ridge to Bear's Playground from Humboldt saddle

[Eph 2 5]

I'm looking for some opinions about how difficult the ridge is from the saddle west of Humboldt to Bear's Playground. Roach calls it class 2 but mentions that it's a scramble. One trip report I saw called it more like class 3 and said that it took them 1.5 hours to get over it, but they were hiking it in the dark. Another trip report makes it sound fairly routine if you pay attention to the cairned trails. Also, is the easiest way to hike Obstruction Peak to follow the southeastern ridge once you get to Bear's Playground? Thanks for your help.

[ngoodnight]

I've done that ridge during the day and at night. It's pretty casual, but there are a couple sections where route finding problems can lead you into class 3 (or higher if you're really off). I recall one difficult down climb, but it was pretty easy to backtrack and find a way around to climbers left. Overall it's a pretty easy ridge.

[crossfitter]

I did it as an approach to the North Buttress before dawn and it didn't seem like a big deal at all. I don't remember how long it took but it seemed to go fairly quickly. The routefinding is not bad but there are some looseish blocks in spots.

[Weegie5]

I did Kit Carson from S Colony Lakes last year and made that traverse. I recall it taking longer than I felt it should have, but that can be said of just about everything that particular day. It seemed much shorter on the way back. In both directions, you need to be looking far enough ahead and it can be very straightforward class 2.

Enjoy!!

[Gahugafuga]

My experience was distinctly class 3 but I pretty much stayed on the ridge proper the entire way and really made no attempt to find the path of least resistance. The scrambling was a bit too loose and uninteresting to be fun, but it certainly wasn't terrifying.

[kansas]

One trip report I saw called it more like class 3 and said that it took them 1.5 hours to get over it, but they were hiking it in the dark.

I was part of this TR: It was ~2am, raining, and the fog was so thick we only had about 10' of visibility so we stuck to the ridge proper most of the way... I wouldn't put much stock in that 1.5hr time under normal conditions. As Gahugafuga says, ridge proper is class 3 and too uninteresting to be fun.