On the way to Barr Camp, PJ and I met up with Stewart and Susan to climb technical soft ranked 9er Cascade Mtn. This is the summit block. The weakness is on the right side near the tree.
Stewart leads the short 15 foot boulder problem, which he thought was about 5.5.
Stewart nears the top.
Susan's turn.
Susan pulling through the crux.
Stewart celebrates on top.
Stewart rappels.
The west side of the summit block has a couple options as well.
A late evening view of the northeast ridge of Pikes. We began the climb at a notch to the left of the first tower.
PJ's first visit to Barr Camp after a 7.5 mile hike up the Heizer Trail and trail 638. We met up with Barr Trail about 1.5 miles below Barr Camp.
View from near treeline of the first train hitting the summit of Pikes at 9am.
The A-Frame shelter at treeline.
Jim and PJ with the south and southeast ridges of Pikes in the background.
The northeast ridge looms above us. The trail gets to within a few feet of the ridge at 12800 feet. We left the trail a bit earlier than we could of at 12700 feet.
The first tower on the ridge, which we avoided by climbing to the notch on the west side of it.
We skirted around this one, but I was interested in climbing it and found an exposed class 4 weakness.
Jim looking for a route amidst the maze of boulders.
PJ enjoying his first 14er on a non-standard route!
Jim preparing to climb over a step.
Jim enjoying some scrambling with a nice background. Not as bad as it looks, Karen!
PJ took off his pack for a few steep moves here.
Jim improvises by going underneath a boulder through a tight hole!
Rumdoodle Ridge to the north.
Finally to easier ground after lots of scrambling and routefinding.
More obstacles to be overcome. I tried to stay as high as I could, but staying true to the ridge would require a full rack and lots of rappels!
Looking across the east slopes of Pikes. Can you see the trail?
This was the toughest downclimb for me on the day. I dropped off the north side for a bit after getting cliffed out on the ridge crest. Canyoneering moves came in handy here!
Looking back at the last of the difficulties on the ridge.
Summit house in sight!
The train and hoards of tourists await.
Jim and PJ nearing the summit.
Looking down the melted out Railroad couloir.
PJ on the summit of Pikes, his first 14er. Awesome job, PJ!
We descended the Crags route on the n.w. side of Pikes. Jim's wife Karen picked us up at the Crags trailhead, which saved PJ and I about 8 miles of hiking. Thanks, Karen!
Pikes from the summit of Little Pikes.
Looking north to Devil's Playground from Little Pikes.
Approaching Devil's Playground.
