Beck Lakes Pass

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Stanley Otter
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Beck Lakes Pass

Post by Stanley Otter »

GENERAL OVERVIEW: Leads between Beck Lakes and upper Iron Creek drainage
CLASS/DIFFICULTY: Class 2
LOCATION: Sierra & Inyo National Forests/Ansel Adams Wilderness HST Map
ELEVATION: 10800 feet
USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt Ritter, CA
ROUTE DESCRIPTION: I crossed from north to south in mid-July 2018 -- winter 2017-18 had below average snowfall. From the large meadow below the pass on the north side, ascend ramps and climb up short ledges. There are many possible routes. I made use of a snowfield near the top rather than climbing a steeper rock slope. Straightforward Class 2 hiking all the way up with nice grassy spots along the way. The south side is steep with some loose talus and gravel near the top. I kept near the wall of the chute on the left/east for the upper portion. There is a reasonably large, flat, grassy area that overlooks the upper Beck Lake that I did some Class 2 scrambling to access on the way down. From there I descended steep grassy slopes, eventually making my way to the north shore of the lake. Hope this helps.
Dennis
Beck Lakes Pass A.jpg
Beck Lakes Pass B.jpg
Beck Lakes Pass C.jpg
Beck Lakes Pass D.jpg
Beck Lakes Pass E.jpg
Beck Lakes Pass F.jpg
Minarets.jpg
Ritter Range.jpg
Upper Beck Lake.jpg
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frozenintime
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Re: Beck Lakes Pass

Post by frozenintime »

i thought i'd chime in on this pass. we went the opposite direction as mr otter in july 2021. it was a very low snow year, and we didn't encounter any.

the route to ascend from upper beck lake is pretty clear. the grassy ramps can be steep at times, but are easy enough. in a couple spots it almost feels like there are terraced stairs built into the hillside. the views back to upper beck (with bits of lower beck at times too) are gorgeous.

as we got closer to the pass and transitioned onto rock, we mulched our way over quite a bit of small, loose granite that was roly-poly and sloppy underfoot.

we ascended the final chute on the climbers left (west) side. this looked better from below. once at the top, it was easy to see why mr. o chose to descend the other side (east), which looks better from above. in the end, i kind of doubt that either side is much better than the other.

in the chute, we hugged the left sidewall and often used handholds on that rock for our only truly stable point of contact. we were mostly climbing over broken up pieces of slippery rock sitting atop larger, more stable boulders. this section is short, but i found it harder than anticipated. (that said, i've probably only been over 10ish xc passes.)

on the north side, the walking is far easier -- though the terrain is surprisingly complex and cliffy. we were ultimately descending to iron creek, and found that getting down to the creek took *way* longer than we'd expected given the topo.
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