A well defined buttress in the lower reaches of the upper La Cueva canyon. Located on the north side of the La Luz trail, just behind(east) of The Pulpit.
Getting There
Find the crest spur trail on the south side of the Sandia Crest parking lot, and follow it about 1/2 mile. Head down the La Luz trail, down several switch backs, and continuing down past a several talus slopes. After the talus slops, the trail crosses the La Cueva canyon, here you pass a La Luz trail sign made of iron. From this point continue on for 50 yards. Here a slab of rock extends down off a formation called the Frog. Scramble up this slab and stay against the base of the Frog heading north. After a couple hundred yards you reach the gully between the Frog and the Yataghan. This gully is guarded by a huge chockstone. Which requires a short rap during your descent off the Yataghan. Continue on past the gully to the base of the Yataghan.
Descent:
Once on the summit, head pretty much due north along the summit ridge. Just before the ridge blends into solid ground, a broad gendarme forces you either west or east. Go east, and scramble down a few rock steps to the top of a gully. Traverse across the top of this gully (do not enter the gully) even though it looks casual. Instead continue to the next gully, which is choked with many dead trees, and descend carefully. This gully is super steep, and has much loose rock and debris. Hike for a long time down this gully. Near the intersection with the next gully west it will be necessary to make a long detour east, into the wooded area, to avoid a steep section. It also becomes clear at this point why you avoided the western-most gully. Re-enter the gully, but stay on the east side for several hundred feet, until the gully begins to curve slightly to the SW. At this point more rock-hopping is required, and you should be roughly below the start of the Southeast Face. Continue for another 100 yds to the rappel point, which is about 20 feet back from the lip of the giant chockstone. The rappel is about 40 feet long.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Yataghan:
The Happy Gnome 5.8+ Trad, Alpine, 6 pitches, 700 feet, Grade III
By Monomaniac Administrator From: Morrison, CO May 15, 2007
The descent off the Yataghan is pretty serious. I would say its the most serious descent I've done in the Sandias.
Once on the summit, head pretty much due north along the summit ridge. Just before the ridge blends into solid ground, a broad gendarme forces you either west or east. Go east, and scramble down a few rock steps to the top of a gully. Traverse across the top of this gully (do not enter the gully) even though it looks casual. Instead continue to the next gully, which is choked with many dead trees, and descend carefully. This gully is super steep, and has much loose rock and debris. Hike for a long time down this gully. Near the intersection with the next gully west it will be necessary to make a long detour east, into the wooded area, to avoid a steep section. It also becomes clear at this point why you avoided the western-most gully. Re-enter the gully, but stay on the east side for several hundred feet, until the gully begins to curve slightly to the SW. At this point more rock-hopping is required, and you should be roughly below the start of the Southeast Face. Continue for another 100 yds to the rappel point, which is about 20 feet back from the lip of the giant chockstone. The rappel is about 40 feet long.
By George Perkins Administrator From: Los Alamos, NM Sep 7, 2008
On our descent, we goofed: We went north along the ridge, then east and down the easternmost of the gullies, almost along the base of the next formation to the east (Chaos Crag?), going around the back (east) side of the Frog. We never found a rappel station, and ended up coming out where the La Luz Trail crosses the drainage. This was Class 2 (no rappels or even any easy downclimbing) but with substantial bushwhacking through spike-bushes. I wouldn't recommend this way, unless one didn't have a rope for whatever reason.
First couple of attempts by Dave Hammack and I wound up rappeling off the large ledge. Finally did the last lead off the ledge in 1962 and I remember it just being a walk off the top, but then it has been 39 years since I last did the climb. I also don't remember it being all that chossy except in spots
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