Trip Report: On Saturday we climbed the complete east ridge of Mt Conness (myself and friends Randy and Ken). We found this route to offer various terrain, with some class 1 through class 4 stuff. It is a scenic climb with not too much vertical gain and can be done in 1/2 day. Since we had to head to Ken's bachelor party later that day, it was a good choice. RJ Secor rates the east ridge a class 3. We found that following the top of the ridge over the pinnacles would involve some class 5 terrain, but most of the difficulties can be avoided on the south side. We ended up taking on some of the challenges. On the top we met Karl from New York, who was out on a peak-bagging extravaganza.
looking up at the east ridge from Saddlebag Lake
Mt Dana
panorama, east side of Conness
cruising on class 1 terrain after gaining the ridge
the beautiful SE aspect of North Peak
the fun part of the ridge
Ken chilling on the ridge
Randy on a pinnacle
final summit from the plateau
Randy with the east ridge below
SW face
hanging out on the summit
looking back down the east ridge from the summit
summit panorama
heading to the car and peeking back up at the east ridge
Gear Notes: tennies, gallon of water, sunscreen
Approach Notes: park at the end of the road, cross the dam, and head up
