Headwaters above Tezla Lake to end of
Shepherd Ridge
I didn't set an alarm and I woke up at
6am so I was happy about that. Got going at 8:30am. I planned to
ascend the north ridge of Shepherd Peak and then traverse down
Shepherd Ridge's north side until the ridge started to round off and
I could follow the height of land. The initial skin up went well,
muscles waking up to the days work. When I popped around the side of
the ridge and had a view down the north side I was disappointed. I
couldn't see a route, not without dropping way down below treeline or
exposing myself to some big falls. I traversed down the ridge,
hoping to find a way through but finally decided I needed to get over
to the south side of the ridge.
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| North side of Shepherd Ridge |
I found a col that was a very steep
skin up with a boot-pack down the other side through a gully. The
south side of the ridge looked much better but the clouds were
closing in. I contoured along for a ways not really being able to
see where I was but at least feeling I was making progress. Then the
terrain started to force me to go up, into the clouds. I kept moving
along, passed the last tree and was in a total white-out so I sat
down and had a break because I couldn't see a thing.
After a while it cleared out a bit and
I could see enough to continue moving up. Eventually, I could go no
further because a large peak blocked my path. The south side was
visible and looked steep with no options. The north side was
obscured in cloud so I sat there wishing for it to clear out and
eventually it did.
There was a large bowl with a small
lake in the bottom and a clear path from the lake up a gully onto the
ridge, to a point where it appeared I would then be able to follow
the ridge top all the way down. How to get down into that bowl?
From where I stood it was cornices and cliffs overhanging the bowl.
I started moving back down retracing my steps when I saw an opening.
I scouted it out and it would be a very steep line but it was
possible and would have me down there before the clouds came back.
Considering that if I was at a ski resort I wouldn't be nervous at
all about skiing a line like this, I went for it. The legs burned
but it went fine.
I ascended the steep gully and
breathed a sigh of relief. The clouds were clearing out and I had a
simple descent down the ridge in front of me. I could enjoy the
lovely vistas once again. It was late in the day so once I reached
the end of the ridge and found a spot with a magnificent view over
Buttle Lake, I stopped and made camp.
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| View of Buttle Lake from Shepherd Ridge |
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