No other way ?

[The Might]

I just had this sudden idea as I was re-reading LOTR today, The Forbidden Pool.
There Faramir was talking to Frodo about the future of his quest and about the way he should choose. Clearly he was not pleased with the choice made by Gollum (Cirith Ungol), and asked Frodo several times if there was no other way. So, I'll be a copy-cat and ask the same:
No other way at all???
I mean, even if the mountains were steep, hobbits are good climbers, and Gollum as well. Wouldn't it have been much, much easier and less dangerous for them to just climb and pass the mountains somewhere in North Ithilien. That way they would have never had the whole Cirith Ungol problem.

Faramir himself knows no other way, because, as he says, all ways that might have been known were forgotten, and no man of Gondor had entered the mountains:

`Where then shall I go? ' said Frodo. `Back to the Black Gate and deliver myself up to the guard? What do you know against this place that makes its name so dreadful? '
`Nothing certain,' said Faramir. 'We of Gondor do not ever pass east of the Road in these days, and none of us younger men has ever done so, nor has any of us set foot upon the Mountains of Shadow. Of them we know only old report and the rumour of bygone days.

However, is there a hint that there might have been another way across the mountains ?

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

This subject has been well debated on the downs. . .Many is of the belief that there must have been other ways and that Gandalf must have known at least one, but I don't think anything was ever concluded.

I personally think that there would have been other ways, but I doubt that they would have been alternatives. One could have spend ages searching for passes over the mountains and they would probably also have been guarded, but probably only by orcs.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne

I personally think that there would have been other ways, but I doubt that they would have been alternatives. One could have spend ages searching for passes over the mountains and they would probably also have been guarded, but probably only by orcs.

Yeah, I think here is the answer. You have to consider the need for speed and that Frodo&co. had to know a way which would surely take them where they want, not that they find some pass and after a week of walking on the edge of exhaustion a great uncrossable fissure, or worse, an Orc tower, appears right before them. Also, remember Emyn Muil, what trouble it caused, and it was much easier terrain.
So: the passages probably have been there, but they surely could not serve good for Frodo's purposes.

[latando angaina]

you have to consider the need for speed

Considered. Liked. Bought. Playing.

Alternative ways - no.

[The Might]

You have misunderstood me Legate.
I am also asking if in general there wouldn't have been another way. Gandalf might have known as he was not too happy to hear Cirith Ungol when he met Faramir.
If we are to talk only about Frodo and Sam, I would think there was an even more important reason then their need for speed - Gollum. They now trusted him as far as leading them on the way was concerned, and they believed that Cirith Ungol was besides the Black Gate the only other way to enter Mordor.
And as Faramir and nobody else could prove Gollum wrong, they had no other way then to follow him.
But if Gandalf had remained with them, they might have taken another way I suspect.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Yes, I understand, I apologize, but you first spoke about the hobbits and Gollum, so I took it that you are speaking about their situation.
Anyway, you have my meaning of other ways through Ephel Dúath or Ered Lithui - since Cirith Ungol and Cirith Gorgor were the ones most used, and known (and as we can see, in case of Cirith Ungol, not so well known!), I'd suppose that there was not much else to come up with. Personally I wonder if Gandalf had even known what way they should go once they cross Anduin. The only Gandalf's words of this we have near the West gate of Moria:

'We must go down the Silverlode into the secret woods, and so to the Great River, and then -'
He paused.
'Yes, and where then?' asked Merry.
'To the end of the journey – in the end,' said Gandalf. 'We cannot look too far ahead. Let us be glad that the first stage is safely over.

I wouldn't be sure that Gandalf did not know the way to Mordor or did not plan it, nevertheless, he didn't want to talk about it, so we might just guess what plans he had. I don't know if it is safe to assume that Gandalf knew some not-so-well-guarded way through the Mountains of Shadow, even if he had wandered there once or twice, he wouldn't know if the conditions didn't change since that time. We can tell for sure that he didn't want to go through Cirith Ungol - Gandalf seems pretty startled when Faramir mentions it. I also don't know if Gandalf had some plan how to get past Cirith Gorgor, it seems rather suicidal. There will also be the possibility that he somehow thought about coming to Mordor from the northwest or south, but that is, in my opinion, not much of a good idea - this would mean a long journey through barren lands surrounded by the nations enslaved by the Enemy. Which again brings to my mind the question, if Gandalf himself did really have a plan, or if he just thought of "improvising" (for example, if the Fellowship came upon a band of Orcs on Dagorlad and took their clothes to sneak past the guards of Cirith Gorgor). Perhaps he had some preminitions that it would not be his part to choose the way to the Land of Shadow?

