Type: | Trad, Alpine, Grade III |
FA: | Franz Mohling |
Page Views: | 23,611 total · 84/month |
Shared By: | Orphaned User on Sep 23, 2001 |
Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
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Description
This sustained excursion (lots of 4th and easy 5th class) starts on the summit of Lone Eagle Peak (reached either via the North Face Route or Solo Flight) and traverses south along a spectacular ridge to the seldom-visited summit of Iriquois (12,799).
From the summit of Lone Eagle follow the Solo Flight route south to the one point at which it drops over a notch onto the west side of the ridge. Descend 100 feet west down a gully and continue up and south on a grassy, diagonalling bench below the ridgeline.
Stay on the west side of the ridge and summit "Limbo," a 12,420 spire two-thirds of the way along the traverse, via its north face. Descend Limbo to a notch below the north face of Iriquois (I flipped over to the east side of the ridge to do this; some parties may want to rappel).
Climb Iriquois as best you can. The terrain is easier and more broken up on the west side of the north face.
This traverse has numerous easy fifth-class sections and plenty of options for either increasing or decreasing the difficulty. It's possible to escape east toward Triangle Lake in a couple of spots should weather move in, but once on Iriquois itself you're fairly committed.
If you're camped at Crater Lake you can either reverse the traverse until it's possible to descend to Crater Lake or go west from Iriquois' summit over Hopi and down Achonee's southeast gully. Alternately, continue east along another tricky, jagged ridge to the summit of Apache and make your way back east toward Brainard Lake as best you can. I continued over Navajo and down Niwot Ridge for full flavor . . .
From the summit of Lone Eagle follow the Solo Flight route south to the one point at which it drops over a notch onto the west side of the ridge. Descend 100 feet west down a gully and continue up and south on a grassy, diagonalling bench below the ridgeline.
Stay on the west side of the ridge and summit "Limbo," a 12,420 spire two-thirds of the way along the traverse, via its north face. Descend Limbo to a notch below the north face of Iriquois (I flipped over to the east side of the ridge to do this; some parties may want to rappel).
Climb Iriquois as best you can. The terrain is easier and more broken up on the west side of the north face.
This traverse has numerous easy fifth-class sections and plenty of options for either increasing or decreasing the difficulty. It's possible to escape east toward Triangle Lake in a couple of spots should weather move in, but once on Iriquois itself you're fairly committed.
If you're camped at Crater Lake you can either reverse the traverse until it's possible to descend to Crater Lake or go west from Iriquois' summit over Hopi and down Achonee's southeast gully. Alternately, continue east along another tricky, jagged ridge to the summit of Apache and make your way back east toward Brainard Lake as best you can. I continued over Navajo and down Niwot Ridge for full flavor . . .
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