Eagle Cap: Ice Lake to Razz Lake - 8/20-22/12

[Bosterson]

You mention an abandoned trail, though. There used to be a maintained trail between Horseshoe and Razz? I can't imagine why it would be abandoned because Razz looks like a pretty worthy side trip from Horseshoe Lake!

I saw something about a route up from the Lakes Basin when I was researching online before I left. The guys I ran into at Upper Razz I think were the ones who referred to it as "abandoned," but it may just be a non-official use trail, without signs, that doesn't show up on maps (like the trail to the Matterhorn summit). They did mention that it shows up in a hiking guide, though, and a quick Google turns up the Razz Lake entry in Fred Barstad's Hiking Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness.


Roman, luckily that straight drop was not the route down to Razz! The scree descent after crossing the notch was actually pretty decent (especially compared to descending into the basin going the other direction). Here are a couple of pics that didn't make it into the TR:

Looking down the scree slope after crossing the notch. The talus below is that big field at the bottom of the descent from the ridge; Upper Razz is visible a little above the center of the frame.

Red line showing the route from the notch down the scree ramp and across the talus, down to Lower Razz Lake.

The Razz Lakes are really cool (especially Upper). If you find yourself in that area and don't mind a bit of scrambling, I highly recommend it. The route up from the Lakes Basin looks to be more of a forested hill - no scree, and not nearly as steep as trying to cross the ridge from Ice Lake.

[Koda]

excellent TR, thanks for posting. This will be my route next time I visit the Eagle Cap, will make a great loop. Razz lakes look beautiful, and I love that shot looking straight down.