Anyone done Grinnell Col? (Pioneer Basin area)

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mountainLight
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Anyone done Grinnell Col? (Pioneer Basin area)

Post by mountainLight »

Hello all. I have been lurking here for some time, but been way to busy to post anything. I am so glad to see this forum back. I was a member back before we had the hacking incident, must have been a year back or so. The site just went dark and i checked back for weeks and finally gave up. I stumbled across this last month when reasearching this years trip. Wonderful information here, I hope to post more often.

Ok to the topic. Planning on hiking into pioneer basin this summer. We will be leaving from Edison. Part of the trip we wanted to explore Grinnell lake. Apparently there is a column that connects Grinnell Lake Basin with Upper Hopkins lake, however the route seems to be questioned.

You can see the Grinnell Col. marked here. http://sierrabackpacker.com/Crocker.htm But apparently there is some dissagreement with Secor on the location of this Col. http://sierrabackpacker.com/sierrapasses-new.htm and http://www.climber.org/Secor/grinnell.html However, even reading the corrections mentioned, compared to the map provided they don't seem to match. Has anyone actually done this? Is the pass doable. I am looking for a way to connect Grinnell Lake to Hopkins Lake and then through Crocker Col into Pioneer.
Last edited by mountainLight on Wed May 24, 2006 2:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Randonnee
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Post by Randonnee »

Can't comment on your question, but it is great to see another name from the past appear :) Welcome back :D :D
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Snow Nymph
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Post by Snow Nymph »

Yeah! Welcome back!

and good to see you back, Harry!

(sorry, can't help either)
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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mountainLight
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Post by mountainLight »

Thanks for the welcome backs, but it isn't Harry, snowy. I don't remember what my old username was to be honest, it would have to be looked up by my email address. Its Mark. Hope you won't be taking all the welcomes back now :)
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sierra cyd
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Post by sierra cyd »

Hi,
Now I'm wondering about the use of "Col," when I saw the subject "Grinnell Column" I thought this was a rock climbing question. But now I see you mean "Grinnell Col." Isn't "Col" just the French word for "mountain pass" that we've adopted on maps? I think a "column" is an entirely different thing. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Sorry I can't be helpful, but I'd really like to hear how your trip goes, we were interested in going from Pioneer Basin to the McGee Lakes last summer, but we did a different trip instead, so it will probably come up again in the future. Anyway, I checked out the link to the "corrected" Secor description and compared it to maps hoping that I could figure it out but to no avail.

Looking forward to your trip report!
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mountainLight
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Post by mountainLight »

Hah ... i always assumed it was column. You are probably right. I changed the title to be more clear.
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ndwoods
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Post by ndwoods »

I myself have not done it. However, last year after we came over Hopkins and down to the Mono trail we ran into 3 guys who had done it. They made it sound not so bad....
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Post by SSSdave »

In 1996 we spent a couple days at Grinnel before climbing north to Fish Creek areas. I was interested in eyeballing a route into the Hopkins basin without having to climb all the way down to Mono Creek and then back up. From the west this look quite doable with scattered whitebark pine slopes and minor ledges:

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n= ... ayer=DRG25

The map looks likewise straightforward from the east. Certainly less steep than Grinnel Col and much more exposed to sun so there would not be a problem with snow later into the summer. Also a bit lower too. I have never been in Pioneer Basin. However the Crocker Col route on the map is a rather shady coulour that is likely to require crampons and or ice axe. In any case adding up the numbers just dropping down into the upper Mono Creek area out of Hopkins requires left up and down. You probably don't need to follow the trail all the way down to junction at 9330 but rather contour across at 9600 till you meet the trail.

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n= ... ayer=DRG25

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Post by quentinc »

I've crossed over from the Hopkins to the Grinnell area many times, although I'd have to guess my route is slightly to the south of what is marked as Grinell Col on that map. On that map, doesn't it seem like the obvious saddle is further south?

Anyway, it isn't bad at all -- Class 2, if you head to the easiest saddle. Just a steep climb, with lots of gravel on the east side. By the way, Grinnell Lake is a candidate for the most beautiful spot on the planet. Especially at sunset.
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mountainLight
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Post by mountainLight »

Quentinc, SSSDave the saddle you both pointed out http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n= ... ayer=DRG25 does seem the obvious point, I had looked at that as well, but with nothing written about it i was unsure about what it would really be like. I am sure we have all seen things on the map to find when you get there some drop off or other obsticle in the way. Thanks for the great info. It does seem quite a bit easier than Grinnell Col from the map.

As for Crocker there seems to be quite a bit more info and even pictures on the web for this one. It doesn't seem too bad, but you never know with the snow. The shortcut at 9600 might be a nice alternate option.
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