Trip Date: June 30 – July 2, 2018

Sherpa Peak Climbing Trip

Long’s Pass
Ingalls Creek
Cascadian Creek
Sherpa Peak (8605′)

Trip Report Summary

Region: Central Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Icicle Mountains

Area: Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Starting & Ending Point: Esmerelda Trailhead at end of North Fork Teanaway River Road (Elev. 4250 feet)

Way Points: North Fork Teanaway River & Ingalls Way Trail junction & Long’s Pass Trail junction & Long’s Pass & Ingalls Creek & Ingalls Creek Trail junction & Beverly–Turnpike Trail junction & Cascadian Creek & 6000-foot Bivy Boulder (trail hike & off-trail hike & bushwhack)

Campsite: 6000-foot bivy boulder

Sidetrip: South Sherpa Couloir (off-trail hike & rock scramble) 

Summit: Sherpa Peak (rock scramble & rock climb via Southeast Gully—South Face—Upper South Ridge)

Approximate Stats: 14 miles traveled; 8600 feet gained & lost.

Related Post

Sherpa Peak via Sherpa Glacier—West Ridge – August 2, 1981

Full Trip Report

Eileen and I climbed Sherpa Peak during a short period of supposedly favorable weather.  In actuality, the weather forecast did not hold, and we barely snuck in a successful summit bid.

Day 1: Trailhead to Bivy Boulder

We pulled into the crowded Esmerelda Trailhead around noon on Saturday and managed to squeeze into a roadside parking spot.  Note to self: On weekends, plan to arrive at this trailhead before 9:00am.

We hiked up the trail to Long’s Pass (1.8 hours + 1950 feet from TH), then descended to Ingalls Creek (3.8 hours from TH).  A large log offered an easy creek crossing, then we hiked a mile downstream to the Beverly–Turnpike Trail junction.  About 50 yards upstream of the junction, we located a well-beaten climbers path heading up to the north.  This path ascended through open meadow for several hundred feet, then angled over to the left and went up through deep forest.  We initially missed the left-hand veer and ended up in thick brush; we should have veered sooner.

At 6000 feet, the path came close to Cascadian Creek, our first water source since leaving Ingalls Creek.  It was now dinnertime, so we scraped out a meager bivouac site next to a boulder 50 yards west of the creek (6.2 hours + 3450 feet from TH).

Day 2: Sherpa Peak Summit Climb

Following an overcast and gusty night, the morning exhibited a promise of clearing.  We crossed over Cascadian Creek, then hiked up a wooded rib on the east until encountering cliffs at 6550 feet.  Here, we descended about 150 feet eastward to the broad South Sherpa Couloir.  The summit of Sherpa Peak was clearly visible at the head of this couloir.

After assessing several options, we traversed over to the right edge of the couloir, then scrambled up a steep, narrow gully to gain a 7800-foot notch in Sherpa Peak’s southeast ridge (3.6 hours + 2100 feet from camp).

A sandy trough on the other side of the ridge led us to a high notch and a rock slot, which we climbed in one roped Class 4 pitch to reach a high shoulder.

The route ahead was not clear, but it appeared that we could traverse across and up the northeastern face.  However, three pitches of Class 4-5 climbing led us to a dead end on a steep arete.

We climbed back to the southeast ridge and climbed one Class 5 pitch up a narrow buttress, but this also led to a dead end.  We rappelled back down to the center of the south face, feeling quite frustrated with our lack of progress.  It was now late afternoon, and low clouds were starting to scud over the peak.

For our third attempt, we climbed two Class 4-5 pitches directly up the south face and were delighted to find ourselves at the base of the iconic Sherpa Balanced Rock!  Unfortunately, the entire peak was now shrouded in cold fog.  This made it very confusing as to how we could reach the summit.

We traversed across the exposed summit crest to the base of the actual summit tower, then descended about 20 feet to the northeast, then climbed up a Class 5 chimney that terminated closely north of the summit horn.  A final short pitch along an exposed razorback gained us the summit at 6:50pm (10.9 hours + 3300 feet from camp).  It was cold and windy, with spitting rain, and visibility less than 50 yards, so we stayed only 5 minutes.  There was no chance to sign the summit register, because the lid on the PVC tube was firmly stuck and I had neglected to bring a set of pipe wrenches.

Our hasty descent involved one rappel off the summit, a series of running belays back to the balanced rock, two rappels down the south face, some easy scrambling back across the south shoulder, and one final rappel down the rock slot.  We hurried down the sandy trough in fading light and reached the southeast notch as darkness fell.

The next several hours involved a slow, tedious, headlamp descent of the South Sherpa Couloir, then scrambling back over the wooded rib, then working our way down the little waterfalls of Cascadian Creek.  We stumbled into our meager campsite at 2:00am (7.1 hours + 300 feet from summit), feeling thoroughly chilled and completely exhausted.

Day 3: Bivy Boulder to Trailhead

We slept in until 10:00am and groggily went through our morning routine.  It was cool and breezy and partially cloudy.  At noon, we headed down to Ingalls Creek (2.2 hours from camp), then hiked back up to Longs Pass (4.0 hours + 1550 feet from camp).  After a last look at Sherpa Peak, we descended to the trailhead (5.6 hours from camp).

Route Map

Photo Gallery

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