Circle the Cirque Crest

From near Taboose pass is this view east into Owens Valley with the trail below leading to parts east. Has anybody climbed that rock spire?

Taboose Pass

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

Day 9. Sunday, September 7. A really beautiful case of fair weather had set in, and this morning was the best yet. Ahhh, layover day! Ya gotta love it. Arrow peak was reflected in the perfect mirror of calm windless Bench Lake, reminding us again why this was such a special place, and why this was such a special camp. Little did we know this would be our last easy and carefree day of the trip. After breakfast, we strolled down to the end of the lake to scope out the route down into the Muro Blanco, and just to see the view. There is a small bit of high ground that enables the woodsy traveler to obtain some good views in all directions, with only a few trees to contend with. Afterwards, we set out for Taboose Pass and the lakes there, our day-hike goal. Travel between the lake and pass is fairly easy, unless you happen to be crossing the pass from the east, and then the trails tendency to roller-coaster would be very annoying. I have always enjoyed the area around the trail junctions. The Bench Lake trail breaks out of the woods and crosses what is part of an extensively meadowed grassy area, then crosses the outlet stream of the valley above on large rocks.
In retrospect, we should of walked up the valley a ways to take in the views on our way back, but for some reason we were in a hurry. Beyond the trail junction the trail begins its drunken undulations, gradually gaining altitude through the thick forest. We had thought of climbing up to a nearby lake when we got to the outlet stream, but access looked to be more effort than we were willing to spend at that point, and we just filled up with filtered water instead. Beyond the outlet stream the forest is left behind in favor of tundra and vast open views of the pass area and eventually Upper Basin. As the trail climbed higher, stunning vistas of the Cirque Crest, the Muro Blanco Middle Fork canyon, and Bench Lake were progressively revealed. Walking then changes to strolls through deep green alpine meadows with crystal clear meandering streams and pools. Ahead was a number of false summits and in places, very faint or missing/confusing trail. Heck, after losing the trail once we remarked the trail over Cartridge Pass was in better shape than this pass! And this
was a maintained trail?

Your author at Taboose Pass in an oddly barren but starkly beautiful lunar landscape.

The higher we went, the better the views got, until finally we reached the pass summit and the beat-up and weathered sign marking the park boundary. The views into the east side were limited, so we headed south the check out the lakes there. The pass is a just pile of reddish rocks and the travel gradually turned into a stroll through loose rocks and talus, but nothing compared to what we would find ourselves in the following day. We complained about the rough going, which seemed annoying at the time. When we got in sight of the lakes, we decided to go no closer because of the rocky footing, and turned towards cliffs to the east.
After traversing more rock and snow, we reached the cliff to be finally rewarded with a tremendous view of the canyon descending into the eastern desert. Nearby were waterfalls over barren cliffs, and a truly impressive rock spire across the canyon a ways that must attract many rock climbers. It reminded me of a super red version Lost Arrow in Yosemite. The cliffs at our feet plunged straight down for at least 1000 feet to a small group of trees and the trail, a barely discernible wavy line far below. The peaks surrounding us were very impressive, most of them lofting to sharp and jagged points, and all features pointed out the volcanic origins of the area. Eventually we turned our feet back to the trail, and we began the annoying task of crossing seemingly endless talus and rocks. Finally, we gained the trail, glad we did not have to do anything like that again. The next morning would prove the folly of that thinking.

Just below Taboose Pass awaits one of the stellar views of the Sierra: Arrow Peak and the Cirque Crest over the bench of Bench Lake and the Muro Blanco.

The trail back was as pleasant as the hike up, perhaps better because of the ever-present mouth-gaping views always in our eyes before us. The miles seemed to streak past and soon we were back in camp, kicking back, and soaking in the spectacle of Arrow Peak over the waters of Bench Lake.
When evening came, it was the calmest one yet, with barely a breeze to encourage the donning of coats. We enjoyed the spectacle of day turning to star-bannered night, then turned in, anxiously anticipating our trip into the Muro Blanco in the morning..