Continued from the previous page . . .

HARDROCK COURSE TO GRANT-SWAMP PASS 

There isn’t much snow left in the lower basin (the trail undulates at about 11,500 +/- feet elevation) but ,by gosh, there’s plenty a few hundred feet above it on the trail to Grant-Swamp Pass!

Here's the map section again:

After exploring the Lower Ice Lake Basin I headed up the Hardrock Hundred course (blue line to #3) to see how far I could get to the pass:

Starting up the trail to the pass; note the HRH marker in the foreground.
Some of the runners marked this section of the course two days ago.

View of the road up to Clear Lake (that mountain isn't named on my detailed map of the area)

Some sections of this trail are steep. Fuller Peak is on the left.

The upper Ice Lake basins are straight ahead when this trail switchbacks to the west.

I knew from Steve Pero’s description of course marking two days ago that Island Lake was still frozen over and the entire mountainside above it where the trail goes was covered in slick snow. One runner slid down toward the lake but was able to claw his way back up to the trail.

I just climbed until it wasn’t worth the risk or effort any more – to 12,300 feet. I was quite pleased to get up that high because I didn’t know if it would be safe for me to climb even that far up there alone.

The first snow bank on this trail was at about 11,700 feet elevation:

I was a little surprised to see snow here on the south side, which is exposed to the sun most of the day. This is a drainage "ditch" so perhaps continually running water keeps it colder.

It looked like someone had walked through the snow since the HRH marking crew was there two days ago; the three guys I met who’d been camping in the lower basin said a lot of snow had melted in the last two days. That means the HRH crew had even more snow to walk through on Sunday than I did today.

Note the pretty little waterfall; it's only about 3 feet high.

The trail switchbacks up the mountain but heads mostly north and west so I had great views periodically of the upper Ice Lake basins either ahead of me or to my left:

The next photo is looking back to the southeast from my vantage point.

I'm almost 2,000 feet above the valley floor and going up another 400-500 feet in elevation (it's more than that to the pass, but I didn't go quite that far).

You can see the Ice Lake/GSP trail intersection in the lower right corner of that picture (above). The parking area for the trailhead is the loop on the left side. South Mineral Creek runs through the canyon.

All the streams from the Ice Lake, Island Lake, and Clear Lake basins flow to that creek -- and from other mountains, too. That's why it's pretty big past our campground farther downstream.

Continuing up; I wonder what's around the next bend?  (a constant theme in my life!)

NOW WE'RE HAVING SOME FUN!

Just past the next bend in the trail I came to a snow-covered area with no easy way around on solid ground.

I just followed the melting footprints up through the snow:

I'm familiar with this slope when it isn't covered with snow. It's a steep grade and a creek doesn't normally run here, although the lower end of the snow patch was wet with snowmelt today. I wasn't concerned about falling through unstable snow and into a creek so I just followed the footprints through the snow.

I slid a few times while climbing and wondered how the heck I’d get back down – it was too steep and long of a slope to butt-slide down safely, plus it was around a curve.

There's a Hardrock marker where the snow meets the sky but you can't see it in this tiny picture.

I'm glad I kept going; it was much faster and easier to dig in my heels on the way down than going up.

The views at each little plateau in the relentless climb to the pass are just fantastic, with or without all the snow:

Above and below:  looking to my left at the upper Ice Lake basins

I know the next snowed-in area does contain a small creek but it sounded like a river as it echoed under the snow! There were holes in the snow and places along the edge where I could see the water flowing under several inches of snow.

Above and below:  a "river" runs under it

 

Looking to my left at the upper Ice Lake basins

I wasn’t comfortable crossing the creek on snow to follow the footprints left by the group Sunday. I didn't want to risk falling through into the water and possibly getting swept downstream under the snow.

It probably wasn't deep enough for that to happen but again, like up at Clear Lake a couple days ago, I was alone and not willing to take the risk.

Enough snow has melted along the right side (above) that I could walk through the tundra near the edge of the snow and parallel the buried trail.

As I continued higher I had to walk through larger rocks to avoid the snow. That required some caution so I didn't sprain an ankle. It was slow, tedious work but I was so fascinated with the scenery that I just kept going. Where large rocks made relentless forward motion difficult I walked in the snow near the edge.

That's part of US Grant Peak in the distance.

Cody probably smelled or heard a mole under the snow here;
where the snow has melted there are lots of tunnels through soft dirt.

I broke into a big grin when I could finally see Grant-Swamp Pass in the distance! From the point where I turned around it was only about 1/2 mile away:

 

 

Grant-Swamp Pass lies at 12,600 feet elevation.  U.S. Grant Peak,  elev. 13,767 feet at its high point, is to the left in the photo above. Swamp Canyon is on the other side of the pass. The trail climbs  through scree to the arrow I drew in the photo above.

I stopped here at 12,300 feet because I knew I was getting close to an area that is usually filled with marsh water -- and I didn't want to fall in. I admit I was also getting tired of climbing through rocks and snow!

DEJA VU

Since I can't show you the next half mile of trail to the pass I'll bring out four old photos from previous hikes.

This is a picture that I took in 2007 when there was still some snow in this area but much less than today. I took it at almost the same spot where I took the photos above:

Almost the same spot where I turned around today  (photo taken 7-5-07)

This is what the pond looked like in 2009 when there was still snow on the ground but much less than today:

Photo of the pond taken 6-27-09

Continuing on the trail to the pass  (photo taken 7-5-07)

The view down to Island Lake; the upper Ice Lake basins are in the background.  (photo taken 7-5-07)

There were several very good reasons for me to turn around at the point where I could clearly see the pass (besides being tired of climbing those rocks):

• the danger of sliding down the mountainside toward Island Lake, like one of the runners did two days ago when marking the course,

• the difficulty of post-holing another half mile through deep snow softened by the sun,

• and the risk of a thunderstorm -- more and more billowy white clouds were moving in and I figured I’d gone far enough . . .

Continued on the next page:  going back down to the trailhead = more great scenery ahead!

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the Ultra Lab

Previous       Next

© 2011 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil