High Sierra Topix

for what it's worth, we managed to follow a fairly clear use trail from robinson creek more or less straight through ice lake.
(it was less distinct after the hulk, naturally.)

frozenintime wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 2:26 pm for what it's worth, we managed to follow a fairly clear use trail from robinson creek more or less straight through ice lake.
(it was less distinct after the hulk, naturally.)

commonloon wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:47 pmWe started up Little Slide Canyon near where the creeks meet. Bushwacking our way up.

To be more precise, the use trail for Little Slide Canyon starts here: 38.1455, -119.4168. Leave the poor bushes alone (unless they're manzanita or buckthorn), no whacking should be required.

c9h13no3 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 2:41 pm To be more precise, the use trail for Little Slide Canyon starts here: 38.1455, -119.4168. Leave the poor bushes alone (unless they're manzanita or buckthorn), no whacking should be required.

That is awfully precise. You're taking all the fun out of it. ;-)

You can see the trail in the satellite view, clearly. I distinctly remember asking Paul to turn left here...

RoLF. I remember that clump of trees!

OK, in all fairness, I was busy "using" the tree. Might have put him off.

commonloon wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 4:35 pm

c9h13no3 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 2:41 pm To be more precise, the use trail for Little Slide Canyon starts here: 38.1455, -119.4168. Leave the poor bushes alone (unless they're manzanita or buckthorn), no whacking should be required.

That is awfully precise. You're taking all the fun out of it. ;-)

George Creek is always there if you need it...

Just curious as to why you did not just go in directly, the SHR over Stanton Pass and do the climb, then if you wanted to see Little Slide Canyon do that on the way out, leisurely? I guess my standard mode for late season climbs is to approach the quickest route while I am more confident of weather reports. Once the climb is done, I can do more sight-seeing if time and weather permits. Looks like a very fun route.

I suspect Little Slide Canyon use-trails have become more distinct with more use. I did it in the late 1990's and it was very tricky- not much of a trail. I have gone up George Creek 4 times and descended 4 times; practice makes perfect. But, in my opinion, Enchanted Gorge wins the masochistic prize.

Wandering Daisy wrote: ↑Sat Nov 21, 2020 11:43 am Just curious as to why you did not just go in directly, the SHR over Stanton Pass and do the climb, then if you wanted to see Little Slide Canyon do that on the way out, leisurely?

Poor planning (mostly mine), when I originally created the route I had planned more peaks (Kettle and Blacksmith). My original route was overly ambitious for the time of year, etc. We had agreed even before hitting the trail that the primary objective of the trip was to get out and that grabbing a peak or 2 was secondary.

I also wanted to recon Little Slide Canyon. There was a good use trail as we got closer to The Hulk, but before there we weren't on it, so I can't say how good it is lower. The turn off from the main trail wasn't obvious either, lots of faint use trails leaving the main trail near there.

Not to beat this to death, but, hey, we are mostly all locked down, the local mall is closed, and Trader Joe's ran out of dog food, so let's continue to beat it to death.
Daisy, I did not plan the route, I went along when Paul said he wanted to go off-trail the first day. I did not care, I just wanted to get out, and how bad could it be? (Don't answer.) I also was not paying attention and let Paul lead to where he wanted to launch, as he kept muttering about his friend who told him there was a use-trail.
But I have to say that a post-mortem supports most of our decisions. It is often the case that small trails near streams lead only to small streams, as Paul mentions, and they die there. So other than taking a particular trail because it might be a propitious place to cross a stream, there was nothing obvious that it was THE use trail for the canyon.
The topo supports that interpretation. The route we started on, shown in red, seems a plausible path. The blue shows the parts of the use-trail that are obvious from the satellite view. Just looking at the topo only, (which in reality one never does, but this is an academic discussion), one could easily suspect that the blue line would lead one to a steep place in order to avoid a mucky marshy area. Both the red and implied blue paths maintain the same avoidance distance from the creek and its rocks and growth. From the topo and boots on the ground, the red seemed about right.
My main criticism is that we did not re-evaluate and look around harder for the trail sooner, like about where the green arrow is, when the trees and brush open up a bit. Usually when you suspect a path is nearby, it is indeed only 20 feet away.