Tijeras and Music Mountain from Little Sand Creek Lake. 7/1/18. Maybe 6 hour day with a lot of breaks. It is pretty short.

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If you get an alpine start it will be kind of difficult to find the way through the forest to access the cliff band but just generally stay right of the lake and follow the drainage system to higher ground.

Remember, once you ascend the cliff band giving access to Tijeras and Music S. Ridge, the ramps are the only way down. There is no walk down option anywhere else around the cliff bands.

Tijeras is pretty, and pretty simple.

Some notes for the music scramble. At the very beginning, you’ll see grassy ledges to the right of the ridge, steer left of these. Aim for the pizza slice shaped rock scrambling up and above it. See the picture below with a blue arrow pointing at the pizza slice rock and note the four climbers who basically lay out the beginning of the route.

From the bottom of the climb, the highest point you can see is a triangular point, you’ll be climbing up to this, once you reach it, you can easily skirt it to the right. In the picture above it is designated by the red arrow.

Above this point, you’ll climb a low angle slab, after completing this slab, head right around an obstacle and continue on.

The hardest part I remember was getting onto the ridge from a small notch seen below. I ended up getting up another step then swinging my leg over the ridge to saddle it and continue moving up. This move was totally exposed.

There is the large obstacle that the guide book rates as fifth class, we skirted underneath and climbed back to the ridge crest as soon as we could. You could continue working diagonally or under the ridge but it is a lot more fun at the ridge.

Once you reach the south summit, it is basically class 2 most of the rest of the way. Although it is still pretty close to a catwalk most the way so be careful.

Remember to look back as you go to find your way back to the south summit to descend. The descent isn’t too bad but it is fairly steep at certain points. It honestly would be a fairly exciting way to go if you aren’t comfortable with the exposure of the south ridge.

Remember when in doubt, just stay on the ridge, on rock. It is a great climb. I’d definitely do it again. No need for a rope, approach shoes would be valuable as you’ll want a sturdy sole for some of the moves.