I managed to snag a 60-hour Maroon Bells permit that a fellow 14ers.com use had released and put it to good use with Whiley. We had the same thirteeners left - Sleeping Sexton, Point 13,048, Buckskin Benchmark - and two obscure, unnamed twelvers. We departed the trailhead in darkness and took the Crater Lake trail to the Buckskin Pass trail and then the unmarked North Maroon Peak trail. At 11,600 feet we left the trail heading west then north on tundra and rockfields as we aimed for Sexton's east ridge.

Gaining the east ridge was steep hardpan with thistles. Once on the ridge proper it's a good 1,000ish feet of Class 2+ scrambling with bits of Class 3 here and there. Loose rock abounds. The ridge is half scrambling on white and black rock to the top of the white gully, the upper half scrambling up more solid maroon rock. A short mellow section leads to the false summit.

From the false summit we descended towards the notch separating true and false summits. We crossed over the top of one gully on a wide ledge to a second, loose gully which we carefully descended. There are cairns throughout this section to lead the way. We descended about 200 feet and continued left around a corner, finding the Secret Ledge. The Secret Ledge was super neat and the highlight of our day. It's Class 2 all the way across with exception of about two moves of Class 2+ around an awkward bulge three quarters of the way across. Exposure is extreme but totally manageable.

From the notch at the end of the ledge we continued ahead, making an ascending traverse up loose Class 2+ mini-cliffs to the summit.

The register was a cheap tupperware container literally 50% full of water so we headed down, across the ledge, up the gully, and back down the east ridge.

Near the bottom of the ridge we headed north across steep dirt and tundra, following a cliff until we found a grassy Class 3 break to climb. Rolling tundra and rockfields took us to the Buckskin Pass trail.

From the pass we went due south towards 13,048's formidable north ridge. We found a nice Class 3 scamper to our right on unexpectedly good rock, walked the Class 2 middle ridge, and scrambled up the summit block, Class 3 or Class 4 (nice squeeze chimney) depending.

Clouds were building so we quickly scrambled back down to the pass and began the Class 2 slog up Buckskin. There's some scruffly little cliffs near the top, all easily bypassed, and it felt like it took forever to reach, but it's no more than a long walk.

We quickly made our way partially down Buckskin before heading east on loose junk towards Willow Pass. East of the pass there's some additional scrambling-ish terrain but it's mostly just a walk to the north to bypass. 12,930 reminded me a little of Wildhorse Peak and was a delight on relaxing tundra.

12,974 on the other hand was a pile of garbage, and right at the end of the day, too! Shucks. We ground our way up the mess of Class 2 talus and were rewarded with stunning views of Pyramid Peak.

We didn't wait long before bounding down the talus to merciful grass, weaving through some small cliffs in search of cold alpine stream water. Doesn't that always hit the spot? A short bushwhack took us to the Buckskin Pass trail and then it was autopilot back to the parking lot. Not a bad day for an impromptu five peak climb, if I do say so myself!

Statistics

Climbers: Ben Feinstein (myself), Whiley H.
Trailhead: Maroon Lake

Total distance: 16.28 miles
Total elevation gain: 8,036 feet
Total time: 11:55:17
Peaks: Three ranked thirteeners, two ranked twelvers

• Sleeping Sexton, 13,457'
• Point 13,048
• Buckskin Benchmark, 13,381
• Point 12,930
• Point 12,974

Splits: