The northern of the two main passes over the Misty Mountains and the route taken by Thorin and Company on the Quest of Erebor in The Hobbit.

The pass ascended from Rivendell through treeless foothills, mostly heather moorland, sliced through with treed ravines. In the Third Age the track was less travelled than of old and was not always easy to follow. In the higher reaches of the pass there was danger from falling boulders, loosened by sunlight on ice and snow above.

The Misty Mountains were infested with Goblins (Orcs) and a particularly ferocious group lived in a cave system close to the pass, their main entrance being beside the path. These were the goblins that captured Thorin and Company and led to Bilbo finding the One Ring and meeting Gollum.

The High Pass cave system had a Back Gate on the eastern side of the mountains, through which Bilbo escaped. The path from here disappeared into scrub and loose scree but further down there were bracken slopes and pine forest where there was much danger from wolves. From these slopes the evening lights could be seen in the settlements and homesteads in the Vale of Anduin .
Encyclopedia entry originally written by atalante_star