Re: Cross-country in the Isberg-Foerster area

Hello folks,

I'm trying to plan a 3--4 night trip with some cross-country. The area between Isberg and Foerster peaks looks promising. What I want to know right now is, is there a scree-free route over the ridge between these two peaks?

Please put your bping and hiking questions in this area (the Backpacking and Hiking ... topic area)

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There is not a lot of scree, period, in Yosemite.
I can only really think of a few places where it's scree and you can usually work around
it by following more of a ridgeline up...
The area between Foerster and Isberg is mainly composed of talus... which imo is a joy
to hike on compared to scree.
I dunno what exactly you have in mind... but the pass just south of Foerster is Blue Lake Pass
which is well documented in Roper's Sierra High Route. And Bench Canyon is gorgeous.
You can search on this site for Bench Canyon and find some photos.
I believe that Klaus also did a nice writeup in this area that would be worth looking at.
Personally I went up and over Foerster instead of using Blue Lake Pass.

Ask more details or whatnot if you like.

Have fun

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To help you out ...

Bench Canyon:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,28062,28062#msg-28062

Tour de Foerster:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,69110,69110#msg-69110

Klas not Klaus...
Be advised that Klas is beyond advanced with what he does cross country...
so... ymmv

Have fun

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2015 01:28PM by chick-on.

Thanks!

I wasn't sure about the difference between scree and talus. Now that you point it out, I agree completely. Trouble is, I'm going with my mother, who has a history of knee trouble and dislikes talus probably even more than scree. Are we better off avoiding the area east of the Clark Range altogether? Maybe we should just stick to Emigrant Wilderness.

That SHR section won't be good, then. Not only is Blue Lake Pass full of talus, so is the slope below Peak 11537, North Glacier Pass, and most of the other passes east of Ritter Range.

Here's a list of some Sierra passes, on HST.

Where are you starting from? What are you looking for?

From Clover there is literally a trail all the way to Twin Island Lakes which are stunning and
a destination unto themselves... from there you could dayhike ...
If over Isberg Pass then the Harriett Plateau and Lake 10005 Plateau are gorgeous...
you could make a small loop going up Foerster Creek to Harriet and back around with
from what I recall no talus... and the walking just as pleasant as any trail
(cross country is far more pleasant than a trail imo anyway... )
If you have never been (and it sounds like it) towards Red Peak Pass from the east
then you would not be disappointed just staying on trail to there and
explore around Red Devil and such.

Anywho... Have fun

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Thank you for the tips! I'll take another look at an itinerary joining Harriet and Red Devil lakes. The dayhikes from Twin Island are not too steep? Camping under the Ritter Range sounds very nice, but I see a lot of countour lines on my map.

You never said where you were starting from... so I assumed Clover Meadow.
The hike from Clover to Twin Island Lakes is nearly all trail...
Twin Island Lakes are gorgeous and a nice destination in my humble opinion.
I would think you could hang out there for a day / poke around the lakes and
maybe do some exploring ...
but yeah, getting into Bench from there ... you do some talus work...

Mainly I was pointing out areas I really liked and would not hesitate to go back
to... and areas which I feel are either nearly all trail or have very little talus work...
Harriett Bench... Twin Island Lakes... Two places I would def. revisit multiple times...

Have fun

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