- My main comment is that the route description really needs to point out that the east slopes of Mt McClellan consist of 1000 vertical feet of scree. It's not the worst scree I've ever encountered, but the grass is very thin and the slope is reasonably steep, so this is NOT for beginners. Going up the east slopes of Edwards to the saddle would be a much better route for hikers (or presumably taking the road up the NE slopes of McClellan).
- On the way to Edwards from McClellan, we went off the connecting ridge and took a more southern route up - avoiding exposure and snowfields.
- The reason there are big cairns on the ridge is that this is the Continental Divide. Most ridges that form the CD have large cairns.
- In my experience (e.g. according to Gerry Roach) class 1 is where there is a trail - there is a very light trail along the ridge line for a while, but otherwise this entire hike is class 2.
- We descended the north slopes of Argentine Peak down to a switchback in the pass road - this was a good solid route down, easy to avoid scree and rock.
- I think it's worth pointing out that it's pretty straightforward to end the loop at any point (at least prior to Wilcox, I don't know about that) if weather or exhaustion become an issue. You can go straight down into the basin from almost any point after reaching the top of McClellan to just before the top of Argentine peak.
- This is a great hike - from the top of Edwards we could see 50 or more people on Gray's, but we had the summit to ourselves.
Yeah, I can see what you mean. It seems that I have fallen victim to my own subjectivity. :o)
I've been doing alot of off-trail hiking and route-finding so what I rate something may not necessairly be comparable to simple jeep-trail hiking/walking; in terms of what class 1 and class 2 are. It's difficult but within reason to place limits on denotations of ratings.
I wasn't aware of the cairns on the CD. However it's something I'll most definately become use to come August!
Oh, you also have a good point about the 1000' vertical!! But as you said, I fail to find where I mentioned this is a good beginner hike.
djilk - Jun 19, 2006 3:01 pm - Voted 5/10
Several comments/changes- My main comment is that the route description really needs to point out that the east slopes of Mt McClellan consist of 1000 vertical feet of scree. It's not the worst scree I've ever encountered, but the grass is very thin and the slope is reasonably steep, so this is NOT for beginners. Going up the east slopes of Edwards to the saddle would be a much better route for hikers (or presumably taking the road up the NE slopes of McClellan).
- On the way to Edwards from McClellan, we went off the connecting ridge and took a more southern route up - avoiding exposure and snowfields.
- The reason there are big cairns on the ridge is that this is the Continental Divide. Most ridges that form the CD have large cairns.
- In my experience (e.g. according to Gerry Roach) class 1 is where there is a trail - there is a very light trail along the ridge line for a while, but otherwise this entire hike is class 2.
- We descended the north slopes of Argentine Peak down to a switchback in the pass road - this was a good solid route down, easy to avoid scree and rock.
- I think it's worth pointing out that it's pretty straightforward to end the loop at any point (at least prior to Wilcox, I don't know about that) if weather or exhaustion become an issue. You can go straight down into the basin from almost any point after reaching the top of McClellan to just before the top of Argentine peak.
- This is a great hike - from the top of Edwards we could see 50 or more people on Gray's, but we had the summit to ourselves.
Kiefer - Jun 25, 2006 7:23 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Several comments/changesYeah, I can see what you mean. It seems that I have fallen victim to my own subjectivity. :o)
I've been doing alot of off-trail hiking and route-finding so what I rate something may not necessairly be comparable to simple jeep-trail hiking/walking; in terms of what class 1 and class 2 are. It's difficult but within reason to place limits on denotations of ratings.
I wasn't aware of the cairns on the CD. However it's something I'll most definately become use to come August!
Oh, you also have a good point about the 1000' vertical!! But as you said, I fail to find where I mentioned this is a good beginner hike.