Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Shepherds Pass

Got a 3-day permit for Shepherds Pass for the last weekend of July to (hopefully) climb Tyndall's North Rib. Porcella and Burns' book states that many parties take 2 days to reach Shepherds Pass due to the length and difficulty of the trail. How many of you folks have done Shepherds Pass, and did you get to the pass in one day? If so, how long (in terms of hours) and difficult was it? If you took 2 days, did you stay at Anvil Camp?

Did it years ago... started about 9 pm using a headlamp for three hours before making camp. Next day we made the Shepherd Pass summit. I think we were at Anvil Camp about lunch time. On day three, we bagged both Tyndall and Williamson.

We took a longer time to make the pass because we were loaded with food/gear for a week long trip.

You should be fine on a 3 day. You can definately get to the pass in one day, but I'd stay at Anvil so you don't have to carry an overnight pack up the pass. 6 hours to Anvil going really slow. I've never been up there in July, been there 2x at the end of May and there's always been snow on the pass, so needed crampons and ice axe. If there's no snow, I heard the trail is very steep and loose. We came down the North Rib for our decent from Tyndall last year. It was icy in spots and made the glisade very interesting.

We did a four day trip over the Independence Day weekend in 2003. It was one of the best trips I've been on. The North Rib was especially enjoyable. You can see some <a href="http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/gallery/74030"pictures</a> from the trip.

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Thanks for the replies. Richard, I've looked closely at your North Rib pictures as soon as I got my permit. Looks like great fun!

Jim R.
I loved the shepherds pass trail, I did it in the middle of July of 2001. It took us 8 hours to hike to Anvil camp...im sure most can do it faster than that...we were on a 7 day trip and it was our 1st day, so our packs were at the heaviest & it was blazing HOT 90 degrees...that 8 hours included all our stops and lunch break. I think it is a very interesting & beautiful hike starting in the high desert & going into the high mountains. We had to cross a very short snow section right below the pass..but it was so walked over with good steps we had no problem at all. Could someone please tell me it Tyndall is a very difficult hike? I am a little confused, as I read on some reports that it is a class 3 on the northwest ridge and other reports I read it is all class 2 on the northwest ridge as well..RJ secor says it is a class 2 on the northwest ridge...is this so?
Have a wonderful hike!

Trail description, distance, time:
http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/williams.html

Photos of my trip last week of June 2004:
http://members3.clubphoto.com/mike879902/2851729/guest.phtml

I did this trip last year. I will concur with everyone else that is definitely one of the toughest hikes around. I left in the morning from the parking lot and hit anvil early to mid afternoon. The next day we made the pass in about 2 hours. After having lunch, we did Tyndall via the rib. I think that took 2 hours, also. We were going to do Williamson the following day but ran out of time and made it back to the parking lot by the afternoon. It was pretty tough but very fun. I would say 3 days is very do-able.

A few years ago we hiked through the Kern Canyon and came out via Tyndal Creek and Shephard Pass trail. It was a long day and we were going mostly downhill (I do not like downhill.) We originally planned to camp at Anvil camp (nobody was there on this day in August), but there seemed to be little biting fleas everywhere. Needless to say we went down the rest of the way and stayed at the Winneduma in Independence.

Great trail, but I don't like Anvil Camp.

I've hiked the whole trail and summited Tyndall in 6 hours. The trail takes 4, Tyndall 2 out and back from the pass. I hiked hard, but not that hard. I camped out on the pass after bagging TYndall.

Most people probably do not enjoy going this fast. I do.

I did it many years ago. Anvil the first day, summit of Tyndall the second. And back out the 3rd day. Shepherd pass is long, hot and steep but 3 days is plenty. Good hike. Some do it in a day. I remember seeing Galen Rowell's entry in the log book on top of Tyndall. He had climbed it that morning and was planning on returning to the trailhead that afternoon. And that was in the late winter!

I did Williamson first and Tyndall on the second trip. When doing Tyndall I hiked 3 maybe 4 hours up the trail to Anvil or Pothole (not sure which), summited and was back to the truck in early afternoon.

If I was to do it again, I would pack no more than 25 pounds of gear for three days, hike the first day all the way to Tyndall (leave the trail head early before the heat), and summit Tyndall (my buddy summited both peaks and out in 48 hours). The next day do Williamson and hike out the next day.

There is a good place to camp across from Tyndall just below a small pond. It is a little rocky, but the rocks are flat.

One very important factor for climbing both peaks is to be acclinmatized before your trip. Another is good weather. And get lots of bata on Williamson.

It your climbing all the 14ers, it worth the extra effort. I should know, it took me two trips.

Thanks for all the replies! I think we'll go to Anvil and set up camp there, do Tyndall and back to Anvil on day 2, then pack out on day 3. Coming from the flatlands of Soutehrn Maryland, a slow pace is essential.

I made it to Anvil Camp in about 7+ hours. I loved the trail though...very pretty.

Supposedly there was a pretty large avalanche that wiped out part of the trail. I am watching another thread hoping to get some first hand reports. That may add some trailtime to the trip.

july '03; sierragator, myself, and a friend started out at 530am to beat the heat. we made camp at the base of tyndall's rib before 3pm. day 2 we crossed the williamson bowl and summited williamson - back to camp a little after 2pm. day 3 summited tyndall and hiked out - back to truck by 3pm. a fun and rewarding 3 days. got a pass for 2nd week in july this year - going to try the same schedule - gl on your trip