TR Merriam Lake / Royce Lakes Aug. 2017

[Sebastian_A_K]

Having gathered information from HST and, this time, actively asked for and received advice, it seems I really need to post my first TR.

We (2) went on a 3-night trip loop out of pine creek with the objective of climbing seven gables. Planned itinerary was pine creek pass - Merriam lake & pass - 7 gables from the lakes to its E - BeaRoyce pass - Granite park pass - back to T/H.

Time was a bit constrained, driving up from the Bay Area on day 1, Friday, Aug. 11 2017. Nevertheless, got a walk-in permit at the Lee Vining visitor center at 11 am, zero wait. After excellent lunch at the Mobil we hit the trail at PK pack station at 2:15 pm. (We thought that was really late, but on the way back we met several groups starting out at 5 pm). With quite a bit of sweating we got to just above where the trail to PK pass splits off to the W. Mosquitoes were bad on the upper parts of the way and also at camp.

The next day started out easy enough, with great views and lots of Shooting Star at PK pass and an easy stroll down French Canyon. Took a break in some meadow but the bugs were really annoying. Great flowers. After the hot hike up the slope towards Merriam lake I took a swim in the rather cold creek. There was a neat small snake by the water, black with yellow stripes, not sure what species. Taking pictures of that one cost me another 20 bug bites. We discussed going over Merriam vs Ruskie to get to the 7G lakes. Both are rated cl 2 on the HST map. Decided for the shorter route, Merriam. Ascending to the pass, there were mosquitoes even on the boulder field above Merriam lk. Never experienced that before. From the pass no obvious way down the steep cliff and slabs onto the snowfield below could be seen (while Ruskie looked pretty easy from there). If there is any class 2, we would probably not find it on descent. With a pack this seemed too risky, so we gave up 7G, retreated, and set up camp at the lake a few hundred feet below the pass. We weren't too unhappy about the retreat because there are lots of other options in the area, and the campsite was spectacular and bug-free.

The ad-hoc alternate plan called for climbing Royce, so we set out to the Royce-Merriam saddle the next morning, traversing E along the 11800' contour and down via the ramp from Ruskie pass. In fact coming from LaSalle lk that ramp splits, leading to Ruskie pass on the N and the lake we camped at on the W. Not obvious from below but works beautifully. Dropped our packs at R-M saddle and hiked up Royce, where we didn't find the register, but a veritable field of Alpine Hulsea. Back at the col the sun had set on the snowfield below, so we hurried down before it became too hard to do without crampons (but we had ice axes). Camped at yet another spectacular spot at the inlet of one of the Royce lakes.

To get back to pine creek we opted for Croft col (Granite Park pass), a bit further than Royce pass. There was one very short section of steep frozen snow that required some step cutting (again, would have been easy with crampons), but otherwise a simple affair, free of boulders because the snow went all the way down to the lake in G park. Inexplicably we lost the trail through G park for a little while, but found it a few hundred feet below and continued on at what seemed like blazing pace after two days off trail. Almost back at the car we ran into a few groups whose trip was going to contain some issues: one had forgotten bug spray (we were out), one dad's pack was so big he could barely carry it, bigger than anything I have ever carried even at 25, and they had just started, and at 5 pm there were still people hoping to make it to GP during daylight...

Great trip, excellent weather, not too many people, nice flowers, record mosquitoes at medium elevation.
Back home I checked Secor, and he rates Merriam pass class 3. Can I change it on the HST map and can someone tell me how?

[cgundersen]

Hi Sebastian,
Sounds like a great experience even with the bugs of late August; yep, I gave Merriam pass a hard look a couple times and reckoned that I did not want to try it with a pack. There are so many other (tractable) connectors between East Pinnacles-Merriam-LaSalle and the 7 Gables/Bear Lakes areas that it's really not necessary to risk life/limb. As for 5 pm hikers, I too have run into folks who must be good at using headlamps or flashlights, but it's not my cup of tea. I'd rather see the scenery, even if the bugs/heat are slightly better at sunset! Thanks for the report. Cameron
PS. You'll need someone like Mav or Greg to update the rating of Merriam Pass.

[maverick]

Can I change it on the HST map and can someone tell me how?

Done. Thanks

Thanks for the first TR Sebastian, any pictures coming? Remember an impressive wild flower showing of Alpine Hulsea in the same location and would really like to see how it compared to when I was up there back in the late 80's.

[Sebastian_A_K]

I have some of single plants but it's hard to capture the multitude if they're not very dense.
Pictures are linked not uploaded, right?