We hiked Belford, Oxford and Missouri yesterday and I couldn't find much info on the East Ridge of Missouri, so I hope this info helps future people. Roach writes this route up as "Rotten" and I wish I'd heeded the warning. I've included a pic with a red line showing the route as described by Roach, and also included in black with an "X", the rotten area. We are both avid outdoor sport climbers FYI, but be forewarned your climbing ability won't help much in the rotten area. Small rocks through 300lb chunks will pull off the cliff without warning and any fall will be deadly. We've climbed the Little Bear traverse, Bells and Crestone Traverses and we both agree this route is much more dangerous than those traverses. Once you enter the dihedral, you're home free and I've included a pic of me on the final flatiron climb, which is solid rock with good moves. I've also included a 3rd pic with an arrow showing where the pic was taken of me on the flatiron FYI. Once we got on the Missouri ridgecrest we could see where others have stayed on the south side of the ridge, rather than taking the north side route as described by Roach. I can't speak to that south route but we did see a cairn going that direction and for anyone considering the East Ridge, I would experiment with that south side and stay away from that north crumbling gully under the dihedral.
