Circle the Cirque Crest

To the left of the gray area seen on the left horizon is Gray Pass. This is looking down the drainage from the route to White Pass. The cross country is strenuous but surprisingly easy. Not a bit of talus has to be crossed up to this point on our route.

On to White Pass...

Circle The Cirque Crest - By D.W.Donehoo (All rights reserved)

We both agreed this basin was not only a worthy destination, but a great spot to return to. With enough time and health, we may...we may. With great reluctance we resumed our loads and headed up hill. The first order of business was to cross the stream. There are two streams coming down from the south, and the idea is to get between them. By traveling up stream, you reach a delta area that breaks the largest stream into many small ones. Careful route finding showed us a way across with nary a wet boot. Then began the hard work climbing towards lofty White Pass. We began by climbing towards the large lake to the south. Bush and distance did not invite a closer look at this barren lake, and more route finding bypassed an unexpected large amount of bush to the high route east of the lake. A bit of easy climbing over clean rock and more route-finding eventually got us well above the large lake below, opening even more vistas for our inspection.

A surprising amount of complex terrain must be navigated to get to the open slopes below the lower part of White Pass. At this point, if you did not look at a map or altimeter, looking up, you would swear you were almost to White Pass. Instead you meet a large and noisy stream rushing down slope and a false summit that leads into a small grassy intimate valley with a quieter meandering stream.

Dave had gone ahead and found a rocky slope to climb out of the small valley, while I crossed the stream and ascended an obvious grassy gully that was steep enough to suck a lot of strength from me. We were well over 11,000 feet now, so getting a bit tired quickly was not unexpected. Hey, just gimme a chance to catch my breath, will ya? After that it was a short walk up to the nearby pass, and a welcome chance to drop the durn pack!