After taking a few weeks off from alpine clmibing in order to heal from injuries sustained on our trip to Mount Maude, I was eager to undertake an alpine climb. Elain and I had been hearing good things aboug the Upper Pride Glacier route on Kyes Peak, the highest peak in the Monte Cristo area. My ankle was still pretty sore, but we figured that I could wear sneakers on the approach, and switch to boots for the glacier part of the climb. We tried to follow Beckey's somewhat vague directions to the Quartz Creek trailhead, but somehow got lost and found ourselves at the end of a dirt road. From the spent shotgun shells lying around on the ground, we surmised that we were at some kind of backcountry shooting range. We got out of there quickly, and eventually found our way to the trailhead. The 4-mile hike to Curry Gap went quickly. The air had quite a bit of smoke, which we assumed originated in a forest fire somewhere. Although we had not heard of any forest fires in the immediate vicinity, we were wary for the rest of the hike. Once at Curry Gap, we started trudging off-trail up the long, brushy ridge that approaches the Pride Glacier. About 500' up the ridge (in elevation), we encountered an extremely steep section of the ridge. The angle must have been at least 60 degrees. Rather than rock, which we would have enjoyed, it was dirt and slide alder. Climbing up it was somewhat frightening, because it was difficult to get any traction. We had been warned previously about trying to circumvent the steep ridgeline; apparently it is worse that way. After climbing up to a safe spot on a sloping ledge behind a tree, I dropped a rope to Elain. It was difficult getting the rope to her, because of all of the brush. Elain soon joined me. We surveyed the ridge above us, and it looked steep for at least another couple of hundred feet. My ankle was in pain from scratching/clawing my way up the ridge. So we decided to bail, and maybe try an alternative approach the next time.
Down-climbing what we had just climbed was not an option, so we set up a double-rope rappel, using a tree as an anchor. Once we had rapped down about 50 meters, the slope angle lessened and we were able to downclimb. Somehow we veered too far to the right as we descended the ridge, and we ended up in a series of drainages that were full of slide alder and devil's club. After 45 minutes of bushwhacking, we finally reached the creek. We stepped across the creek and scrambled back up to the trail, feeling somewhat defeated. The unpleasant approach to the NE ridge of Kyes has lessened our appetite for climbing the Pride Glacier. Perhaps we will go back there some day, perhaps not. It is hard to believe that the small amount of low-angle ice on the Pride Glacier is worth the effort.
Note: we did not take any photos on this trip