[The Might]

there could also be possible that he did think of Cirith Ungol himself, but only if he was there to help the Hobbits, and not if they would have been left alone with Gollum to lead them...still, considering their way on the Morgai Road there doesn't seem to be any other Orc keep in the mountains between Cirith Ungol and Durthang. There might have been small valleys made by small rivers in the mountains, as we see in the book when Sam and Frodo find a small spring after entering Mordor...so the theoretically it might have been possible.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by The Might

there could also be possible that he did think of Cirith Ungol himself, but only if he was there to help the Hobbits, and not if they would have been left alone with Gollum to lead them

Don't think so. Gandalf acts like this after hearing Faramir's news:

'Just a fool's hope, as I have been told. And when I heard of Cirith Ungol–––' He broke off and strode to the window as if his eyes could pierce the night in the East. 'Cirith Ungol!' he muttered. 'Why that way, I wonder?'

Gandalf seems rather, let's say, concerned about Cirith Ungol. Had he been a more nervous person, he'd probably say in this place something like "Oh no! Cirith Ungol! How could that fool of a Baggins even think about it!" And ending with screams of "he doomed us all, he doomed us all" he'd fall off of the balcony.

Back to reality, the possibility of taking some secret pass through the mountains seems logical, but I still can't help to doubt that Gandalf had known Mordor so well that he could come up with such a way, and as I said before, he couldn't have known if Sauron did not close that road since reocuppying Mordor (because if Gandalf even was at the borders of Mordor, I hardly believe that he did this when the Dark Lord was back there again). I remember Gandalf saying that "he visited only the older and lesser hold of the Enemy", Dol Guldur - and Aragorn seemed rather unnerved just from wandering the valley of Morgul and near the Black Gate, I doubt Gandalf ever did much more.
Maybe that idea of Orc disguise is not as bad - after all, it is a typical "heroic" way to get into the land of enemy (Beren, Finrod, Lúthien) and Frodo himself uses it in the end. I can imagine Gandalf metamorphing into a werewolf, Aragorn and Boromir masking as Uruk or Easterling warriors, Gimli as a strong Orc warrior, the hobbits becoming simple snagas (Phrodosh, Sham, Moriadog and Püpphan), and Legolas taking on a form of shadow-covered creature of dark. Then they go right through the Black Gate and straight to Mount Doom, where the last events take place.
This is the best idea I can come up with at the moment.

[The Might]

I especially liked Sham

There is however one person in the Fellowship who might have known a way - Aragorn. He himself went on the Morgul road, and he had been on journeys very far away, even all the way South to Harad, "where the stars are strange". Clearly it was far away,since he seems to have passed in the Southern Hemisphere. If he had traveled so far it might be that he had discovered some other way to enter Mordor, either from North Ithilien, South Ithilien or from South of the Mountains. Of course all this is speculation, but it would make sense.

[Macalaure]

I don't think there was another way to pass the Ephel Dúath. Frodo and Sam tried to cross the smaller Morgai, but couldn't find a possible way. If it was impossible to pass the Morgai, it must have been at least as impossible to cross the Ephel Dúath. 'Ephel' even means 'fence', and I'm sure those mountains didn't carry that name for no reason. I imagine them like an evil (miniature-) counterpart of the (almost) unpassable Pelóri. I doubt there was a different feasible road but the Black Gate and the Morgul Road/Cirith Ungol. The Ered Lithui sound a bit nicer, but not really that much.

A similar question just popped up in my mind: Why did the fellowship try to pass the Misty Mountains by the pass of Caradhras? I mean, the Misty Mountains are an incredibly long mountain range, so it is quite hard to imagine there was no other pass south of Rivendell, preferably crossing a mountain with a more trustworthy reputation.

PS: What about Fladnag and Odorf?
And wouldn't it have been an incredible showdown for Gandalf and the Witch-King if they would have done a magic song contest at the Black Gate like Finrod and Sauron used to?
He hissed a song of wizardry...

