One for AndrewF

Usual 4th of July trip for the wifie and myself.

This time finally got my flippers into Stubblefield Canyon via Leavitt Mdws and Rainbow Canyon.

One of first views of Upper Stubblefield:


In Z Canyon:


Tadpoles on a beach Lake:


Wells Canyon:


Wells Ridge:


Into Thompson we went...

Look at the difference from 2011 (Thompson)


2013 (Thompson)


2011 (July 2nd) :


2013 (July 5th):


Up and out Thompson, then Rainbow

A bunch more here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.chick.on/Stubblefield

Enjoy

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Thank you, thank you! Loved the pics!!! Yup, would have loved to dip into so many of the lakes and creeks!!!

Did that storm hit you? Love the clouds! (And the UFO-visible pack cover! )

And amazing contrast between 2011 and 2013. Thanks for driving that home... The dryness we saw was scary for this time of year...

Anyway, will have to get up there...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2013 06:06PM by JustKeepWalking.

U welcome. U can thank ur hubby. (he keeps writing them so I figure I owe ewes this one at least)

We got smacked with T-storm on Tuesday - 6.5 miles in... no biggie... just setup tent
and jump in and have lunch and a nap... after that we dodged the rest of the storms...
they either being where we had come from... or over by the Sawtoots/Bridgeport...
with sunny skies over us... and nasties to the north or east.

Here's the view to Peeler and Matterhorn/Sawtoots... one of the lakes you'll be
a swim-on in in Aug:

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In case ur wondering... "One for AndrewF" is in repsonse to "One for Chick-on"
and he mentioned he wanted to do Stubblefield...

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Nummy nummy lake! Looking forward to it! Just ordered a custom 16" Bearikade for that trip. BBop doesn't want his fritos crushed!

Dang! I should have written "Lake Nummy Nummy" on the permit application. Oh, well.

Fan-freaking-tastic. I have a great trip planned for August but every time I look here I want to change my mind.

You can't really go wrong in The Sierra, can you?

Well... with all the goodness I knew awaited once we got to Upper Piute Mdws...
the first 10+ miles aren't all that... esp. with the roto-tilled trail..
But yowza... yeah... once in Rainbow Canyon area... it was views upon views
for the entire time... having to search for shady tree to have lunch.

Anywho... have fun... it's all good

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Wow. I think you read my mind. I was searching for a way to extend Roper's route to the north and got to looking at the map of northern Yosemite and noticed that it looked like you could piece together a route that links each of the big north/south canyons together. That got me looking at the Stubblefield area... and after lots of searching for info on the net, there basically wasn't anything more than a photo or two and the info available in Secor. That's about when I figured out I had stubbled... er, stumbled onto something special. It's not every day that you can find an area of the Sierra that has basically zero information about it available. The Schifrin guide has a little info but nothing too specific. Usually Bob Burd or that pink chicken guy has posted some kind of trip report to just about everywhere. That's about when I stopped looking and figured it'd be a good adventure to go out there and just see whether the route goes or not without too much beta.

Here is what I came up with:
Instead of going over Horse Creek Pass, take Matterhorn Pass to Matterhorn Canyon.
Then go over Burro Pass to Slide Canyon.
Then Mule Pass & Rock Island Pass to Kerrick Meadow.
Over the saddle west of Peeler Lake to Thompson Canyon.
Over the saddle (let's call it "Wells Pass" just N of Wells Peak, then down to Lake 9774 into Stubblefield Canyon.
Over the saddle (let's call it "Craig Pass" just N of Craig Peak, then down to Mary Lake and down Tilden Creek.
Over the saddle between Keyes Peak and Saurian Crest (let's call it "Keyes Pass" out to Jack Main Canyon.
Then on to Bond Pass, Emigrant Pass, and along the crest to Sonora Pass.

The only ones that aren't well known with loads of info are Wells Pass, Craig Pass and Keyes Pass. I am pretty sure Keyes is easy, was almost totally convinced Wells would work, and still 50/50 on whether Craig Pass would be more like class 3-4 than easy cross country. (Guess I'll just have to go find out.) But... very cool to see pics of the mysterious Lake 9774 as well as Wells Pass. I think 9774 might be the most remote lake in the park? That'd be an interesting question for another thread.

