2016-07-03 - Sherpani Peak Scramble
From the shoulder it's straightforward up to the summit block. Some of our party opted to head up the little snow field there, others went up the rocks along the ridge.
Upon reaching about 10' below the summit we found the "non-exposed" "5th class" moves. There was definitely exposure, and the moves were 5th class (5.easy), so Jacob and I scrambled up the last bit while the rest of the party remained below.
After momentarily soaking in the incredible views from the summit, we hurried down to meet up with our party.
After a quick break we descended the same way we came up. Once we regained the 6200' saddle, we found what appeared to be a climbers' trail. Russ later found some old mine Adits and suspected that this was infact a remnant of mining days. This trail brought us down to ~5750 where we traversed across easy slopes back toward the trail. We met up with the trail at the large switchback at 5600'. So, if you're ascending via our route, turn left at the point of the switchback at 5600'
All together, a great day out in the mountains. While not too strenuous or difficult, and posing very few navigation challenges, the trip had great payoff in the end. The slabs were a joy to walk up, the scrambling to the summit was spicy, and the views were great.
8.9mi roundtrip in 8 hours. Class 4 scramble, BW1.
Gear notes:
Approach boots worked well. Carried the ice axe the entire way, but never used it. Lightweight gaiters would have been nice for the snow.
Walking up the beautiful trail that leads to Paddy-go-Easy pass.
As you gain elevation, you gradually depart brush and enter the sub-alpine.
Russ on the traverse. Check out the COOL ROCKS all over the place.
No, that is not the pass we were looking for. Jacob, Russ, and Carrie evaluating the route. The route beta mentioned traversing at 5800', skirting talus fields. We went too high and started our traverse at almost 6000' so we had to wind our way here. We weren't sure which pass was which so we thought this might be it. It turns out this gulley is steep and full of not great stuff, so we went on to the next one, which is much better. Even though we were too high, it's not clear that staying in the trees would have afforded us much opportunity to view, assess, and navigate these passes.
Keep traversing at about 5700' and you'll eventually end up at the base of this pass. There are several faint trails that ascend this pass.
Terry cresting the Paddy-go-Easy ridgeline.
Looking back the way we came.
Traverse some easy snow and scree around this basin; stay on the north side.
Man, this thing is cool! The route goes to where the red dirt meets the gray dirt, ascending below what we called "Little Australia" (the first snow field), around the big rock, and then up the ledges climber's right of the upper snowfield. Gain the red shoulder immediately north of the peak, and then turn south up the ridge line.
Cool lichen-face there, dude.
Russ and Carrie ascending the final ridge. This looked crappy so I walked up the snow to the right. That was easy.
At the summit, looking at The Cradle an the West ridge of Stuart.
Nice engraving. The first entries in the register were from 1992 and we were the first party this year.
Jacob resting back at the 6200' pass back to the south side of the ridge.
This is the first clear shot of the day of Mount Daniel. It was mostly in the fog (and you can see the true summit is actually in the clouds back there ...). It's interesting to see the snow difference. Tim, Elena, and I came out and attempted Daniel last year about this time and there was virtually no snow in the Hyas snow field, which is the field immediately behind Cathedral peak.
Looking back over Tucquala Lake, while descending through amazing wildflower-filled meadows. The descent was pretty great, too.
