I'm looking for any advice on approaching Longley Pass from Cloud Canyon via Cunningham Creek. I'll be entering Cloud Canyon via Colby Pass. Also, suggestions regarding scenic campsites between Colby Pass and Cunningham Cr are welcome. Thanks!!

As you descend from Colby lake, if you just turn south and march up canyon, immediately east of Whaleback, it's all open and lovely. I camped at 10400 and loved it. Climb Whaleback while you're at it, beautiful ridge. What I remember from ascending Cunningham Ck is mosquitos, sun, and brush. Ugh. Another route, which I heartily recommend, is to more closely parallel the GWD. Head north from Colby lake, follow the creek to Talus lake, go north to Table ck and pass just west of Thunder Mtn at 12000', then descend to around 11000 on Cunningham ck. I did this (w/GF) the other direction, which I think is preferable, but still super cool. Have a great time!

thegib wrote:As you descend from Colby lake, if you just turn south and march up canyon, immediately east of Whaleback, it's all open and lovely. I camped at 10400 and loved it. Climb Whaleback while you're at it, beautiful ridge. What I remember from ascending Cunningham Ck is mosquitos, sun, and brush. Ugh. Another route, which I heartily recommend, is to more closely parallel the GWD. Head north from Colby lake, follow the creek to Talus lake, go north to Table ck and pass just west of Thunder Mtn at 12000', then descend to around 11000 on Cunningham ck. I did this (w/GF) the other direction, which I think is preferable, but still super cool. Have a great time!

Thanks thegib, sounds great! Thanks for the feedback, I'll study your route via Talus Lake. Won't be in the area until the first week of October, so at least I can avoid the mosquitos.

Last year's effort was aborted due to an early-winter storm. I'm going to try again this year, and while in the region, I'm interested in visiting Josephine Lake. Any advice on the best approach to this lake is appreciated... it looks steep from most angles!

peninsula wrote:Last year's effort was aborted due to an early-winter storm. I'm going to try again this year, and while in the region, I'm interested in visiting Josephine Lake. Any advice on the best approach to this lake is appreciated... it looks steep from most angles!

I have my route pretty much figured out now, and I'm ruling out a visit to Josephine Lake. Instead, I plan to go over Longley Pass with a west-side approach. Any advice on the best route to descend on the East side of Longley Pass with an aim for Colby Pass is appreciated... I'm concerned about the steep sections between 12 and 11,000 feet. I want to get down to Cunningham Creek, should I vere towards South Guard Lake or veer more to the south as I make my way to Cunningham Creek? Thank you in advance!

It's easy to descend to S. Guard lake from Longley. On the Tom Harrison map it may look like a steep 4-600' section, but it's a non-issue. Did it with packs, in the rain, with trepidatious GF, two weeks ago.

thegib wrote:It's easy to descend to S. Guard lake from Longley. On the Tom Harrison map it may look like a steep 4-600' section, but it's a non-issue. Did it with packs, in the rain, with trepidatious GF, two weeks ago.

Thanks thegib. My once trepidatious girlfriend is now my wife of 25 years! Needless to say, she stopped joining me on my backpacking expeditions soon after I purchased said cow.

Cheers!

I recall that navigating the lower sections of Cunningham Creek was much more challenging than Longley Pass itself, but totally doable. After the tarn above South Guard Lake, I stayed high in order to get around the lake. Below that, there are two steeper sections on the way down, one near a waterfall and one just above the canyon floor. You can probably get through both of them on either side of the creek; I was on the south side for the first one and the north for the lower one, but don't know that these were the better choices.

Really beautiful area and I didn't see a soul. Some photos below but more are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ACs4psNXymndb8tXg4x7O9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Getting aroung South Guard Lake:


Loose brushy talus:


Final stretch above Cloud Canyon:

finckster wrote:I recall that navigating the lower sections of Cunningham Creek was much more challenging than Longley Pass itself, but totally doable. After the tarn above South Guard Lake, I stayed high in order to get around the lake. Below that, there are two steeper sections on the way down, one near a waterfall and one just above the canyon floor. You can probably get through both of them on either side of the creek; I was on the south side for the first one and the north for the lower one, but don't know that these were the better choices.

I descended Cunningham in 1979. A cliff with a waterfall blocks progress at about the 10,300 foot level. finckster is right (nice pictures, btw ) in that you can go around either to the north or the south. Both look pretty unpleasant from above. Trying to go straight down the middle (like I tried to do) will cliff you out. I went around on the north side only because I was already slightly closer to that side and it looked just a bit less ugly than the left side. I very pleasantly surprised to find a fairly adequate use-trail that led down almost all the way to the top of the lower steep section above Cloud Canyon. I seem to remember reading that a maintained trail used to go up Cunningham Canyon to Longley(???), but I could be mistaken. Anyway it was pretty degraded and discontinuous in some spots when I was there in '79. I imagine it could be much trickier to find and follow now... but, probably worth a try.

Thanks finckster and boyblue! I appreciate the area photos... they have me getting excited about the trip. I'll be leaving for Lone Pine Sunday and packing in on Monday. I've decided to take thegib's high route and avoid the steepness encountered along the lower reaches of Cunningham Creek. The higher route makes sense as I'll be going over Colby Pass. Originally, I thought I might make my way to Josephine Lake, but I've ruled out that campsite for this trip... perhaps another day. It's going to be awesome!
Trip itinerary: http://mapshare.delorme.com/Consumer/V.aspx?p=l1cvm7fm

butitsadryheat wrote:Nice trip ya got planned peninsula. I like that software you have your trip planned on too. Can't wait to see the pics when you get back. Be safe

Thanks butitsadryheat. This is my first year using Delorme and I like it a lot. I've posted some of my impressions using Delorme under the following link:

gps-recommendations-t61509.html

Delorme's "MapShare" features are impressive, not to mention the rest of their hardware and software products.

Finally, I finished the trip report; my thanks go out to all of those who helped in the planning: http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.p ... irm_post=7