You can see Craig Pass in this pic in the background: https://picasaweb.google.com/103089501068510688008/Stubblefield#5898066184016175474
Looks pretty steep, but there's a line of green most of the way to the top. People climb Craig Peak... so I doubt it's impossible from the east.
Not sure when I will get around to doing that whole itinerary up there... but Stubblefield and Wells/Craig/Keyes is high on my list, just to go see what's out there. Especially now after seeing your pics of Stubblefield which looks drop dead gorgeous. Reminds me of Spiller Canyon but with more granite. Thanks... really enjoyed this one... I am sure you and your wife did too.

I didn't read your mind... I mentioned this trip to you at the permit station... and you had
said you wanted to do Stubblefield...

All those passes I think are pretty do-able... definitely the drop from Lake 9774 is...
When we were there I mentioned that we could just hike up there b/c I really wanted to
check out that lake... but the wife nixed that... so we continued down further...
Little did she know I was simply planting the seed to get there the next day by climbing
up what I would call "The Double Muro Blanco"... White Granite on both sides of the canyon.
I highly recommend "Wells Canyon" ... really nice... really... nice...
But then again there is just so much niceness... already dreaming up 100 other routes...
Keyes and the rest are pretty simple... Wells was an unknown... but it was fairly simple..
I simply told her that we go there... and take a look... and if it doesn't work... we have
an extra day to come back down and work around into Thompson.
Same thing went for "Double Muro Blanco" climb out... start going... and just don't
go up anything can't get back down... and go slow and steady and have fun doing it...
From the get-go she said she didn't want to do anything dangerous. It was pretty fun
when we go near the Yosemite border she was planning the attack to go up and
over in the park. After that I knew we were golden.

Been up Saurian North Tower, Forsyth, Keyes, and Tower itself... it's all backpack-able
imo... all those passes... not toooooo much issue... and lots of fun...

Posted a bit about Saurian before I believe before.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed. Lots of great stuff out there that gets little press...
(I'm still trying to figure out how Doghead is class 2... I can only surmise that
no one has been up there in ages.... tried last year... and got stymied near the end...
esp. after telling the wife I was definitely NOT going up it that day... )

Here's the view of Craig Pass from below:

Sorry about the not so great pix... I ruined the LCD on my fav. cam...
and it's a 4 month wait for a replacement... sigh...

and here's the view of 9774 outlet:


Have fun on your adventures

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Quote
chick-on
I didn't read your mind... I mentioned this trip to you at the permit station... and you had
said you wanted to do Stubblefield...

Yeah...but I didn't mention anything about getting there via Wells or 9774. I figured they were obscure enough that nobody would go up there... funny that you came up with the same route.

Quote
chick-on
Little did she know I was simply planting the seed to get there the next day by climbing
up what I would call "The Double Muro Blanco"... White Granite on both sides of the canyon.

You mean the canyon south of 9774 and north of Point 9236? So you guys didn't just climb up the outlet of 9774?

Quote
chick-on
Have fun on your adventures

You too. Sonora Pass this weekend with some BPL folks... then probably going to climb Goddard and check out Red Mountain/Blackcap Basins on the weekend of the 20th. Then the JMT in August. Still gotta do Starr King this season too... I'll let you know when we are gonna head out there.

Quote
AndrewF
You mean the canyon south of 9774 and north of Point 9236? So you guys didn't just climb up the outlet of 9774?

Ya
We climbed up here and then headed north.
Pix #21 on

Had about 20 zillion ideas... I won't go into them... other than working on the WL lakes in the park now...
and I spend way too much time looking at maps and scheming...

Have fun

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Quote
AndrewF
...Usually Bob Burd or that pink chicken guy has posted some kind of trip report to just about everywhere..."

Those with fowlness like to flap their wings. When they do, just be sure to pluck their feathers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2013 07:59PM by Ohnivy-Drak.

I have no idea (as usual) wutt da heck u talking about.

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Quote
chick-on
I have no idea (as usual) wutt da heck u talking about.

who plucked your feathers? Was it Larry?

The resemblance is uncanny.