East Face Cirque - Several Routes for the Explorer

If you liked Bottle Slide followed by Bottleneck, then this cirque is here for you to explore.

See "Location" for approach

Route 1 - East Face Direct 5.5 R FA Unknown Well...perhaps not as "direct" as the variation, but more direct than any of the class 4 scrambling.

Start left of the large L-facing corner (photo). Go Up and left over small overlaps to a right-facing corner. Up this to a R-facing flake. Continue on lower angled rock to a short wall (guidebook says 3 ft, I guess that's correct, I don't remember). Belay 40ft above at a R-facing corner.

Route 1 A - Variation East Face Direct 5.6 R FA R. Hall, Ed Palen, S. Matz, summer 2004 Directly up from the start to the belay above. Much cleaner rock, including a beautiful crux white slab where it would have been very nice to have a thin-bladed piton.

Other routes here are Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum 5.7 PG (& 5.4R) and Beanstalk 5.8 TR See Adirondack Rock by Lawyer & Haas.

DESCENT- Ideally you have a car spotted on Rt73, if so scramble (100 yds +/-) from the top of the climb(s) up to the trail. Hike down the trail to the car.

Your adventure begins at the State Parking on Rt 9N about 6 miles east of the Rt73 / 9N junction in Keene. (Or 4 miles west of Elizabethtown.)

Hike the trail past Owl Head Lookout (different from the Owls Head off of Rt 73 in Cascade Pass) and past High Bank (see photo, good view of the cirque). When close to the stream on your left (south) drop down and follow it uphill. When it splits, follow the left branch (climber's left) Continue up this about 1 hr to another split, take the right branch which is followed to a 3rd junction where another right is taken. This should lead you to a steep rubble/dry creek (photo) and then onto the low-angle slabs (photos). Continue up to the base. If you haven't gotten lost, this should take about 4 -5 hours. Adirondack Rock gives GPS co-ordiantes, if you want them.

Alternately, one could hike up Giant and then drop down into the cirque. People who have done this say the best place is from the Giant-Rocky Peak Col.

Alpine Rack, be sure to take a #2 (Gold Camalot) sized-Cam.