High Sierra Topix

Hello everyone. I'm new here. First post. I've lived on the south shore of Tahoe for almost 20 years and do a lot of backpacking and backcountry skiing. I enjoy peak bagging but I'm not a climber. I'm good with anything up to easy class 4.

I'm thinking about a loop of out of Big Pine Creek, up to Second Lake, Contact Pass, (maybe) Temple Crag, then southwest under Mt. Gayley to Mt. Sill, up the East Couloir, down the SW face, over to Chimney Pass, down to Lower Palisade Lake, JMT for a minute, then up and over Southfork Pass and back to Big Pine Creek trailhead. An alternate, shorter route cuts out Chimney Pass and Southfork Pass and takes Scimitar Pass instead.

From what I've read, Southfork Pass sounds pretty gnarly, especially on the north side (which I'd be descending unless I reverse the loop). It also sounds a lot easier with snow. I did the North Face of University Peak a few weeks ago and there wasn't much snow...but University Pass was almost all snow. I had planned to descend that way and make a loop but one look at University Pass and I decided to descend the way I'd come up (as I didn't have an ice axe or crampons). Snow on the north face of University was also bullet-proof.

Has anyone done Southfork Pass or Scimitar Pass this year, especially in the past month or so? Any feedback? What about the East Couloir on Mt. Sill? Route feedback/suggestions appreciated too!

The wind blows snow down into gullies, off ridges. Scimitar Pass is a ridge, Southfork is a gully. I haven't done either, but I know which I'd rather attempt in late season.

Any snow this time of year is essentially an ice climb, and not to be taken lightly.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hi tahoerob,

I agree with Sam, that the Scimitar ridge might be the way to go. Southfork Pass I will always remember as the only place in the Sierra where I was almost swallowed by a real, blue-ice crevasse. My friend and I loved our time on Southfork Pass; it is a really wild feeling place.

You could try to make your loop by moving north from either Chimney or Scimitar Passes. Agassiz Col is great, however, it has that same icy aspect as Southfork. You could do either Knapsack, or Thunderbolt Pass into Dusy Basin, and then cross Bishop Pass, and re-enter Big Pine Creek via a pass over the Inconsolable Range-- it's called "Jigsaw Pass, I believe.. Just a wild thought. Good Luck on your trip, and welcome to HST!