Recent Harrison Pass Update

[dap]

Greetings,
My daughter (19 years old) and I are going to be packing at the end of July from Roads End (Kings Canyon) to Lake South America via the Bubbs Creek Trail. We are considering two routes. One is all trail going past Vidette over Forester Pass, and the other is going to East Lake to Reflection and over Harrison Pass. I did Millies Foot Path several years ago with my son (who was 17) and said I would never do that again due to the "lip" at the end. Getting on your hands/knees with a pack on the last 50-100' wasn't the best experience, but we were committed at that point. It was all good up until the end and it worked out ok. We are experience packers that are in good shape. I know the conservative route is to just stay on the trail, but East Lake/Reflection Lake/Harrison Pass just keeps gnawing at me as it is so much more scenic and less busy. Has anyone been over Harrison recently that can provide some feedback? Most of the posts are from years past......I know it is hard to give advice via a post, but just some thoughts/experience would be great, especially if you can compare it to Millies. Thank you for your time......

[maverick]

http://www.highsierratopix.com/communit ... 50#p136903

[SSSdave]

I recently made image inputs on Little Joe's Pass per below link (have not actually used) that would have less snow, and be less dangerous at the crux than Harrison while being a much longer steep class 2 ascent, not for the acrophobic. There is also Lucy's Foot Pass (class 2-3) and Milly's Foot Pass 100 feet of class 3), and Ericsson Pass (class 2-3). Although Harrison is rated class 2, that is only late season without snow or its scree is tamed or with snow with ice axe/crampons.

In any case be careful assessing what other males write about these cross country crossings generally as not a few tend to make crossing read easier than they actually were. They do so because they do not want other climbers to think their climbing skills are such that they had some fear or had difficulty. Of course there are skilled climbers that do truly dangerous moves easily with huge exposures and some will claim without an explanation that such was class 2...(for them)

http://www.highsierratopix.com/communit ... 31&t=15485

PS. For anyone going through Little Joe's, please take some photos inside the chute.

[Wandering Daisy]

I have been over Harrison years ago, in September, when there was no snow. I actually did it in tennis shoes (before there were trail running shoes) because I had some foot problems that precluded wearing boots. Honestly, if you are proficient and safe on steep snow, it is preferable to doing the pass without snow. Without, it is a steep scree field where I had to plunge my ice axe into the scree simply to keep from sliding back more than my upward progress! It is very tedious, but thankfully fairly short. Reflection Lake is worth seeing, but from that point on, it is not that great. There is no trail from Reflection to the base of Harrison. The trail shown on the map has extensive rockfall damage and is interspersed with brush. Pretty miserable. If there is snow on the pass you would likely need crampons.

I did Forrester last year (entering Onion Meadows), and honestly, I think it is a very beautiful pass. You can do side trips (or even camp at) either to Vidette Lakes (trail not great) or Center Basin (better trail), which are very scenic. The flat bench at timberline, north of Forrester Pass, has some really nice camping, across the creek from the trail, in clumps of trees. And it is very scenic too. I really do not think Forrester Pass is a cop-out route at all. And the south side is stunning.

It also depends on where you want to go after the pass. If you are trying to get into the upper Kern below Lake South America, Harrison is certainly more direct, particularly if you are coming up Bubbs Cr. But it is really not that big of a deal to cut over from the JMT to Lake South America. I easily made it from the flat north of Forrester Pass to Lake South America by about 4PM.

In my opinion, Reflection Lake is better incorporated into a loop - Bubbs-Reflection-Longly Pass, Brewer Basin-Sphinx Pass, Sphinx Lakes, back to Bubbs.

[maiathebee]

In 2016 we found remnants of an old trail to follow for at least the first third or so of the way from Lake Reflection to Harrison. It's farther north than you'd think, switchbacking up the north edge of the forested trough that leads to Harrison. That said, I'll never go over Harrison again. It was very steep and loose. The whole slope up is scree and sand. If you think making your way up the boulders on the east side is easier, it's not: they are crumbling and every other one came loose when trying for hand holds.

You can see a bit here how steep and loose it is. by Maia Averett, on Flickr

We took turns climbing because we were both constantly knocking loose rocks the size of our heads. by Maia Averett, on Flickr

[rightstar76]

In any case be careful assessing what other...write about these cross country crossings generally as not a few tend to make crossing read easier than they actually were. They do so because they do not want other climbers to think their climbing skills are such that they had some fear or had difficulty. Of course there are skilled climbers that do truly dangerous moves easily with huge exposures and some will claim without an explanation that such was class 2...(for them)

SSSdave, this is so true. Upon arrival at a pass, each hiker has to assess whether the route is within their skill/experience level no matter what was previously written.

[tahoefoothills]

I went up and over Harrison Pass in September 2014. All scree; no snow. In various places it seemed very unstable. Not my thing and would not do it again.

[cgundersen]

Hi dap,
As Mav pointed out, we were through there in mid-June, and I'm guessing that unless you have crampons and an ice axe, you may not want to think about Harrison much earlier than late July. I'll post one more closer-up shot than what's in my TR. Like you, I hated Milly's the one time I did it and frankly, Lucy's is worse. But, if you do not mind lots of talus, Ericsson is a decent option and had MUCH less snow than Harrison (and, is more exposed). I've only been over Ericsson once, and it's a grunt, but no worse than Harrison (once the snow has melted). And, if you're coming up from East lake, Ericsson is almost as easy to reach as Harrison. Here's the close up of Harrison in mid-June:

hp.jpg

Cameron

[LMBSGV]

I did Harrison in late July 2007 from Lake Reflection. I angled over from Reflection and managed to find the use trail that appears on the maps, following it much of the way to the lake below the pass. There were lots of boulders to snake through and a level talus patch over deep cracks I rock-hopped across. At the pass itself, I climbed the east side since there was a snow field that was essentially a sheet of ice in the middle extending over to the rocks on the west side. At the time, the rocks on the east side appeared easier to me since I am not a trained technical climber. As WD said, the scree was horrible. It was one step up and sliding back down most of what was gained. When I reached the west edge of the rocks on the east side, I crawled on all fours due to how steep it is and how loose the rocks were. There was a big cairn at the top of the pass. As others have said, I would not do it again.

The attached photo complements Maia’s photos and the ones in the Cross Country Passes section. Rogue’s difficulty summation, “Miserable”, is perfect.

[Harlen]

cgunderson writes:

Like you, I hated Milly's the one time I did it and frankly, Lucy's is worse.

We concur with Cameron. Lizzie has been cursing Roper ever since for calling it Class 2 with no further description. We hauled our boys up over it very carefully with a rope. So don't assume that "Lucy's Foot Path" will be as easy as it sounds. I will add that for me and a young climbing buddy, Harrison in the early season was fine- with an axe and crampons. I would say that it has less objective danger than Lucy's. Good luck, let us know how it goes.