Jonathan Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 Planning on wandering the Napeequa Valley over Little Giant Pass, up the valley proper, ascend Louis Ck. drainage and then over High pass to Buck Pass. I understand the route over High Pass to be a scramble. Scramble being no more than 3rd class and not sustained 3rd class at that. Would like this trip to be more of a backpack than anything else! Thanks in advance, Jonathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 I climbed Buck Mountain last year from the Buck Creek drainage. Our route went up to the 6,700+ ft saddle west of Buck. This saddle is where Louis Creek drains south from. While I don't know what the lower end of Louis Creek looks like near the Napeequa River, the upper portions are largely alpine open travel. The aforementioned saddle is one of the prettier places I've been to recently. There is a small, long lake up there that drains to the northeast in a precipitous canyon. On the north side of the saddle there is a little routefinding to be done to get over to High Pass but it won't be too difficult. From the saddle, drop down from the trees and contour around the left side of the basin over a boulderfield closely above the brush and small trees. Basically, you want to head directly for the lowest part of the East Buttress of Mt. Berge you can get to. You will need to plunge horizontally into the bigger trees next to the buttress for a hundred feet or so. Eventually, this plunging will lead to a steep climber's trail that winds down the south side of the buttress (woodsy) to about 5,900 ft. At this point, the "way" will go around the buttress to its north side by way of a small ramp. This ramp is easily missed going the other way but going north it shouldn't be a problem. Once past the ramp, follow the vertical wall of the north side of the buttress back east to High Pass some 1 mile away. This part of the travel is on open heather and talus. It's pretty there. I don't know anything about the other side of High Pass. If you go to www.summitpost.com (requires registration), you can see some pictures and a trip report for my climb of Buck. There are photos of the saddle area and the East Buttress of Berge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted August 9, 2003 Author Share Posted August 9, 2003 Thanks, there, Mr. Klenke. Sounds nice and rambly scrambly, but no big gear schlep. Cheers, Jonathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowell_Skoog Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 It's backpacking country, Jonathan. Very pretty alpine country. The view of Clark Mountain and such from High Pass is lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtnnut Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 The most "scramble-y" of the scrambling here is usually not on rock. There is some steep dirt and grassy hummocks going up Louis Creek, at times without the comfort of branches to grab, depending on where you go. The rest of your proposed route is easier than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted August 18, 2003 Author Share Posted August 18, 2003 Thanks, folks, for the info. We are off for the fabled Napeequa Valley tomorrow! And it is fun to say "Napeequa," is it not? Go ahead, try it! Jonathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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