Route: Kachina Peaks Traverse

A looped traverse across the 6 prominent peaks that make up the Kachina peaks outside of Flagstaff. This route is largely off trail and involves advanced route finding, class 3 scrambling and significant exposure. 

We biked up to Lockett Meadow and started our trek up to Doyles right around 8AM. I wanted to keep the route as direct as possible knowing we were working with limited daylight late in the year so instead of Inner Basin trail we took the old service road that parallels Inner Basin until we hit Waterline rd. From there it's a straight shot up Inner basin to the side of Doyles. The climb up Doyles from the north side is pretty chill with good footing and small game trails to pick up throughout. We summited about 90 mins in and went off to the east for a moment to look at the burned remains of the small cabin that used to serve as a hut for research operations on the peak. The descent off Doyles was not ideal in the burn scar. I'd stay right of the scar if I were to do it again, the terrain was very unstable. The east line up Fremont was the toughest climb of the day with a narrow margin of error in finding our line and class 3 scrambles sprinkled throughout. This climb felt long and treacherous but we were rewarded with an easy descent on the other side. The east line up Agassiz looks intimidating but was relatively easy following the patches of vegetation which provided surprisingly stable footing. From the top of Agassiz to Humphrey's peak there is a 2 mile stretch of trail that provides some mental relief from route finding. From Humphrey peak you follow the northeast ridge to the saddle and find your way over to Abineau. Watch out for the spicy down climb off the side of Abineau then it's just a short push up to Rees and then a slip and slide down the avalanche chute back to inner basin. In all 8 hours of scrambling fun and the coolest route I've ever done in Flagstaff.