Snake Dike Shortcut

I've only done the hike on John Muir and approach to Snake Dike once, in pitch black with zero illum and headlamps, and am wondering if anyone could give me a little more refined beta for the shortcut between Broderick and Liberty. Where do I cut left off the JM trail, and where do I enter the gulley? ASAP, the lower shoulder or the higher shoulder? Also, is this the "bear valley" approach I've heard mentioned or is there any even more direct approach (just past Vernal Falls, north of Broderick?), besides just running in a straight line from the parking lot to pitch 1 a la Dean Potter?

I've cut off of the Mist trail somewhere around E or F on your map and skirted along the base of Liberty Cap taking the high shoulder, "3", into the gulley. Route finding was easy enough but I'm not entirely sold on it being much faster than the JMT. There was a party just ahead of us on the Mist trail that took JMT and after we scrambled through the gulley, we maybe only gained about 5 minutes on them. YMMV

If you want a more exciting and direct approach, check out The Skywalk. A little 5.7 section at the switchback, and you might want to rope up for the last super exposed gully to the slabs. Jeff Perrin and I did it on a whim with no gear, in sandals.

As to your photo, I’d say #3. Not far after the bridge above Vernal Falls you leave the trail in the flats. 

I was definitely happy to have a rope on that gulley before the slabs on Skywalk! Slippery as hell and full of needles and dirt and I remember it feeling like a death slide for sure if you blow it. It was a fun adventure but I don't think it saved us any time vs Mist Trail. Maybe if I went back a 2nd time I'd save some time. Also, we should have stayed a bit closer to the exposed edge after that gulley because the manzanita bushwacking was heinous. Good times.

Haha!

Yeah, I forgot to mention you need to stay way to the left on your way to the diving board to avoid the thicket. There’s a little route finding down low also - if you go the right way it’s pretty easy going.

Rob, did you guys keep the rope in the pack?

If you want a longer, more awful approach, you can try this route:  https://www.mountainproject.com/route/122956365/camp-four-toilet-stall  

To be fair, if you do an insane amount of gardening above and below, you could probably turn the route into a decent 20+ pitch approach that's climbing all the way from bottom to top. The good news is that there are already 2 pitches done for you! 

Kevin Worrallwrote:

Haha!

Yeah, I forgot to mention you need to stay way to the left on your way to the diving board to avoid the thicket. There’s a little route finding down low also - if you go the right way it’s pretty easy going.

Rob, did you guys keep the rope in the pack?

From what I remember we only roped up for that gulley before the manzanita and maybe for a short section before where you do a switchback after coming around a corner.

Gully section circled showing exposure factor!

Bottom pic is thicket section on Skywalk. Basically you stay as far left as possible.

Yeah that gully is kinda sketch on the solo. A good place for an ice axe!

when I did snake dike a few years ago we took that cutoff by liberty cap.  It wasn't too hard to find in the dark and was a decent trail. We went almost all the way to the falls and then cut under the wall.  I haven't done the other approach but I wouldn't call the way we went a real bushwhack. It was pretty straight forward and we were first in line for the route that day.

To the OP, if it's time saving/efficiency you're looking for... me thinks you won't find much benefit to this "shortcut," as it seems about the same energy output to simply follow the regular trail and 1) keep a more consistent energy output and 2) end up in the same place at almost the same time. Didn't feel there was much difference in time between regular way and the "shortcut," but ymmv, as always.

The shortcut is definitely less distance, but the terrain is rougher. If you know the way and move quickly over talus, it can be faster. I also like the shortcut because the area between Mt Broderickand Liberty Cap is really cool, and it has a more off-trail-adventure vibe than a slog-up-heavily-trafficked-trail vibe. I stay on the mist trail until Liberty Cap actually intersects with the trail, which is hard to miss. After that, it's not too difficult to figure out, but it might take a bit of trial-and-error route finding the first time.