Route: Ragged Ridge (WA)

Submitted by Jason Hardrath… on Wed, 08/11/2021 - 12:00pm
Location
Washington, US
Distance
21.15 mi
Vertical Gain
12,800 ft
Description

"Ragged Ridge" is a coveted link-up in the Washington mountaineering community.  Many "light and fast" enthusiasts test their mettle to see if they can complete the entire ridge of 4 peaks within daylight hours. Not all succeed. Just finishing car-to-car in a day is a feather in the cap of any mountain athlete.

On loose, steep terrain these ... Read more

Leaflet | Map data © Google
Images

Comments

User Picture
Profile picture for user KeganB

I completed this linkup in 14:03:26 on 9/22/2023. https://www.strava.com/activities/9906788808

I will not submit a FKT for it since Sean O'Rourke has a time to beat of "14 hours", which I essentially tied (and therefore my time is not a FKT). 
I very much agree with Jason's submission regarding the technicality & challenge of the terrain. It is truly brutal and unforgiving. 

The high traverse from Katsuk to Kimtah was every bit as challenging as (if not more than) scrambling up the peaks. I recommend following my up-track to Mesahchie-Katsuk col, it completely avoided all bushwhacking. The same cannot be said for my descent route from Cosho. I took the Cosho gully down and was met with terribly loose rock, 4th class downclimbs over dry waterfalls, and loose vegetated terrain. Getting from the gully back to the trail involved ~1/4 mile of thick alder bushwhack that took 45 mins. A better route here could save a lot of time. 

The scramble on Cosho from the 7,900ft col to summit was the most enjoyable in my opinion, it had the best quality rock on the whole ridge.