I've been wanting to tramshoe over to Marion Mt. and the Rockpile -- finally had the opportunity last Sunday. We went the traditional winter route to the base of Miller Saddle, then headed up through the forest and took Jean's gully to the ridge.
From Jean, Sally and I had scouted out a route over to Shirley on a recent snowcamp. After traversing around Shirley it was a simple matter to head over the little ridge past Joyce peak
We traversed next to Marion and stopped for lunch at the flat area between Marion and the Rockpile (aka Mt. Ellen). 
Normally it's a class three scramble to the top, but with all the snow, we walked up quickly.
Team K2 joined us (Kevin left and Kirk right).
So did Lorette (left) and Marilyn (middle).
We saved Marion for another day. The amount of snow up there is staggering.
On the way back, we tried traversing around the other side of Shirley over to Wellman's divide rather going up and down the ridge. The snow was too soft and I'm a klutz, so I kept sliding out of the track and developed temporary Tourette's . Finally got to Wellman''s and went XC down to Round Valley, then took the trail back.
The next time, I'll retrace the route back to Jean, head over to San Jacinto and down the usual winter route.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
