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I mentioned climbing Mt Neva to Cameron while on a Lost Creek Wilderness hike last year, we tentatively planned to go for it this summer, and Labor Day just happened to be the day for it, with both our schedules and perfect weather for the day. Resources used for the climb include Derek's trip report, CarpeDM's trip report, and Trails Illustrated topo. Neither of us printed out those TR's, so we just kind of winged it keeping in mind CarpeDM's advice: when in doubt, stay left, but we didn't always stick to it. I had my phone packed away for much of the hike, so all photos are credited to Cameron except for the last one. He is an excellent photographer, and I don't have much to add to what Derek and CarpeDM wrote, so the pics can speak for themselves.
Neva north ridge as seen from Arapaho Pass trail morning light on Jasper
We hiked up the Arapaho Pass trail and went left on the Caribou Pass trail toward the base of Neva's north ridge.
1st crux on the ridge
looking back at 1st crux looking ahead to 2nd crux
notch downclimb
Ascending the 2nd crux was more complicated than we expected. I attempted to head left up a class 4 section with considerable exposure that ended on a foot-wide mossy ledge without many good holds above. I came back down and Cameron attempted it as well to no avail.
Apache and Navajo Longs and Meeker ridge to Jasper as seen from Neva
We took a short break on Neva's summit and decided to continue on to Jasper, Cameron had been up there before. The traverse took about an hour with a few breaks. There was no summit register on Neva that we could find, but there was one on Jasper that contained a few familiar names. From Jasper's summit (marked with arrow on topo below), we went up over a false summit just to the northeast, then descended across talus toward the lake, and after a mild bushwack were on the Arapaho Pass trail.
looking back at descent from Jasper airplane crash debris near the lake below Jasper
descent route from the lake Cameron looking back
This was one of the most enjoyable climbs both of us have done this summer. Total time 8 hours and 20 minutes for the day. Despite being a holiday weekend, we were the only hikers on Neva. Descending back toward the Fourth of July trailhead we saw many other hikers on the Arapaho Pass trail, and several dozen cars in the lot and along the road on the way out.
Thanks for reading...
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
That plane skipped off the NE ridge of Jasper before coming to it's fatal resting place. I came upon the propeller above the wreckage while traversing that gentle slope near the end of the ridge, but still went down to check out the plane and basically climbed your descent route. I've never seen Neva so dry. Neva took a couple nalgenes from me when they fell down the big couloir north above the sweeping pool slide of a snowfield. Two really nice peaks to link together!
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