Trip Report: Mount Williamson (14,379ft) & Mount Tyndall (14,025ft) - August 2026

After conquering Shepherd Pass, you stand right in front of Mount Tyndall, with Mount Williamson off to your left (South) side - both of them California 14ers.

So, of course, you feel the need to ascend both. After all, you have to make the trek up one of the hardest passes of the High Sierra worth it, right? 

Please note that neither one of these mountains has a hiking route!! All routes up Mount Williamson and Mount Tyndall involve route finding and scrambling. 

We encountered people on the way who asked us whether there was water on top of Mount Williamson, other people asked us on Mount Tyndall's North Rib where the "trail" was and we've heard several reports of people getting themselves into 5th class terrain because they'd gotten lost. We know that Mount Tyndall gets featured in a trail running book and in forums, but there is no trail! Use a good route description! 

Trip Report: 

Current As Of: 26 August 2026*

Activity During Report: Off-trail hiking, Class 3 scrambling with a few Class 4 moves

Once we got to the top of Shepherd Pass and into Sequoia National Park, we left the trail and went South. There are some camp sites around the lake immediately south of the pass, then there's a little rise and after half a mile or so, you'll reach another, smaller lake with more camp sites.

It's easy to spot the camp sites, since most of them have a rock wall facing the West - which gave us an idea how windy it can get up here... 

This is one of those trips where you definitely want to bring a windproof layer, because it can howl up here. 

We opted to camp at the upper lake, right below Mount Tyndall. 

On day 2, we set our sights on Mount Williamson via the standard West Face route. For that, we first had to cross the Williamson Bowl, since the mountain was still a fair distance away.

Crossing Williamson Bowl

Dropping into the bowl, it is easy to stay to the left side of the talus field - it's slightly better here. Once in the bowl, we stuck to the ridge in the center until we were forced to the right in order to descend some ledges towards the creek crossing. From here, Mount Tyndall's East Face looks very imposing!

At the last lake before Mount Williamson, we refilled our water and took a quick snack break.

Williamson Bowl and Mount Williamson. The black spots are circled in red, the approximate route is marked in blue. Picture taken from the summit of Mount Tyndall.

Now, things got steep, as we started ascending the mountain's huge West Face. There are some black streaks on the rocks in the talus below the West Face proper - they are good navigation aides. We even found a social trail that lead us right past those streaks. Once we were above, it was clear which gully would take us further up. Of all the gullies above us, one was wide open and inviting-looking, again with a faint social trail.

In the gully

This was the tedious part of the ascent. It's all Class 2, but with loose parts and a sustained steep grade. Eventually, we reached the top of the gully and cautiously looked down the other side - right into the Owens Valley. From here, we backtracked about 100 feet, then turned right: into the infamous chimney. 

There are some Class 4 moves in the chimney, however, overall it is a Class 3 scramble by Sierra Nevada standards. The footholds are always good, it's just nearly vertical. 

In the Mount Williamson Chimney

At the top, we were greeted by the summit plateau - a huge expanse of low angled and windswept talus. Now, we just picked our way through the talus until we couldn't go higher anymore. The summit views are gorgeous!! Mount Williamson juts out into the Owens Valley, which allows for a 180 degree view up and down the entire valley and Inyo Mountains to the east. On the other side, the High Sierra offers its typical summit panorama full of more peaks that beckon to be summited. The bucket list keeps growing...

We descended on the same route, taking a nice lunch break at that last lake of the Williamson Bowl. 

On day 3, we tackled Mount Tyndall. 

From camp, it was only a very short approach to the North Rib. 

Mount Tyndall: the North Rib is the feature in the middle of the slope, casting the shade

This route offers several different variations and it is up to every individual to pick their favorite way. In general, the route meanders between the top of the rib and the slabs to the right side of the rib. This offers about a 50-100 foot wide corridor (the shaded part in the picture above).

One person described to us getting into a "labyrinth" up here - in that case, you're probably lost and need to reassess your route. Maybe backtrack a little until you find yourself in easier terrain again.

The slabs to the right of the North Rib on Mount Tyndall

We opted to take the edge of the slabs on the way up, since our La Sportiva shoes have soles with enough friction for this route. This made for a quite pleasant ascent, since we didn't deal with loose rocks on the way up. Two days prior, on our way up Shepherd Pass, we ran into a couple who described these slabs as "Class 5" - they were either lost or their running shoes had slippery soles. The right footwear will certainly determine how much you'll enjoy yourself on this route. 

The La Sportiva Akyra II: it sticks 

Before ascending, we had made a mental note of the notch at the top of the North Rib. There are several notches and once you're halfway up, it can be tricky to determine which one was the correct one. This might be why someone made the "labyrinth" comment?

The North Rib starts out at a pleasant angle, then it gets steep near the middle, slightly flattens out again and ends up being steep again just below the notch.

About midway up the North Rib

Once at the notch, we crossed it to the other side, and then turned left. Essentially, we ascended following the summit ridge, but stayed slightly to the right (south) side of the ridge where the terrain allowed for easier travel.

Don't disappoint yourself here - there is a fake summit at first, with the real summit a few hundred feet behind it. However, this was all easy and quick in comparison to Mount Williamson the day before. 

The summit itself is a very overhanging rock that only looks somewhat stable. We opted to take our selfie just next to the rock - you never know...

The summit block of Mount Tyndall

Some summit views from Mount Tyndall - including Mount Whitney in the background

Again, we were rewarded with an awesome 360 degree panorama. Had we brought binoculars, we could've probably watched hikers on the John Muir Trail far below us. 

We descended again on the North Rib, this time staying away from the slabs and taking the loose rocks near the top of the rib instead. Going down, that made for an easy and fairly pleasant descent.

Back at camp, we took another break and filtered some more water, before we packed everything up and started the long descent down the Shepherd Pass Trail.

This trip was exhausting but so rewarding! Would certainly do it again!