Trip: Alpine Lakes - North Ridge of Sherpa

Date: 7/27/2008

Trip Report:
Well we didn't get as early start as we had hoped but we were hiking by 5:30am. We took the Stuart Lake trail to about 3.2 miles and then made our way up Mountaineers creek. The mosquitos sniffed me out and I was running the last mile to escape them. We started to head west, after about 2 miles, and in about another 1 hour we were at the base of the North Ridge.
The climb itself went very well especially since I haven't really rock climbed a whole lot lately (this is no exaggeration!).
A cloudy mist rolled in occasionally and slowed us a bit.
Wow, there are some airy sections were I swallowed hard to keep focused. The crux was very enjoyable!
My partner lead the technical rock pitches - thanks Justin!
The summit was great but no pics as my camera is kapoot.
Ate lunch of homemade bread, great cheese, sausage, and apples.
The raps down went okay but we did get the rope stuck on a horn that took a bit of time to wrestle out.



Gear Notes:
standard alpine rack
Bug juice or run like your life depends on it!

Approach Notes:
It is a pretty good goat trail and not to bad finding your way up Mountaineers creek to the head of the valley (5,640). Head west to start of North Ridge.

Good work. Great location. Did you need an ax descending Sherpa Col or was it snow/ice free?

We took axes just in case we needed them but it warmed up enough that it wasn't necessary to use them.

Hi,

Could you provide more details re: the descent from the Sherpa-Argonaut Col? Anyone? A saw it from a distance last weekend. It looked like there was enough dirt to descend w/o axe or crampons. Also, what's the hike time up the final ramp to the base of the N. Ridge? Should I bivi near the Col or near the base of the climb? Finally, I've read reports of a direct acsent to the big notch. Did you look at that?

Thanks, Chris

PM sent!