Stephanie trying out the art of scambling atop huge boulders interspersed with little spruce trees!
Pagoda's dramatic east buttress.
A little willow whacking action. There's no way to avoid them in this drainage unless you go well out your way.
The end of the east buttress of Pagodo.
Heading to the Pagoda/Longs saddle on grass and talus.
Mighty fine view of Longs from Pagoda. Believe it or not, most of the route across that face to the Homestretch is no harder than class 2+, as long as you pick the line of least resistance.
Looking s.w. to Isolation and company from Pagoda.
Cool clouds over Longs. Should we bail or should we go?
The shaded gully on the right is the key weakness to get through this cliff band. It's well protected and class 3.
The summit of named tower Keyboard of the Winds. We checked it out, but nothing doable without a rope. Incredibly exposed summit block!
Pagoda from near the Longs saddle. It's mostly a boulder hop with a few class 3 moves here and there.
Looking across the base of the cliff bands above the saddle.
This might be the easiest line on Keyboard of the Winds. The summit is probably wide enough for one person to sit on it!
Looking south to Meeker.
Here is the cliff band weakness. The gully to the right was dry and had only a few class 3 moves.
Stephanie climbing the gully.
The view to Longs from the top of the gully. Note the cairn that is key to locate if going to Pagoda from Longs. All other routes are highly exposed!
Below the Narrows.
The base of the Homestretch. We're a bit late to the summit, otherwise it would be crowded.
Nearing the top.
Clouds building to north on summit. Time to get out of here!
Southeast Longs
The Notch at the top of Keplinger's Couloir.
To escape any pending weather, we descend Keplinger's Couloir back to our ascent route. It's 1700 feet of ruble surfing.
The tedious descent down Keplinger's. We dropped elevation much quicker than on the standard Keyhole route.
Topping out on the Homestretch
Advance willow whacking. Hear the stream? It's down there somewhere!
