Cataract Creek Pass Write up and photos MAP Dumbbell Lakes Pass Writeup and photos Here is a rough map location of
Upper Basin Crossing I have crossed Dumbbell Lakes Pass 4 times and Cataract Creek Pass once.
The Dumbbell Lakes area and Lake Basin are both gems. if you can spend the time getting through there certainly do so. I would actually recommend a bit more West on Palisade Creek taking what I have took to calling
Adventurer Pass. It leads you into Lake 10,565 which is one of my favorite cross country areas. From here you can cross what I call
Bear Pass or
Observation Peak Pass. Both are class 2 and lead you into the Dumbbell Lakes area. If you take Observation Peak Pass it will take you within 500 feet of the summit so you can bag that as you go. Although you will cross 2 passes instead of one this route is easier in a technical sense.
