Kermsuh Lake to Hell Hole Lake possible?

[ibenick]

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[Dr. Nebz]

I am sure anything is possible. If there is no trail, you might be route finding. But that is half the adventure if you ask me.

[ibenick]

Route finding I don't mind, soloing over a boulder-strewn ridge at 11,600? Nah. If I weren't going alone I might just go for it but in my situation it's probably too risky. Google Earth can be very misleading when it comes to cliffs and slopes due to the way the light was shining when they took the image.

[ibenick]

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[Dr. Nebz]

Route finding I don't mind, soloing over a boulder-strewn ridge at 11,600? Nah. If I weren't going alone I might just go for it but in my situation it's probably too risky. Google Earth can be very misleading when it comes to cliffs and slopes due to the way the light was shining when they took the image.

Yeah, google earth really does flatten all the features.

I would have to evaluate it to see if it was do'able. And you have to remember, down climbing moraines and talus slopes is harder than up climbing. Especially if you are packing weight.

[mhambi]

The lower saddle to the left and then up and over the summit might work... or at least up above those cliff bands.

anyway you slice it it's going to be hard steep hiking.

http://i36.tinypic.com/20idsut.jpg

[ibenick]

That's not a bad looking route mhambi. Thanks!

[mhambi]

I'm all about finding the easy way... :mrgreen:

Still, I'm glad that I'm not the one who has to hike it...

[denaliguide]

i think i would have a crack at it. the whole "because i'm solo" has never stopped me from sticking my neck out there. if things do get to hairy, adjust the route or go back.

[Dr. Nebz]

Mhambi, that looks like a logical route.

I still would have to look at it in the flesh to see if it was feasible. I think for my first attempt, I would want to day hike it without the weight. Then if you find a negotiable route, then make note of it if you were going to go there again. Looks like some fishable waters high up over there. Good luck and be safe, and if you take a GPS, have it trace your route. Would love to see where it was not as gnarly.

[ddavis]

If I have myself oriented correctly on the route mhambi shows, you can get up to the saddle there on the ridge pretty easily. There is a sheep/deer trail that goes right up there. I go to Kermsuh Lake from the highway by going up to that saddle and down into the basin. So you can get up onto the ridge pretty easily. I don't how far you can follow it, however. I've never gone that way. I've looked, and it always seemed pretty rugged to me, but that doesn't really mean much.

[ibenick]

That's interesting that you get into Kermsuh that way. Where do you start? Do you know mileage or roughly how long it takes you?

[Scott P]

I've been to the pass between A-1 and Kletting from both sides, so the crossing is certainly possible.

Unfortunately though the last time I was there was August 31 1996 with my dad, so my information might be a bit dated.

Anyway, getting to the pass from either side is not exposed, but it has you standard teetering boulderhopping.

Here's a photo (Joseph Bullough) of the pass from the Kershuh Lake side:

36044 (http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/69318.jpg)

Here's a photo from A-1 Peak looking at the Hell Hole side of the pass:

36045

As you can see, neither side is that bad.

In 1996, parts of the trail to Hell Hole (we started right across from the Gold Hill Road on Highway 50) were a mess because of the new road they slashed through to near Hell Hole from the Christmas Meadows Road. At that time, finding part of the turnoff to Hell Hole was tricky, but that was 14 years ago and things are probably different. Six years ago, I did write a brief route description of the route, but as said it might be somewhat outdated:

http://www.summitpost.org/route/162160/hell-hole-basin.html

[ddavis]

I don't know the mileage, but there's a pull out across the road from the turn off for Ruth Lake. We park there and head for the saddle. There is a route we follow that avoids a lot of the boulder fields, but I can't describe it. I think it's less than four hours from the car to where we camp. It's a steep climb, but relatively quick. It makes for a very nice overnighter.

[ibenick]

Thanks for sharing that route ddavis, it looks awesome. If I don't do that this weekend I definitely will in the next couple of weeks. I somehow hurt the arch of my foot in Alaska last week and I've been thinking it would be gone by now but unfortunately not. With that in mind I might have to pick something short and easy so I don't put upcoming trips in jeopardy.

On a side note, has anyone noticed how recent the google earth images are? The images of the Uintas, at least in the Kermsuh lake area are dated June 23, 2009. When I checked images of my neighborhood in SLC it was from June of this year. I hope they keep up the updates and maybe even make it so you can look back through previous versions to see the changes over time. That would be sweet.

[ddavis]

Actually, I would like to go up there two weeks from now. Would you consider letting me tag along if you go then? I don't know about route finding the way to Hell Hole, but I would like to do an overnighter to Kermsuh Lake, so I'd be up for that part of your trip at least.

[ibenick]

Absolutely! I'd love to have the company. The route finding to Hell Hole was supposed to happen this weekend but with my foot I'm going to skip it and go with a really easy one night trip, I'm actually heading out for it right now. I'll plan on your route to Kermsuh in two weeks!

[ibenick]

ddavis - I can't do Kermsuh next weekend as expected. I think I'm going to do it this weekend instead but the traditional route. You're welcome to join if that fits your schedule though.

[ddavis]

I saw your invite, thanks. I have to work tomorrow, unfortunately.