June 13, 2026
A 3am alarm had us groggily stirring and trying to shove down dried food before breaking down camp. We had a long day ahead of us, the longest day of the traverse in fact. Today we would need to link the Eagles Nest to Powell Traverse into Ripsaw Ridge, completing both traverses in full. The reason for this was due to the camping situation. There were no decent places to camp that were wind sheltered and contained running water until a spot I had located right after Peak H on the southern end of Ripsaw Ridge.
By 3:40am we had set off, heading south up steep but easy terrain gaining about 2,400 ft to East Eagles Nest. As we reached the plateau north of the peak, we were blasted with a moderate but consistent wind, and stopped to don jackets. We crested the summit right at sunrise, gazing out at the long stretches of jagged ridge up ahead. There were copious amounts of snow on east and north facing aspects, but most of the ridges and west facing aspects looked clear.
We were now on the Gore Crest, and all we needed to do was follow it south until there was no more ridge left.
summit views from East Eagles Nest
From East Eagles Nest, we continued west up and over a few small bumps and grassy meadows, coming to a short steep downclimb to get to the lowpoint between it and Eagles Nest. Most of the downclimb could be kept at class 3 by staying just left (south) of the ridge top. Some more class 3 up small undulating towers brought us up to Eagles Nest.
From Eagles Nest, the full glory of the Eagles Nest to Powell Traverse was visible, consisting of several serrated towers around the lowpoint between the two peaks. The initial descent of Eagles Nest was easy and pleasant, but soon became a maze of towers. We went up and over most of the towers, and bypassed right (west) when we couldn't cross over them. The crux came at a low 5th class dihedral on the southwestern side of a tower.
Eagles Nest to Powell Traverse
The towers eventually ended at a broad high alpine plateau that made up the northern side of Powell. Here I was overjoyed to find running water from a large snowfield that looked very seasonal. I topped off my bottle and and we stopped for a food break. I boiled water for a freeze dried meal since we had the luxury of extra water.
We did the short remaining slog up Powell, the highest peak in the Gore Range, then headed south down a long stretch of talus and scree. The jagged mean-looking profile of Peak C grew higher in front of us as we descended.
A short section of steep snow brought us to the lowpoint between Powell and Peak C. From here began Peak C's Northwest Ridge (class 5.4).
Northwest Ridge of Peak C viewed from the south side of Powell
The first half of this "ridge" was loose and junky, utilizing a series of gullies just left (east) of the true ridgeline. Eventually we crossed onto the true ridge and followed it to the summit on great rock. I heard voices and saw two parties up ahead.
Peak C marked the start of Ripsaw Ridge which ran from Peak C to Peak H, consisting of 8 total peaks. The entirety of Ripsaw contained high quality scrambling on granite, mostly at the class 3-4 level but with occasional low 5th class sections.
The first party I ran into was coming down the last bit of Peak C after having already summited. They didn't seem to be in the mood for a chat but mentioned that they had intended to continue along Ripsaw but turned around. When I asked why, I got a "It's dangerous, too much snow" in a flustered tone. The second party was right below the summit and they were in a more pleasant mood, mentioning that they too had intended to continue along Ripsaw but were too tired to do it after reaching Peak C.
From the summit of Peak C, I finally got a good look at Ripsaw. There was indeed a lot of snow but just on the eastern aspects, while the ridge itself and the western sides looked more or less clear. We decided to continue.
We more or less stayed directly on the short stretch of ridge between Peak C and C Prime, staying left (east) briefly at a short impasse where the arete narrowed.
A class 3 descent directly off the south ridge of C Prime brought us to the north ridge of Peak D which contained some low 5th class right off the bat. A few bypasses to the west were used right below it's summit.
descent from C Prime
Peak D summit
Peaks E and F went much the same way, with relatively easy descents down their south sides and more involved routefinding on their northern ridges with a few bypasses to the west.
We remained directly on the ridge crest between Peaks F, G, Black Benchmark, and H, with the terrain easing slightly with each subsequent peak.
From Peak H, we descended 600 ft to a low notch which marked the start of The Saw. We had made it to our intended finish for the day as far as the Crest was concerned, but still had to descend to a camp spot. From the notch we continued descending 500 ft south to a beautiful flat meadow with a babbling brook just west of it and great views looking down at the Piney Creek drainage and up at The Saw, Jigsaw, and Rockinghorse Ridge.
With a couple hours of daylight left, we set up camp and gratefully ate our dinners. I was actually craving the freeze dried meal now. Toshi was dealing with some altitude-related symptoms which improved as the evening went on. I was happy to crawl into the tent and out of the wind. We hit the hay and were fast asleep by sunset.
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