fairly high from the col and not have much more to gain R-C. Couple of small slabby sections, I think.

In thinking about it, there is also a Cl3 route up Gambler's Special from that side of the drainage. That's a fun scree run run back down to Carillon Creek and LBSL, as well!

-L

And for the record, Chad, I think that loop of the WZ is lame, as well. But perhaps it keeps most of the sloggers on the Mountaineer's "trail".

Don't even get me started on the cairns to which you can sacrifice a goat up there, spaced about every 30 feet.

Thanks again! Great stuff, and great photos MT; thank you.

The availability of water via Cleaver clinches it!

I'll be on the road in a few minutes. Can't wait!

You guys rock. Thanks for pushing for Cleaver Col.

I loved the route; absolutely loved it. Sweet, sweet solitude up that drainage. The little lake up top was still frozen solid, but there was plenty of runoff. There were a few snow fields en route, but nothing that wasn't easily bypassed across the boulders. I spent the night up by the lake, watched the stars, and went to sleep with the sound of the runoff coursing down over the slabs.

There was still a little snow in the col. I was moving at 6:30 am, and was worried the snow would be hard (I didn't bring an axe or crampons). I stayed far right against the sheer wall, and was able to delay crossing until the last possible moment; it was just soft enough to kick steps. So no problem there. You guys were right about how loose that area is though. Pretty messy stuff.

Anyway, got to the top of the col, somewhat higher than the low point, looked up to my left at Carillon, looked down, looked up again, thought about how I know nothing at all about a route from here to there, and said "what the hell," turned left, and climbed Carillon from the col. So the footage gain/loss issue of heading down to Tulainyo was a non-issue. The climb was a bracing, solid 3rd Class climb, and it was pretty neat summiting from the north east side.

From there on, the route was standard I suppose: traversed directly across to Russell's east ridge, climbed it, spent probably an hour on the summit (really beautiful day!), and slowly made my way back down the standard sand pile route.

Tulainyo is still more or less frozen solid. I didn't expect that.

So, thanks again you all for the push to do that route. It's a keeper. Might I also recommend Carillon from that col? Pretty neat warm-up to Russell.

Excellent, 3D! Sounds like a blast. Cheers!

-L