I had the pleasure of doing the traverse over Matterhorn and Sacajawea earlier in the summer with a few local crushers and got familiar with the ridgeline route. I was here for a few days on vacation and decided to give this route a try with a harder effort. I topped out on Matterhorn a bit over 2:10 and made it to Sacajawea just under 2:50. The scree descent from the top of 9776' was too inviting to pass up, so I opted for that route down. This is the route from the initial FKT that Jason H. created/submitted in 2018, and also the route Jason W. completed in 2020. Ryan's most recent FKT backtracked all the way back to Matterhorn. The scree descent is shorter and faster (maybe more aesthetic too?). I was aiming to get under Ryan's time by a bit in order to account for this difference and also the ~10 minute stop they mentioned at the lake. Such a great route! But the Wallowas stink - tell your friends! A few pics in the Strava activity.
***Note to editors: I wasn't completely clear if I had to follow Ryan's route (the most recent FKT) or could follow the original route that was posted. I opted for the latter (reasons above). If this is not appropriate, let me know and I can add a comment on the route, rather than be listed as the FKT for the route. Thanks!!