Tips? Lion Lake Pass to Glacier Ridge to the Tablelands

[looks easy from here]

Why are you dealing with coordinating 2 cars instead of just adding 4 miles to complete the loop?

[kylekuzma]

Why are you dealing with coordinating 2 cars instead of just adding 4 miles to complete the loop?

I'm coming from LA and my buddy is coming from SF so we're going to have two cars anyways. Maybe we will if we want to, but I've done that (beautiful) walk back to Crescent Meadows before and I imagine that after 4.5 days we'll want food and beer more than to see some additional trees

[Wandering Daisy]

I have never been successful at finding Copper Mine Pass coming up Cloud Canyon. I have dropped down to Tamarack Lake and taken the trail up towards Elisabeth Pass, and left the trail with easy xc up the creek that drains from the lake just west of Horn Col (sorry cannot remember the name of it), camped about 300 feet below the lake then veered over to Pterodactyl Pass. I have also come up from Deadman, over Horn Col, into Tablelands.

I think the Big Bird Route is a lot most scenic. I have been up above Big Bird day hiking but did not continue to the top. It looked OK. The lakes above Big Bird and below the top are really spectacular. I have gone down the Tablelands drainages from the little tarns on the top above Big Bird- not bad.

[druid]

the lake just west of Horn Col (sorry cannot remember the name of it)

Lonely Lake. If you decide to stay there, beware, there be marmots.

[wildhiker]

the lake just west of Horn Col (sorry cannot remember the name of it)

Lonely Lake. If you decide to stay there, beware, there be marmots.

I've camped at Lonely Lake twice (2001 and 2017) and never saw a marmot. However, both times I was there, a couple of bucks wandered into my camp area within 20 feet of me in broad daylight acting like they had never seen a person before and certainly weren't afraid of me. I guess they thought I was pretty safe since I had no antlers
-Phil

[thegib]

I crossed your Glacier Ridge pass west to east last year. We crossed I think immediately to the east of your red spot. The crux is on the west side where we had thick snow transitioning to slopey ledges. The descent to cloud canyon is very gentle free walking. Don't camp at your 2b, camp at lake 10919 just to the south of it. I haven't tried to traverse above the bottom of cloud canyon, the walk along the creek is so nice it didn't occur to me.
On your descent to Deadman canyon stay to the north of the outlook creek. It gets cliffy to the south. Once you're half or 2/3 of the way down you can cross the creek and traverse south.

[thegib]

I should have said we ascended roughly following the outlet creek to the lowest of Glacier Ridge's lakes, 9914. We started south of creek and wasted time before crossing to the north.