Deadman Canyon Loop: June 27-29, 2018

I've been wanting to explore east of the Tablelands for a while now, hitting Pterodactyl Pass and Horn Col. After that my itinerary was pretty open and I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go...

6/27: Wolverton TH to Tablelands

I started at 5 pm after work hiking out of Wolverton and made my way up the familiar trail to Pear Lake. Passing Pear I headed up to the Tablelands to spend the night. I decided to camp on a small ridge overlooking some smallish lakes with very few mosquitoes.

6/28: Tablelands to Comanche Meadow

My plans for today were very loose. I started the day heading to Pterodactyl Pass and ended up cutting across Buck Canyon too far south; I should have headed farther north and followed the ridge of Pterodactyl Pass.

Crossing the ridge I descended and ascended to Lonely Lake, following grassy ramps and minor talus hopping. Lonely Lake was that, lonely.

With only marmots and mosquitoes to keep me company I had lunch at the lakes inlet by a small beach.  Horn Col is listed as Class 1 but if you head straight up the steep slabs I would say its closer to class 2. If you are unsure about the steep slabs then bypassing them to the north would be an easy option. One of my potential routes involved going to Copper Mine Pass, Lion Lakes Pass, Tamarack and out via HST. From Horn Col I could see that Copper Mine Pass still had snow on it and the mine itself would be covered. I decided to head down Deadman Canyon and go out via Sugarloaf and Twin Lakes. Descending Horn Col was easy, but finding the Elizabeth Pass trail had me zig-zagging across the head of Deadman until I gave up and followed the creek down. I finally found the trail and made my descent down the canyon. The wildflowers were out in full force and spectacular. I love walking through Deadman and all the great canyon views.

Once I got to Roaring River I decided to make the next day easier and go as far as I could today. Sugarloaf looked doable and an hour and a half later I arrived. The mosquitoes were horrible so I kept going. Comanche Meadow had worse mosquitoes so I kept going. The trail past Comanche had no reasonable campsites so I headed 1/4 mile above the trail and slept on a slope. The slope didn't keep me awake, I was pooped from the 24 mile day.

6/29: Comanche Meadows to Lodgepole TH

The high mileage from the previous day left my feet blistered and tired so it was slow going. But I still had time to go to one of my favorite lakes: Ranger Lake.

Heading up to Silliman Pass I met a ranger friend of mine and we talked a bit on the pass and descended together to Twin Lakes. She had to do her ranger duties at the lake so we departed and a little over 2 hours later I was back at Lodgepole and civilization. I really liked the higher parts of this loop and the mix of on and off-trail. Sugarloaf was beautiful in its own way but I don't think I'll be going back unless really necessary; too much sand and mosquitoes.