Yes, I have been over that pass. If you have snow, it is quite easy. In 2008 I looked at the pass from Royce Lakes and the snow was melted - looked ugly at top on the Royce Lake side- steep and cliffy. I remember that we traversed into the pass up quite high (on the NW side) instead of going directly up the gully. Merriam Lake side is very easy.

Yup - we did Ruskie, but descended northwest towards the tiny pond shown on the map before turning southwest to drop down.