North Ridge of Kit Carson

Heralded by Roach's guidebook and 14ers.com as a classic, this is indeed a great tour of Kit Carson. The main advantages of taking this route are not having to bag Challenger Point twice and creating a nice, technical loop from the lake. Before embarking, be comfortable with exposure and route finding, there is little relief on this long ridge. The ledgy nature of the rock likes to accumulate precipitation, but conditions are easily previewed in daylight on the hike in.

This aesthetic line jumps out at you once you're above the lake. Once at the base, head up grassy ledges that meander up to a headwall. The grade steepens as you angle up and right to the ridge line. Now the fun begins, scamper up good granite holds and knobs for several hundred feet. Quite often the easiest or most fun climbing wanders right of the arete, but the position on the arete looking at Columbia Point is remarkable.

After a final steep section, a cairn leads one onto a large, canopied ramp on the NW Face, climber's right. Here this aerial sidewalk propels you towards the summit to rejoin the standard route above KC Avenue. Mingle with the marmots, and follow the standard route folk towards Challenger Point. Cherish you didn't have to go up these gullies as you crash your way down the talus of the North Slopes to meet back with the Willow Lake Trail. My tracking put this at 14.5 miles RT.

From Willow Lake Trailhead (9k) outside of the town of Crestone, hike 4.5 miles on an excellent trail to the beautiful campgrounds near Willow Lake (11.5k). This route is very possible in day, but backpacking in provides a more leisurely experience in this idyllic valley. Head East along the main trail to the signed fork for Upper Willow Lake, and follow this sporadic trail staying low below the willows until you spy a line through the talus climber's left around large boulders below two cliff lines. Your goal is to go around East of BOTH cliff bands into Outward Bound Couloir. This is the base of the route and the start of the technical climbing.

Note: the first narrow gully between the cliffs does lead to the N Ridge but contains some low 5th Class  in a gross, slick chute.

Opportunities do exist for protection along the ridge; however, the rock is generally good, and this is a fine solo. It is mostly Class 3 with some fun steeper sections of Class 4, but be sure to test all your holds. A helmet is recommended, rockfall from other parties is always a risk, especially low on the ledgy section of the route. Also of note: bears are a big deal at camp, there are often public bear hang lines up at camp.