Kelso Ridge Scramble

08/29/2017 By icezebra11
Denali41, non-caching friend Ward, and I made the very fun climb/scramble up Kelso Ridge today. The rock is pretty solid but there are areas of loose dirt and scree that have to be crossed that required close attention. The knife edge was pretty straightforward even though I butt-scooted it because my pack was heavier than necessary.

When we arrived at the rock formation for this cache, Ward and Steve took a break while I scrambled over to GZ. The tin was well hidden and I was thankful to have the spoiler photo. Even with the photo it took several minutes to locate it but I was successful in finding it and signing the log. After that I joined the others and we had a bite to eat before continuing on up the ridge.

Thanks climbstuff for placing this cache, it's a fun one to get to!!!
Grays from somewhere on Kelso Ridge

09/17/2016 By Desert Rogue
Found this with Marmot last weekend, gave us the runaround for a little bit! Tftc Smile

09/17/2016 By marmotandgoatcachers
Yay - loved the location for this cache but started to think we wouldn't find it! Finally turned the phone on and managed to find the spoiler picture - a big help! The altoid can is in good shape though the lid was slightly frozen but finally managed to pry it open Smile !

09/18/2013 By COpackrat
It rained all night, and I woke up to strong winds and snow on the top of Grays - What a nice day for a hike! Waited a while for things to warm up/melt, so I got a later start than I had planned, but still had a great trip up the ridge. For the most part the rock was dry and only a few patches of snow/soft hail on the north side. Took the spoiler photo with me and searched as deep as I could reach in the crack, but found nothing, so left a round gray altoids - that was all I had with me and hopefully saves you a trip in what may soon become funky conditions. This was my 4th or 5th trip up this route, the first was so long ago there wasn't anything resembling a trail at all as the few people who took this way stayed on the solid rock and basically left no trace. It made route finding both easier and more difficult - just stay on the rock at the ridge and go up! It's also interesting that the most fun part (the little face and sharp ridge) come right near the top when your legs are tired! Thanks for the enjoyable trip up a high peak!

07/14/2013 By Denali41
I've been to the summit of Torreys Peak almost a dozen times over the years, but never by the Kelso Ridge route. The last four trips to the top were via Dead Dog Couloir in spring climbs as training for expeditions. Each time I've looked up or across or down at Kelso Ridge while thinking: "That's next". Finally, today, that WAS next, and I enjoyed the scramble along the ridge and the knife edge just before Dead Dog. And of course I enjoyed the cache! Thanks so much for placing and maintaining it through the years. This was a special caching experience. I left a TB that wanted to be placed on a 14er. It's on one now...

06/22/2013 By trumpettruck
I loved the Kelso Ridge scramble! My favorite route to Torreys by far :) TFTC!
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10/03/2012 By cfunk1056
Fun traverse along Kelso Ridge. I passed within 20 feet of three mountain goats!
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10/03/2012 By sassydil
It helps to have someone with guts (Chris & Jason) and Jason's good memory of where the cache was. It was sunny pretty much all day until right when we got back to the vehicle. At that point it was spitting snow.

final view of both peaks

09/05/2012 By estes01
I thought I had a fairly good idea about what to expect on this climb, and as long as I didn't have to tackle that knife edge, it was all manageable. I'm certainly no stranger to steep, high hikes, nor to talus of all sizes…as long as it is reasonably stable, which was not the case on this route. I do have exposure issues if the ground appears unstable or if the rocks I'm clinging to aren't solid. We encountered quite a few challenges on our way up to the cache, but the descent was even more difficult. It's good to push your limits – to challenge your fears – and I absolutely could not have done this hike without WingsAndTales. She was constantly scouting out the best route when the choice was no longer clear. It definitely took us longer than it should have, but that's ok. The main thing is that we did it. I wonder if I would have done it if I had seen that this was a 4.5 climbstuff and kriskook cache. Ernie66 said we actually didn't do the 4.5 part – the rest of the route up to Torreys. Well it was 5 for me. Thanks for the challenge.
Challenging terrain

09/05/2012 By WingsAndTales
Estes01, Ernie66 and I did the other caches on Grays and Torreys about 6 weeks ago but decided not to try this one on the same day. While we had lunch on top of Torreys we watched several groups traverse the crux of the route that is pictured above on the cache page. At the time we were glad we didn't try to come up to the summit of Torreys that way. Lots of people do it based on the numbers we saw that day but it wasn't for us.

Ernie66 did this cache 5 years ago and descended via Kelso ridge. Estes01 and decided that we could probably handle doing this cache by itself so we could come up the ridge and descend by the same route and avoid the crux that is higher up. It seems that the conditions have changed significantly in the last 5 years. Even this abbreviated route is definitely class 3. The last 1/3 of a mile as the crow flies to the cache is the hardest part. There is no clear trail to follow but in places there are multiple trails which is almost worse. In general staying close to the ridge is the best but you will have to go to one side or the other in spots. We got suckered into a lower route on the north side of the ridge for part of the trip up and the rock was really loose in spots.

This cache is doable but is not for the faint of heart. If you go be careful(it took us 7.5 hours to do the 6.5 mile round trip from the parking lot). Pick a day with good weather and ALWAYS take a buddy. We were passed by one guy doing the ridge solo. He was obviously more confident in that terrain than us but it still gives me the willies to see people on stuff like this by themselves.

One other note, the original spoiler picture still applies even though the cache has been replaced. Just be aware that the spoiler pictures posted by Spivey were taken facing south or SSE. Thanks, I think.....