Gollum entering moria

[lathspell]

The tale of Gollum is known to most here. He came out of the mountains, found the trail of Bilbo and traced it and came to Dale. There he discovered the name of the Shire, and he wanted to go there to find the Hobbit who 'stole' his Ring. But something else happened: he made his way to Mordor and was questioned by Sauron. Afterwards he was captured by Aragorn and he asked the Woodelves of Mirkwood to keep him as a prisoner.
Legolas tells in the LotR (The Council of Elrond) that Gollum managed to escape, because of the Orcs that assailed them at unawareness.

In UT it's told that Sauron heard of Gollum being captured and held by the Woodelves. That didn't bother him much, but he also heard of Mithrandir, that he went to Mirkwood to the Elves to have a long talk with Gollum. That troubled him deeply, because he didn't want the Wise to know that the Ring had been found again. (that Mithrandir already knew this, he didn't know). So he let Orcs attack the elves to kill or capture Gollum, or at least to get him out of the hands of the Wise and their allies. Gollum escaped both the elves and the orcs and fled before them. Both the elves and the orcs were following him, and Gollum crossed the River Anduin.
In the meanwhile Gollum gained other followers, for Sauron had send the Nine to seek for two things: Gollum and a land called 'Shire'.
Now, in the UT it is told that Gollum fled for the Nazgûl and his himself in Moria. My question is: how did he enter moria?

The East-gate was watched by orcs as is said in LotR.

They passed into a hall, bright with daylight from it's high windows in the east. They fled across it. Through it's huge broken doors they passed, and suddenly before them the Great Gates opened, an arch of blazing light.
There was a guard of orcs crouching in the shadows behind the great door-posts towering on either side, but the gates were shattered and cast down.

So it seems quiet unlikely that he passed into moria through the east-gate for there were guards who would spot him for I think that even that cunning stealth of Gollum would be spotted by the night- and day-eyes of the Orcs.
The Westgate seems out of the question, thinking of the Magic of the Doors, the Word to open the Doors and the Watcher in the Water.
So both gates seem to be shut for him. Can it be that he found another way in?... in my opinion it would also explain how he came out again, with the bridge broken and him being still at the other side.

What do you people think about this? About how Gollum entered and managed to escape again out of moria?

[The Barrow-Wight]

Gollum easily escaped the elves of Lothlórien and later was only caught by Faramir when his hunger gave him away. He was a master sneak that would have little problem getting by orc guards.

[lathspell]

I don't think so. In Lothlórien he had the protection of trees (as Legolas says in the Council of Elrond Gollum had become a masterful climber of trees and had learned to cling with both hands and feet to a branch). So he could use his sneak- and climb-talents to shake off the elves.
At the gate he would have no protection at all and I wonder if he was so sneaky that he could pass by them without being spotted. I don't think so.

[inglorion]

All in all it appears Gollum found a way to climb in through the balcony - and out again as well.
Why does an enormous underground city, which spans over many square miles, like Moria, only have two entrances? It´s not something I thought of before, but now that I do I find it hard to believe there weren´t any other entrances. Maybe the East- and Westgate were just the main ways of getting inside, but it might well be that higher up in the mountains there were one or several smaller gates. At least one is mentioned in LotR; the doorway at the summit of the Endless Stair. It´s unlikely Gollum entered that way, so there may have been others.

BW - Gollum did not 'escape' the Elves of Lorien. Instead he was allowed to escape, or to say it differently: the Elves didn´t know whether he was good or evil, so they just let him be. And Gollum being afraid of 'shiny Elves with terrible bright eyes' made his way out of Lorien.

[The Barrow-Wight]

Nevertheless, he used the east door, as it was the only one available.

[Turin Turambar]

Yet Frodo began to hear, or to imagine that he heard something else: like the faint fall of soft bare feet. It was never loud enough, or near enough, for him to feel certain that he heard it; but once it had started it never stopped, while the Company was moving. But it was not an echo for when they halted it pattered on for a little all by itself, and then grew still.

Clearly the footsteps are coming from Gollum. This means he followed them so it's only logical that he squeezed in to the west gate right before it was shut off by the watcher in the water. Perhaps in slipped in while the Fellowship was in shock and hid in the shadows until they began moving and then began to follow.

[Kalimac]

The "night eyes" of the Orcs certainly were good, but their "day eyes" weren't necessarily so. The only Orcs we know of who were at all comfortable in daylight were the Uruk-Hai, and there's no reason to suppose that the Orcs of Moria were related. So Gollum could have slipped in during the daytime, or maybe early morning/early evening when it was still fairly light out but the Yellow Face wasn't as painful to him. Of course Gollum hated being out in the light as well, but as we see in TTT, he could stand it if he had to. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that, and trying to sneak past an Orc guard was certainly desperate enough. I'd guess he did it in the daytime, when they were fewer and less alert.

[Gimli Son Of Gloin]

Gollum was climbing like a spider on the cave wall in TTT. He easily could have gotten into the East Gate.

[Baran]

There were many shafts and windows letting light into Moria were there not? He might entered trough one of those? If not, I don't think he should have any problems sneaking past some orcs. Gollum (to some extent) had the ability to climb walls and roofs, like when Sam and Frodo first discovered him after the fellowship was broken. He climbed down a steep hill with his head first. I definitly don't think getting into Moria should be a problem for someone so used to mountains as Gollum.

[inglorion]

hmm... I forgot the many shafts of light. It might be that he slipped through one of those.
I don't see the point of Gollum creeping up hills, how that could help him with the Eastgate. Can somebody explain that?

ty all,
lath

[lathspell]

sorry, that was me posting under my bro's name (inglorion)...

greetings again,
lathspell