September 7, 2002

Scotty and I ascended our last 14,000 foot peak on our list for the summer - #15. We drove down from Reno on Friday night and camped at the Shepherd Pass trailhead. We awoke early and headed up the trail. This is a much-maligned trail, and Secor writes, "The Shepherd Pass Trail has a well-deserved reputation for being long, steep, and difficult." I found the trail to be long, but the grade is gentle, and it is wide and well maintained. 11 miles later, we crested the pass, and Tyndall came into view maybe a mile away. The North Rib, our intended route, was highly obvious. We scampered over to the moraine, and turned up the Rib. We topped the ridge, and then traversed the ridge to the high point. We signed in, took photos, and clasped hands in a congratulatory handshake. Still looking at a 12-13 mile descent to the car, we started down, arriving back at the car just before dark. Our round trip took ~13 hours. Not very fast. To view Scotty's take on this peak, click here.