Maroon Peak Trip Report 07/25/2024

Report Type	Mini
Peak(s)	Maroon Peak - 14,163 feet North Maroon Peak - 14,022 feet
Date Posted	07/25/2024
Modified	08/21/2024
Date Climbed	07/12/2024
Author	kebott

Bells Traverse South to North
As my finisher, I did the Bells Traverse on 7/12. We got the 7 am shuttle as I didn't book it far enough in advance to park there, so got a later start. We decided to go south to north so that the class 5 sections were upclimbs and not downclimbs. Approach to south maroon ridge: Once you leave the creek, this goes pretty much straight up, what feels like over 2000'. It's very steep and definitely a slog. Once you hit the "shoulder" continue up until you hit the ridge proper and get a view of the summit. Follow cairns as you stay on the ridge then skirt lower on the left. However, the cairns did not seem to match the photos/route lines as described here on the site. The cairns kept you lower for longer, and then eventually just disappeared. When looking at the gps tracks I realized I was over 100' too low below the "trail". Luckily, all the terrain out here is pretty much class 3/4 and all the same, so it was easy enough to scramble up to regain the correct route. There are cairns many places and all the rock looks the same, so very easy to get off route, but also fairly easy to just scramble up anywhere you want. I never saw the parallel gullies, I never saw the robot rock, but made it to the summit. Traverse descent: This was super easy and quick, maybe 10 min. You can really get off track, just find the gully then looks for cairns to exit right around the ledges. Traverse ascent: I again had trouble matching up the beta photos from this site with what I was seeing. Many times just climb up when in doubt, but there was one time where you went around to the left. There was one class 5 climb that required some caution (where there are multiple route lines up shown in the beta), but otherwise it was fun climbing. At the end, it was much easier to just go straight up closer to the ridge than going left to find the water streak gully, in my opinion. North Maroon descent: This was the part I was most worried about, mainly bc Mediocre got lost coming down. After some steep loose stuff and going over the precipice, you locate the chimney from the rock pillars at the top. It's class 4, but easy enough to step down. There was snow at the bottom on 7/12 but I more or less was able to avoid it, along with other snow patches. Below the chimney, you kinda drop to the right below ridge proper and look for cairns and eventually it brings you to the massive Gully 2. There are many ways to zig zag down this, but eventually I got to the far right. I was able to located the exit point from all the way at the top and kept my eye on that the whole way down so wasn't hard to miss. After exiting Gully 2 and going around a couple nose corners, gully 1 is much shorter with a more defined use trail, and you exit on the left right near the trees. From there, while easy to follow, there is a still a slot of rock and then the rock glacier. Eventually after the creek crossing get on a smoother trail and run back to the Crater Lake junction, then 1.7 mi back to the parking lot and bus As always, words don't help that much, so I'm linking my video here. It will be very useful for any of you doing this route. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRsn4U2MZME

Bells Traverse South to North

As my finisher, I did the Bells Traverse on 7/12. We got the 7 am shuttle as I didn't book it far enough in advance to park there, so got a later start. We decided to go south to north so that the class 5 sections were upclimbs and not downclimbs.

Approach to south maroon ridge: Once you leave the creek, this goes pretty much straight up, what feels like over 2000'. It's very steep and definitely a slog. Once you hit the "shoulder" continue up until you hit the ridge proper and get a view of the summit.

Follow cairns as you stay on the ridge then skirt lower on the left. However, the cairns did not seem to match the photos/route lines as described here on the site. The cairns kept you lower for longer, and then eventually just disappeared. When looking at the gps tracks I realized I was over 100' too low below the "trail". Luckily, all the terrain out here is pretty much class 3/4 and all the same, so it was easy enough to scramble up to regain the correct route. There are cairns many places and all the rock looks the same, so very easy to get off route, but also fairly easy to just scramble up anywhere you want. I never saw the parallel gullies, I never saw the robot rock, but made it to the summit.

Traverse descent: This was super easy and quick, maybe 10 min. You can really get off track, just find the gully then looks for cairns to exit right around the ledges.

Traverse ascent: I again had trouble matching up the beta photos from this site with what I was seeing. Many times just climb up when in doubt, but there was one time where you went around to the left. There was one class 5 climb that required some caution (where there are multiple route lines up shown in the beta), but otherwise it was fun climbing. At the end, it was much easier to just go straight up closer to the ridge than going left to find the water streak gully, in my opinion.

North Maroon descent: This was the part I was most worried about, mainly bc Mediocre got lost coming down. After some steep loose stuff and going over the precipice, you locate the chimney from the rock pillars at the top. It's class 4, but easy enough to step down. There was snow at the bottom on 7/12 but I more or less was able to avoid it, along with other snow patches. Below the chimney, you kinda drop to the right below ridge proper and look for cairns and eventually it brings you to the massive Gully 2. There are many ways to zig zag down this, but eventually I got to the far right. I was able to located the exit point from all the way at the top and kept my eye on that the whole way down so wasn't hard to miss. After exiting Gully 2 and going around a couple nose corners, gully 1 is much shorter with a more defined use trail, and you exit on the left right near the trees. From there, while easy to follow, there is a still a slot of rock and then the rock glacier. Eventually after the creek crossing get on a smoother trail and run back to the Crater Lake junction, then 1.7 mi back to the parking lot and bus

As always, words don't help that much, so I'm linking my video here. It will be very useful for any of you doing this route. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRsn4U2MZME

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