[The Might]

The Misty Mountains are a different story, because of the snow and their height, they were harder to pass. And I think Gandalf wanted to go to Lorien before going further, so Caradhras was the shortest way except Moria perhaps, but we all know what Moria meant.

Now, it is quite clear that not all parts of the Ephel Duath were impassable. When the Host of the West refuses the terms named by the Mouth of Sauron we see Sauron's trap:

Down from the hills on either side of the Morannon poured Orcs innumerable.

Of course that are was easier to pass, since it was close to the valley, but still it shows that it was not impossible. I personally believe it might have been possible to pass the mountains somewhere near Durthang. Now the tower had initially been built there to make sure nothing evil comes into Mordor, however since it was close to the valley it couldn't have been a very steep area. Of course it would have been dangerous to pass there as well, but less then Cirith Ungol I'd say. Somewhere near Durthang they could have found some Orc-armour lying around...and the story goes like in the book from there on. That way there might have been no more army to besiege Minas Tirith...

And as far as the Morgai are concerned...it was not impossible. We see them coming to a ravine formed by the small water they encountered, so there clearly were ways of getting down. But they had other, more important reasons to keep going north. They knew they were being looked for after the incident at the gate with the watchers, so the only way was to keep going. And in some cases it would have been no use to attempt such a feat, since Orcs had raised their camps just below the slopes, and they would have noticed Frodo and Sam.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Macalaure

And wouldn't it have been an incredible showdown for Gandalf and the Witch-King if they would have done a magic song contest at the Black Gate like Finrod and Sauron used to?
He hissed a song of wizardry...

You are right, I'm gonna write it. "Alternative road", only I think, Mouth of Sauron would be more appropriate to counter Gandalf's spells. Then, for the sake of Peter Jackson, Arwen could come and release the Fellowship from the darkness of Durthang...

Originally Posted by Macalaure

I don't think there was another way to pass the Ephel Dúath.

Originally Posted by Macalaure

Why did the fellowship try to pass the Misty Mountains by the pass of Caradhras?

`The questions that you ask, Galdor, are bound together,' I say. Here I think is the answer: as the Fellowship didn't attempt to pass the Misty Mountains any other way than through the pass of Caradhras, so they would probably not choose other way through Ephel Dúath.

Originally Posted by Macalaure

I mean, the Misty Mountains are an incredibly long mountain range, so it is quite hard to imagine there was no other pass south of Rivendell, preferably crossing a mountain with a more trustworthy reputation.

Concerning other passes through Misty Mountains, I can assure you that Caradhras was not the only one - there were many. But they were not so good for use. The Hobbit, Chapter 4: Over Hill and Under Hill, these are the first words of the chapter:

There were many paths that led up into those mountains, and many passes
over them. But most of the paths were cheats and deceptions and led nowhere or
to bad ends; and most of the passes were infested by evil things and dreadful
dangers.

The answer is here. The passes through Misty Mountains were rarely used, no maintenance, you could not tell if the path is even still there, or if it is not infested by Orcs. Although Caradhras might have had bad reputation, it was the best choice, at least for the Fellowship's needs at the time: because the pass was more to the south (which would mean going along the western side - safer, generally - as long as possible, and also not so much snow danger, although as we know everything can turn round), the eastern end of the Redhorn Gate was close to Lórien (where the Fellowship wanted to go), and probably it was the safest way in the meaning that there was lesser possibility of it being guarded by Orcs or whatever - as Gandalf says, the Enemy would not expect them to go that way. Also remember that before the Fellowship departed, scouts were sent all over the land and I think it's safe to assume that Caradhras came out as the best choice after considering all the information gathered.

And the Mountains of Shadow? I think it was more or less the same, and thinking about what you posted brings me again to conclusion that even Gandalf or Aragorn could not have had other options to cross the mountains of Mordor, even if they have known of some passage, they wouldn't risk passing it. There were no scouts who could explore the passes of Mordor, and Gandalf&Aragorn wouldn't know if a band of Orcs had not built a tower right at the end of the pass they wanted to use. So I think now it's finally clear that whatever way the Fellowship wanted to use, Ephel Dúath or Ered Lithui would not be the option even if there were million passes in them.