I think that lake is Laurel Lake just before Tully Hole!?!?

Edited by Creachen on 03/18/2009 23:08:07 MDT.

hey klas.

well, ya got me! and it was "an easy one." dangit.

i was just trying to think of a large lake (e.g. Italy) with steep banks (like the one you show) that you look down on from a pass (e.g. Gabbot). it even has the little lake at the end (Toe Lake, below Gabbot). but alas that ain't it, and i can't figure it out (at least without looking at some maps). everything looks different when not covered in snow!

EDITED LATER: how about looking back from Shout-o-Relief Pass to Rosy Finch Lake below?

Edited by DaveT on 03/19/2009 15:26:54 MDT.

yes Dave, with bighorn pass on the left. Nice going...

looking back at Bighorn Pass from Shout o' Relief Pass. no wonder i don't recognize your pics... there's no SNOW. :)

allright, another easy one!

It wasn't that easy. Columbine Peak does not have the most distinguishing features. I started to climb it, up the ridge from Knapsack, but chickened out after only a little bit, as I couldn't keep it class 2.

I have exactly the same photo, this is getting scary...



nice one.

it's only easy when you know the answer! it's like when you are giving someone charades clues, and they are like "huh?" and you're like "dang it's so easy!" :)

if i had told you it was very first thing in the morning, you might have guessed where it was based on the big dark shadows coming in from the right. the palisades looming!

roper says round the lake on the right, but we crossed a big snow bridge at the outlet, which saved some time. it didn't seem sketchy, but it could have been i'm sure.

and YES i had the same thought about Columbine Peak. it was on my (short) list of possible peaks to bag (you know, easy "Class 2" in Roper), but once we got to Knapsack and looked up at the jagged tumble of blocks heading up, i thought... NO WAY. in looking at the picture, it seems like there's a steep part up from the pass, and then it gets easier at a break point. dunno. didn't do it.

allright klas... give me a hard one now. :)

Edited by DaveT on 03/20/2009 00:32:54 MDT.

If there is no snow, Roper is correct about turning the lake on the north shore. There is a great use trail, and although it appears like it will be much longer, the direct line along the south shore encounters a series of slabby ravines that just slow you down.

I imagine that you might guess this one immediately, or not:



maybe a little snow in the picture is helpful...

Edited by klaseklof on 03/20/2009 19:54:05 MDT.

Temple Crag 12,899
or Mt. Sill--it could be Barret Lake?

Another interesting guess jay, I like the similarities...

ah klas. i got no idea. i suppose i need to look over those SHR pics again and reacquaint myself with that hike.

do i get a hint, or do you just want to drop the answer on me?

the tree in the dead center of the picture, it's all about the tree.

maybe the tree was burried in the snow when you were here, but I bet you were looking for it...

it gets easier with a hint. whitebark pass! here's a view looking back. never saw the old tree there, but i guess we weren't looking for it. it's pretty out there. july 4, 2006.

Edited by DaveT on 03/23/2009 20:01:16 MDT.

here's an actual easy one, unlike my last "easy one" i posted.

where is it?

A beautiful moment Dave. Puppet Pass, looking north at Merriam & Royce.

Mountains like Humphries and Seven Gables, you expect them to be pretty. But Merriam was a total surprise to me, very striking.
The entire section from Humphries Basin to White Bear is so great, such long views of the "trail" ahead...

klas, those pictures rule! did you sleep up on Puppet and get these at sunrise? or were you down below somewhere and got going very early to get up there then?

one of my favorite things about the SHR were all the high passes we camped out on, usually just sleeping out on some granite (with a pad!). it was amazing to wake up at 11,000 feet with snow all around perched on some crazy pass with views in all directions.

Edited by DaveT on 03/24/2009 15:50:44 MDT.

Of course you could camp on the passes, you had all the water up there that you could ever want, right?

I recall very clearly arriving at the top of white pass, and among the steep talus ridge was a perfectly flat and level rock about the size of a queen bed, and I thought "I've got to come back here just so I can bivy on that deck."

I always slept high, but not on the passes. I think for the moment I will stick to roper's tact, and keep the discussion of campsites vague.

High in humphreys basin, far above treeline, I got shut down by an electrical storm which stopped me from getting over puppet pass. I pitched here to ride it out, at some lakes around 11,300'. It was one of those tarp-education days, just add 40 knot winds, marble-size hail, and lightning strikes to this picture:



As usual, the next day I got some miles in before sunrise, hitting puppet pass at dawn. It was the only time I saw that wierd fog clinging to the peaks.

Edited by klaseklof on 03/25/2009 18:24:42 MDT.

yep, we had whatever water and snow we wanted. i think the only time my shoes dried out in 20 days was a layover day in Bishop (resupply).

that pictures of the basin is fantastic. humphrey's was one of the few spots where we had some bad weather (rainy and windy all night).

speaking of campsites, you can't really beat waking up places like this...

I love this thread!
I left the High Route in Upper Basin last summer ... can't wait to get back on it. Just finished reading Roper's "Dusy Basin to Lake Italy" chapter and then I see this thread.
Beautiful pics you guys and nice commentary. Thanks.
-Trent

beautiful morning.

blue lake pass?