East Ridge - Scramble
NE & SW Ridges - Class 3
Date: 7/8/2020
Partner: Jim Griffiths
Trailhead: Rock Creek
Distance: 13.1m
Difficulty: Class 3
Elevation Gain: 4550ft
Duration: 8.5hrs
GPX
This awesome loop is chalk full of amazing views, quality scrambling and a touch of bushwhacking. If you want to avoid the bushwhacking you could do an out and back on the NE ridge. However the SW ridge has equally as good scrambling as the NE ridge... and loops are better anyway :-)
From the TH we hiked to the Boss Mine and ascended to Keller's NE ridge. We took the ridge to the summit and mostly stayed ridge proper. There are opportunities to drop to the south side of the ridge to avoid some obsticles.
From the summit we scrambled down the SW ridge to Keller's saddle with North Traverse Peak. The SW ridge offers comparable scrambling to the NE ridge. However be aware that there is some bushwhacking and navigation to make it back to the trail and Boss Mine from the upper basin.
13m - 4550ft - 8.5hrs
Above Boss Mine the Views Come into Play
The hiking through the forest above Boss Mine was moderately steep and didn't seem to end
Above Treeline... Just one more big up before the scrambling starts
Oh Wow!!! This is a great spot where the views get big
Stable talus as Keller's summit comes into view (the far snowy peak)
Awesome view of Grand Traverse and North Traverse Peaks. Holy Cross on the far right
Blocky Scrambling on the NE Ridge
L2R: Valhalla - Palomino Point - Grand Traverse - North Traverse
Pano: We were forced to stare at this all day
Jim on the NE Ridge
Alex
Holy Cross
We stayed on ridge proper pretty much all the way to the summit
Jim on a cool white feature not far from the summit
Looking South Towards Valhalla and Silverthorne
Jim Approaches the Summit
Summit Views to the West and Mount Solitude and Climber's Point
Pano: Summit Views to the West
Summit Selfie
Jim leaves Keller's summit and heads for more scrambling on the SW Ridge
Mount Solitude from Keller's SW Ridge
Looking South to Valhalla and Palomino Point
More fun on Keller's SW Ridge
Can't get enough of those westerly views from Keller's SW Ridge
There was more glissading than not from the Keller/North Traverse saddle to the lake
This was a pretty cool feature. Could totally picture this as a golf green
The exit from the basin back to the Boss Mine involved bushwhacking, navigating dead-fall and some light avy carnage