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Mount Lindsey

Northwest Ridge
Difficulty Class 3 
Risk FactorsExposure: High
Rockfall Potential: Moderate  
Route-Finding: Considerable  
Commitment: Considerable  
 
Start10,700 feet
Summit14,055 feet
Total Gain3,500 feet
RT Length8.25 miles
AuthorBillMiddlebrook
Last UpdatedOct 2022
DownloadsgpxGPX Track
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?TEMPORARY CLOSURE
For summer 2023, all routes above 13,000 feet on Mt. Lindsey have been closed by the landowner. The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) and other organizations are still working with landowner to reopen the routes. This closure started in late 2021.

Trailhead

  • At 7.0 miles, the road turns to dirt.
  • At 11.8 miles, stay left on Forest Road 580.
  • At 15.7 miles, stay left at the entrance to the Singing River ranch. The road becomes narrow, but usually still 2WD.
  • At 16.7 miles, pass the entrance to the Aspen River ranch.
  • At approx. 20 miles, reach the the west side of large, landslide area where the road was re-routed in 2016. After this point, there's a steep section that requires 4WD.
  • Continue 2 miles on the rough, narrow road to reach the Lily Lake TH. There are many dispersed camping spots along the way.

Route

First, follow the Mt. Lindsey - North Face Route to the 13,150-foot saddle between Iron Nipple and Mt. Lindsey. From the saddle, the northwest ridge is in full view and may look intimidating to some. More than 1/2 way up the ridge a crux wall makes this route more difficult than the standard, north face route - 1 and 2. Finding a Class 3 line around the crux is possible but many climbers simply take a direct, Class 4 line up the brief pitch.

Hike southeast along the ridge on a small trail and near 13,200', where the trail turns east toward the north face, stay right and continue up the northwest ridge - 3. As you climb higher, the terrain becomes more rugged and requires some Class 3 scrambling, especially on the ridge crest - 4. As you scramble toward the crux wall ( 5), it's clear that the route is becoming more serious. Scramble across a steep area below the ridge crest, down to a notch and up to the base of the crux wall. 6 and 7 were taken in this area and show some of the rugged terrain features.

8 is a head-on view of the crux wall, showing several options. One way to keep the difficulty at (exposed) Class 3 is to bypass the wall on the left side. If you choose this option, regain the ridge right after the crux wall to avoid loose terrain. If you're comfortable with brief Class 4 climbing, the best option may be just left of the large, vertical crack in the center of the wall - 9. Carefully pick your line and regain the ridge on easier terrain - 10.

Above the crux, continue up the ridge - 11 and 12. As you ascend, the standard route is directly below, so be careful not to tumble rocks off the ridge - 13. Continue to the 14,000-foot false summit on the northwest end of the summit ridge - 14. Hike southeast for nearly 0.2 to reach the summit - 15. Taken from back at the 13,150-foot saddle, 16 is another look at the ridge.

Notes

The route is much more stable than the standard, gully route.
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16

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