got up-close and personal with the desert flora! i went in with no beta other than Mike’s track and a vague idea of the loop: some moderate scrambling hitting 3 peaks, and a descent down a canyon. i was not prepared for the amount of bushwhacking i encountered — i definitely would wear pants if i were to do it again. the route up to rainbow peak was quite enjoyable, with the occasional chimney and some moderately steep featured face climbing on the gulley walls (much of which was probably optional, but i really wanted to avoid shwacking). there were tons of fixed lines on some of the class 4 sections which were unnecessary on the way up but might have made downclimbing faster/easier for folks going down that way. i had a few backtracks when i got into trickier terrain, but overall the routefinding was okay. i tried (successfully) to keep everything under mid-5th. you could probably keep it class 4 if you tried (and don’t mind bushwhacking). the traverses to rainbow mountain and rainbow wall were pleasant and uneventful, save for a little slip where i ended up slicing my hand open on a dead tree. the descent down the canyon was mostly enjoyable slab walking and boulder hopping, but there was a decent bit of thick scrub oak and manzanita lower down. it was also way more wet than i expected! water was flowing for most of the way down. i had originally planned for a casual day out (i ate a late breakfast on rainbow mountain), but when i realized that i was only a couple minutes behind Mike’s time near the top of the descent gulley i decided to try to keep it somewhat efficient the rest of the way. it worked for a while, until i got woefully stuck in some very thick, moderately sharp brush. i pushed on for a bit before backtracking and dropping into a riverbed to the north, which was much better. i jogged the trail home, wishing again that i had carried more than half a liter of water. overall a great morning out!