Buckskin to Democrat Traverse?

[Hungry Jack]

How is this in terms of fun class 3/4 ridge scrambles in the pantheon of Ten Mile / Mosquito traverses? I have done Quandary's west ridge, Mt Helen to Father Dyer, and Democrat's north ridge, and enjoyed them all. Is this worth investigating, or should I stick to Clint Eastwood movies?

[Jim Davies]

My wife, son and I tried this once, but gave up fairly early. There was a sort of "knife edge" at the low point that was level, narrow, exposed, and covered with loose rock. It took a little work to get to that point, as there were some scrambly (and not very solid) sections on the lower part coming from Buckskin. It might have been possible to bypass the knife edge on the talus below, but we'd had enough at that point dealing with some big stuff that moved in scary ways, etc. Roach's ridge description has you climbing to the ridge above this point, from Lake Emma, so that might be more fun. It didn't look all that bad past the knife edge.

Before we tried this I asked about it on 14erworld, and got an answer from Ken Nolan saying that it was class 3, and that he'd done it three times. I guess I'm not Ken Nolan. I'm not Michael Jordan either.

[screeman57]

I've been curious about this, too. This was posted last August (not hugely informative):

http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=14024

[Jim Davies]

HJ, you should look into the east ridge of Pacific Peak. Miles of pointless scrambling.

[Dezelrig]

How is this in terms of fun class 3/4 ridge scrambles in the pantheon of Ten Mile / Mosquito traverses? I have done Quandary's west ridge, Mt Helen to Father Dyer, and Democrat's north ridge, and enjoyed them all. Is this worth investigating, or should I stick to Clint Eastwood movies?

Investigate the ridge while watching The Enforcer.

[Steve Climber]

I didn't do the full traverse so can't speak to lower portion of Buckskin, but I can say the remaining ridge (from powerlines at saddle to Demo summit) is quite enjoyable. Great 3rd and 4th scrambling (with some 5th if you choose). The rock is weird though...goes from solid to rotten and back several times as you pass multiple towers. Actually one of my favorite ridge scrambles to date.

[hvolmer]

I started towards Democrat from where the power lines drop over the edge towards Climax. I was by myself, and didn't get very far before it started to seem like a poor decision. I kept restarting things and winding up on ledges that led me over the valley feeling hyper-exposed. Steve Climber mentions rotten. That's really what spooked me. A competent partner would have helped.

For reference, I haven't done a lot of this sort of thing. I felt comfortable on "the usuals": Torreys' Kelso Ridge, B-S-E, Quandry west, and whatever stupid route I've chosen on any number of 13ers. I didn't feel good on the Buckskin to Democrat ridge at all.

[jlarson630]

I did this section on sort of a tour de democrat where we went up via democrats north ridge and then went over to buckskin with a hitchhike from kite lake back to the other th. I will say relative to the north ridge, the ridge to buckskin has poorer rock quality which makes it a little more spicey. I found it to be fairly straight forward class 3 the whole way with a few short moments of back tracking. The ridge really looks gnarlier than it is. I felt pretty comfortable the whole time but that's subjective I suppose. Overall, would recommend the north ridge of demo over the bucksckin-demo traverse due to rock quality and aesthetics.

[Dan_Suitor]

I’m thinking of bringing a friend up Democrat, then continuing to Buckskin via the traverse while he returns to the TH. This is the most recent thread with information about the traverse, however, the opinions on it vary greatly. I researched the one trip report which includes the traverse (Buckskin to Democrat). What I’m seeing is if you stay ridge proper the rock is more solid, but you will encounter class 4-5 sections. Bypass these sections and you are on really crappy rock. It does not say what the exposure is on these areas of crappy rock.

Has anybody done this route more recently who can give me a little more beta on what I can expect? Is it worth doing or am I destine to be cursing myself out ½ way through?

Thanks

[LAW]

It's been a while since I did this traverse, but I believe 4th/5th class "if you want" are operative words. Don't remember any major exposure, think you can pretty much walk around any tough climbing, seems like the west side is not too steep. Again, it's been a while and everything is relative to your experience. Thought picking up Buckskin to Democrat and on around the rest was a great way to loop the group.

[sodomike]

I enjoyed the hell out of this route - although I do agree with a previous response about the rock quality going from solid and fun to loose and lame multiple times. That said I found reasonable class 3 for most of the ridge proper and even thought there were many pretty mellow class 2ish bailouts to the west/north the few times I felt uncomfortable with the ridge itself (I was solo).
It was straightforward getting from the Kite Lake TH up the grassy slopes to Buckskin, saw a nice couple there, then didn't see another person until I popped out on Democrat's summit to the surprise of the few dozen hikers there!

Enjoy!

[glenmiz]

I did this solo in June 2017. I'm no Ken Nolan either but don't remember it as more than Class 3. I'm sure you can find C4/5 sections but should be possible to keep it 3 or below.