From the Andrews Lake day use parking, head south on the trail around the lake. Just past the first dock an unmarked trail goes south up the hill
1. Follow this up to some signage and continue on the well-worn trail towards Crater Lake
2, which proceeds into the timber and makes a number of switchbacks, gaining elevation to the south.
After 1 mile from the parking lot, look left for a register and an unmarked trail
3. Leave the Crater Lake trail here, following the smaller trail briefly through meadows and patchy willows
5 to a vast marshy flat. Do not take the lower trail to the right that traverses the marsh directly--you'll get very wet. Instead go left on the strip of bare rock (slightly uphill and sometimes cairned)
4 to pick up a less obvious trail that crosses the marsh further east
6. This trail is often wet also, but it's usually not too bad.
Across the marsh the two trails converge. Continue on into the timber, meandering through deadfall, then pass through a willowy clearing
7 and reach another brief marshy section. Don't spend too much time trying to stay dry here; often none of the options are good
8. The trail then climbs into the forest, eventually reaching a clearing and talus beneath the north face of Snowdon Peak, 1 mile from the Crater Lake trail junction.
This is where the Northeast Ridge and the West Buttress routes diverge. The West Buttress is obvious above the rise to the south (right). Leave the trail, heading south across the talus, climb steeply up grass or broken slabs
9, and continue on up a bit more talus to the grass at the toe of the buttress, which marks the start of the climbing
10.
Ramble directly up the buttress on fun quartzite ledges and blocks
11 12. The consensus grade on this route is class 4, and some recommend to stray into the gully to the right in the upper portion to avoid 4th class climbing--this is not necessary and does not appear to be a very attractive option. While there are certainly lots of class 4 and 5 options along the buttress, it is possible to keep the grade to class 3 without much effort by not drifting too far off the spine. There is also much (more) loose rock on the right side of the buttress and in the adjacent gully.
After the lower stretch the buttress relents before steepening to merge with the arete to the left. At 13,000' it yields abruptly to the flattish sea of talus that is the summit plateau. Continue uphill and slightly left to the highpoint.
The fastest descent is probably reversing the route down the buttress, which is much easier than it might seem. However, the standard Northeast Ridge also makes a nice loop. There are several options, but the easiest is this: From the eastern edge of the summit plateau, scramble (easy class 3) down the southeast ridge
14 for around 100 vertical feet to a flattish area, then traverse north on blocky ledges
15 and slabs (class 2-3) towards the notch at the top of the north couloir. It's also possible to descend a grassy ramp and make an ascending traverse back up to the ridge. Take care not to descend too far--just north of the notch is a good place to regain the ridge. Continue down the ridge proper, picking up social trails before reaching the northeast col. From here trails continue along the west (left) side of the ridge that curves to the northwest until it flattens out. Hike or scramble down to the meadow below the N 1 saddle, then head down the grassy hillside into the gully to the west and meet a use trail that leads back down to the main trail at the talus field.
GPX File
