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Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
#51275 07/29/17 08:07 AM
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Howdy merry hikers,

Does anyone have any info on the current conditions for the Shepherd pass trail and/or ascents to Mounts Williamson and Tyndall? Is it possible to camp at 12+k feet not on snow? Are crampons/ice axe needed? Are there still snow bridges?

We went up to Anvil camp on June 4, and Symmes creek at the bottom was pretty difficult to cross. The creek before Mahogany Flats had a nice snow bridge, and snow seem to have 100% coverage starting at ~10,500'. However, a lot of time has passed, so we expect significantly less snow now (we plan to go next week). For instance, here they claimed that as of July ~2nd no crampons were needed.
http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/50743/Mt_Williamson/Mt_Tyndall_Curre#Post50743
Moreover, we just did Langley on July 16 and there was barely any snow on NAP.

Any info would be appreciated, thank you.

Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
epichiker #51276 07/29/17 10:31 AM
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This guy hiked almost to the top of Tyndall yesterday:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1106263996/overview

Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
BFR #51281 07/29/17 01:27 PM
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Thank you so much BFR!

Hum, it seems he needed crampons, which kinda conflicts with the report from early July.

If I survive the trip, I'll try to report back with what we see smile

Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
epichiker #51809 08/23/17 07:55 AM
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I finally got to go and climb Tyndall on Aug 20, so I thought I’d share a few notes:
- The 4 crossings of Symmes creek at the beginning are much easier now thanks to makeshift bridges (one was started by us back in May!)
- Sources of water are at Symmes, the creek 300’ below Mahogany flat, Anvil, the Pothole, and the lakes at Shepherd pass
- There were some mosquitoes, but nothing compared to what we saw in July
- The last 600’ of trail leading up to Shepherd pass are washed out and you pretty much have to go straight up on scree. A bit arduous, but not dangerous
- At the top of Shepherd pass there was a small snow patch that was a bit unnerving (if you slip, you’d fall pretty far), but can be crossed without crampons, ice axe, or poles by being a bit careful and using other people’s tracks
- Went up the North Rib and it was quite fun. Especially at the top (13,800’) when you’re supposed to cross over to the left. There was some ice and snow, so we continued a bit more on some fun class 3 scramble and crossed to the chute just before the ridge. If there’s still ice, I recommend this approach.
- The final boulder hopping on the ridge that leads to Tyndall’s summit is fantastically fun, and the views were great!

Well, I hope this is helpful.
Cheers

Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
epichiker #51810 08/23/17 08:27 AM
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epichiker, I was up on Tyndall on Aug 20 as well (working on a trip report)! I was with my husband, we summited around 11am. Are you one of the people we saw out there?

Nothing to add re: conditions. We ended up crossing the snow before the chute to the summit at a spot where it was quite narrow (only about 5-6 feet of snow) and not too exposed, but it was still a bit nerve-wracking. If I did it again I'd climb up around the side.

Last edited by KaraKyrgyz; 08/23/17 08:35 AM.
Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
KaraKyrgyz #51831 08/23/17 07:55 PM
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Where exactly did you cross from the right side of the rib to the left? Thanks

Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
KaraKyrgyz #51835 08/23/17 09:54 PM
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@KaraKyrgyz
Yes, we were the couple coming behind you! We initially struggled with the altitude, but seeing you guys meticulously negotiate those boulders provided us with great inspiration to keep pushing smile

@BFR
The standard route crosses over to the left at 13,800', about 50' below the ridge, but we just kept going on the right side of the North rib right up to the ridge. There's a great pile of rocks on the ridge and we turned left right before it and dropped onto the end of the chute (it was fairly obvious). I uploaded this picture where I tried to illustrate it

Last edited by epichiker; 08/23/17 09:54 PM.
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Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
epichiker #51838 08/24/17 06:49 AM
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Thanks Epichiker. Were there any tricky moves you encountered?

Re: Conditions on Shepherd pass (Williamson/Tyndall)?
BFR #51848 08/24/17 04:29 PM
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Nope, we didn't encounter any difficult moves BFR. There were pretty good holds pretty much everywhere except for a couple of places, but the granite is so grippy that it was easy to push off the rock.


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