Little Lakes

by **Deb** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:43 am

As I know the hordes are descending on Bear Creek Spire now that Dollar Couloir looks like crap - please post your beta here.
I, unfortunately, HAD to step in snow on descent of Morgan today after completing the traverse from Little Lakes Peak. Awesome long ass Class 3/4 scramble! And check it out - not ONE mosquito on trail or at trailhead; strange. Descent down to Hidden Lakes was atrocious with some sketchy 4th/5th class down climbing in the black rock band.
BTW, Pie in the Sky sold out of pies by 5PM. On a Monday?! :evil:

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by **ExploreABitMore** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 6:10 am

Deb wrote: Awesome long ass Class 3/4 scramble!

Doesn't that one have some 5th class sections, as well?

by **Deb** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:17 pm

granite4brains wrote:
Deb wrote: Awesome long ass Class 3/4 scramble!

Doesn't that one have some 5th class sections, as well?

Well, I wouldn't rate the ridge 5th class but you can sure make it that difficult. I did.

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by **twicken2** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 7:38 am

Does anyone know the conditions on the approach to the North Arete on Bear Creek Spire? Crampons/Ice Axe necessary?

Thanks!

by **dshoshone** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 8:12 pm

It's definitely a snow approach. It's not terribly steep, but the snow yesterday was still fairly firm at noon. It's been cold in the early mornings lately, with ice in the creeks at 11,000 the last two days.

by **twicken2** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 9:26 pm

Thanks, dshoshone! Is Dade Lake thawed enough to get water?

Thanks

by **dshoshone** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 5:01 am

Yeah you can get water from Dade lk. You have to cross snow to get to the start of the N. Arête, but not much. At the narrowest point it's only about 30-40 ft of snow to get across. It's really melted off over the last few weeks.

by **dshoshone** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:36 pm

You won't need an axe or crampons for the NE Ridge. You will only have to cross a few small patches of snow for that approach. If you descend Cox Col stay towards the north to avoid that snow.

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by **ExploreABitMore** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 11:49 pm

dshoshone wrote:You won't need an axe or crampons for the NE Ridge. You will only have to cross a few small patches of snow for that approach. If you descend Cox Col stay towards the north to avoid that snow.

Oh wow, you can already ascend/descend Cox Col without hitting any snow?

Any idea if the hourglass is melted out?

by **Deb** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:23 am

Hour Glass looks like crap - not worth bringing snow equipment.

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by **Deb** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:01 am

3Deserts wrote:And to think I'd planned to ski the Hourglass this spring. What a bust that was.

Deb, how long did your Morgan-LLP traverse take from Morgan Pass to the Morgan summit? We might take a look at that this Sunday. I'm even wondering about climbing the 5th class slabs up LLP.

Considering I had a uh...hmmm...incident with getting my leg pinned under 3 boulders, it took me 5.5 hrs from pass to Morgan summit. Loved that traverse! Make sure you climb the 5th class south side of summit block too.

Getting off Morgan to Hidden Lakes was a biatch!

by **ExploreABitMore** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:18 pm

3Deserts wrote:As above, snow patches on approach to either NE Ridge or N arete routes, and descent from Cox Col. Easy to travel on in the morning; firm and suncupped, and surprisingly, the snow was the preferred method of descent when available, even with sticky dot sole approach shoes: soft enough to be easy and fun, and firm enough that we didn't really ever posthole. Very glissadable in spots too. Do it. Much better than the talus and junk up high. If you absolutely must avoid snow, I guess it's possible, but it would require a lot of wandering.

Thanks for the updates.

Did it seem like you could at least easily avoid the snow when it became steep enough to warrant kicking steps? (on the approach to Cox Col)

I'm nursing a knee injury that doesn't dig that kicky stuff at all, right now.

I'd rather wait a month if it's a pain to avoid right now, especially given your skeeter report ;-)

by **Deb** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:41 pm

2Desserts - when were you there? I just ran over Morgan Pass to the miners' hut and back to Mossy Flats today (10 miles). Not UH mosquito. I've been quite lucky this season with bugs...so far.
Snow approach and descent of BCS looks really dirty - is that rockfall mess or just melt through?
And F'ING P in the S is ALWAYS sold out! At noon on a Tues?! WTF?!
AND the next time someone's unleashed dog charges me on a trail - I'm gonna kick its everloving teeth out!!

by **hgrapid** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 1:37 am

I am bringing a group to Mono Pass Saturday. Where can we camp??? We don't have reservations. We planned to just park at the trailhead overnight.

by **ExploreABitMore** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:21 am

3Deserts wrote:G4B, yeah, you could avoid the snow probably almost the entire way, but it might entail having to do a little zigging and zagging and wandering to stay on the talus/scree/junk. The steepest snow fields below Cox Col can be almost completely avoided, except perhaps for a very short stretch near the top. I think you'll have to do a bit of wandering over to the right to get around the last field though.

On the other hand, there are a number of boot tracks there so you might be able to use some of the tracks as steps, assuming they persist through the heat.

When I get my pictures online I'll try to see if I have anything that helps.

Thanks 3Deserts! Sounds like it should be good.

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