Finishing a short cliff band at the top of the gra...
Description
Start from Maroon Lake Trailhead, and hike the Maroon trail via the Maroon-Snowmass trail until you are level with the bottom of the north face basin. From here, traverse across the bottom of the basin under the north face until you are under the ridge. When you reach the bottom of the ridge continue traversing on some ledges below the ridge to the south, until you reach the first grassy east facing gully leading up to the ridge. Be sure you don't hike beyond this gully; the rock gets very loose, and cliffs out. From the east facing gully, scramble up the gully until you join up with the northeast ridge. At the top of the Gully you might encounter a few short class 4 cliff bands. Once on the ridge follow it to the summit. While on the ridge, you might confront a few class 4 bands with some exposure. Overall, if you stay somewhat on route, the rock is fairly solid, and despite how loose they reference the rock conditions to be in the fourteener books, it is not that bad.
Protection
A rope and some slings if you want to rappel the short class 4 cliff bands down, but it is not really needed.
The route, as of last weekend, was well cairned all the way to the summit. The only place we went wrong was leaving the main trail too early at a cairn. The better climber's trail is another 5 - 10 mins. of hiking further - one sees the herd path heading off to the left thru the meadow. Descend to the creek, then follow the good path. Once high in the grassy gully mentioned, the path heads to the south to another gully. The chimney on the summit ridge is kind of hard for fourth class, but one still does not need a rope.
On the crux dihedral, there occasionally is a fixed rope, but don't trust it until you check its anchor. If you need a rope, you're better off bringing your own.
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