This was the day we very reluctantly left Bear Lakes Basin. But, if we wanted to complete our planned itinerary and peaks it meant packing up and continuing onward. Our plan was to depart the Basin via the Sierra High Route (Feather Pass). We would drop into LaSalle Lake and camp somewhere above Merriam Lake. This would put us into a good position to climb Royce Peak either that afternoon or the following morning.
Trip Report
From our campsite on the far side of Big Bear Lake we hiked over to Ursa Lake. Originally, Sooz and I followed Gordon along the northern shore of Ursa Lake, but the terrain got a bit sketchy and we were pretty much walled out. Gordon scrambled up to find a way around, while Sooz and I just turned around and followed the easy south shore of the Lake. In between Ursa and Bearpaw we crossed back to the north side.
Inlet to Bear Paw Lake
The route to Feather Pass from Bearpaw Lake is pretty easy. We followed the inlet creek as it climbed gently towards Feather Peak. The Pass wasn’t yet in sight but the route was clear. I had read somewhere that Feather Pass was easy as long as you stick to the green, otherwise it is endless huge talus. I found that to be generally true – following the inlet kept us on easy terrain but I could see how it could become ‘endless talus’ if you got off this path. It all goes, though.
Climbing to Feather Pass
Just above the largest tarn, just after we had gone through a small section of talus and the pass came into sight, we ran into a couple who were out exploring the area for the day. It turns out it was Mokelumnekid from High Sierra Topix. Small world.
Feather Pass
From here, the ramp to the pass is about 90% slabby bedrock. Just below the pass there was a wide snowfield that was easy to cross, then we just had to find the best route through the granite to get that last 50 feet or so to the pass. The granite walls had looked a bit difficult from a distance but it was easy to find a way through using ramps and good hand and foot holds. I was grinning like an idiot during the whole climb to the pass, thoroughly enjoying this kind of cross-country travel.
Final steps to Feather Pass
We only lingered at Feather Pass for a few minutes. Clouds had been building and though it was still morning, they were building in that textbook Sierra way – it wouldn’t be long before they started turning grey and possibly storming. We couldn’t see LaSalle Lake from the pass but the descent route from the Pass was clear – just go down. It wasn’t long until we could see the Lake and knew where to fine-tune our aim.
Descending Feather Pass to LaSalle Lake
We got into a bit of steep terrain above LaSalle Lake but found a way through it. I’m not sure if there is an easier way; what we found worked, but it didn’t seem quite right – it might be easer to follow the inlet, though it looked like there might be some cliffs in there preventing passage. I didn’t get a clear look to know for sure if it goes or not.
LaSalle was desolate and buggy, and although the water was beautifully clear and crisp we hurried by without looking for campsites and continued down to the unnamed lakes below it. Down here we found a really nice place to camp and decided to settle in before the storms began. Obviously we would not be climbing Royce this afternoon, so we took the afternoon off. Sooz and Gordon napped in their tents and I wandered around with my fishing pole while the clouds continued to threaten us with the possibility of rain.
View from Camp
The fishing in this small stretch of lakes and creeks was amazing. I was catching golden trout after golden trout. It was a bit of a challenge, too – they were really good at spitting out my (barbless) hooks. It only sprinkled lightly for a few minutes, and by evening the fading light and clouds created a dramatic sunset.
