It's been a few years since I tried it, but there IS a route up the lower section of the MR where you bypass two crossings of north fork lone pine creek. At the first crossing, you stay on the north side, and follow the base of the cliff for a ways. At some point, you climb an easy crack up about 15 feet, and then follow the ledge, crossing what BobR called the "Elephant Ear". This route rejoins the the MR at the point where the south side path re-crosses the creek to the north.
The videos in
this thread shows the route.
