High Sierra Topix

Nobody has checked out the Star/Kerhlein class 3 chute yet. Hope you all can get that into your itinerary.

Mav:

Most likely the Ritter-Banner area, with the main emphasis on Southeast Glacier and Clyde variation, and the North Face route.

That sounds great Mav., count me in. I see now that this is slated for 2022, and not this year. That's fine too, though we just might climb Ritter's SE glacier route, and if so, I'll look about.

@maverick That sounds good. Particularly the North Face as it sees less traffic IMHO, and it is less likely someone could spot something. It also generally requires ice axe and crampons.

@Harlen agree that "Moats" or hidden ledges near the various routes are the best places to look.

@Jimr I think Henry, Clark and Scott may have been in the Starr Chute last time around, but just down to the Starr memorial. They had traversed from Clyde to Micheal. I tend to think that the entire west side has probably seen less search effort and see less traffic. Using one of the notches does seem reasonable for a big day hike also.

@Jimr were you talking about a different chute that the one leading to Micheal?

@maverick That sounds good. Particularly the North Face as it sees less traffic IMHO, and it is less likely someone could spot something. It also generally requires ice axe and crampons.

Exactly.
That is why this route is at the top of our list of areas of interest.

@commonloon
The class 3 chute you approach from Deadhorse Lk. Cirque and end up on the ridge between Star and Kerhein

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.6545 ... z=16&b=mbh

@Jimr Awe. I see.

I visited Rice and Bedayan from the west side, ascending, I believe, Starr's Chute, and descending an unnamed chute slightly south of Bedayan that would have been unpleasant to down climb. Secor notes that Starr's Chute "is full of loose rock and demands intelligent risk management", but I didn't find that to be the case at all, so I may have been it the wrong chute, or the difficulties begin after the the split between the left and right branch, as I went left to Rice.

From the head of the left branch (i.e. from directly between Rice/Eichorn) I ascended what appeared to be the only reasonable route for those without a belay. Others had clearly been that way before as there were rappel slings, so this section gets at least some traffic, and I am guessing it is the path most people take when traversing the Minarets, whether headed north or south.

I didn't see anything of note in Bedayan's register, though it could easily be missed, and I believe I couldn't find one on Rice.

I found a shoe while descending from Bedayan, but thanks to the fact there was a register on Bedayan, without which there would be zero clue as to the shoe's origin, I was able to figure out it was probably this guy's and seemed unlikely to warrant further investigation.

For anyone curious, I overlaid the GPX file onto a Caltopo map, though there is a lot of distortion from being in relatively narrow chutes.

Matt's climbs before going missing on the 17th:

7/8 - Climbed Reigeluth Minaret Confirmed
7/9 - Climbed Dana Couloir Confirmed
7/11 - Climbed Clyde Minaret Confirmed
On 7/11, "ddsstyle," who is a maintenance worker, met Matt on the shuttle. "We spoke about doing Ritter, Banner, Clyde, and the cross country hike between Ediza, Iceberg, Cecile, and Minaret Lake. He was unclear of his itinerary for the day when he got of the bus at Devils Postpile."

7/12 - Climbed Mammoth Crest Confirmed
7/13 - Climbed Unicorn Peak Confirmed

The Ediza - Minaret corridor gets a lot of usage, and we have searched that section several times. Unless he went off route, someone would have found some evidence in 8 years. Since he mentioned his interest in doing Ritter-Banner to the maintenance worker (whom I spoke to personally too), maybe Matt was keeping Ritter-Banner for his last day on the 17th.

Are you thinking September of 2022?