Best Alpine Traverses in the Lower 48...

Criteria:

Ridge traverses or alpine hikes/scrambles/climbs that connect high points or exposed ridges. Should involve mainly scrambling or low 5th and exposure or scenery. Occasional harder moves are OK, as is occasional snow travel, but I'm mostly thinking solo fitness type climbs.

I think I have a good sense of what Colorado and California have to offer, but what about other states? Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, others?

This is what I've got so far:

California:

Evolution
Palisade (Temple to Thunderbolt)
Whitney Basin
The Saber Ridge
Cathedral / Matthes Crest / Cathedral Range Traverse

Colorado:

The Blitzen Ridge
Little Bear - Blanca
Mohling Traverse
A Walk in the Park
The Trinity Traverse (with Vestal Peak?)
The Megamydal Traverse
...do Wilson - Diente or the Sawtooth Ridge belong on the list?

New Hampshire:

The Presidential Traverse

Montana:
The Skyline Experience

Utah:

The Cottonwood Traverse
WURL

Washington:

The Picketts (North and/or South?)
The Liberty Bell Traverse

Wyoming:

The Grand Traverse
The Cirque Traverse

Cirque Traverse, wind River range

I'd add the Megamydal Traverse to the list. Just as much fun (in a completely different way) and way better scenery then A Walk in the Park (which is definitely a classic in it's own right).

The Capitol/Snowmass traverse is supposed to be the tits if you're into long, hard, exposed and extremely chossy ridge lines.

The Maroon Bells is a cool traverse

Grand Traverse

The Grand Traverse and Cirque Traverses - can't believe I forgot those.

Haven't heard of the Megamydial... I'll have to check it out. Done the Maroon Bells traverse... Fun but short-lived... not much of a ridge scramble.

In WY, The Grand Traverse (Tetons) is a classic.
mountainproject.com/v/the-g…
pataclimb.com/climbingareas…

In WA, the Liberty Bell group traverse (Liberty Bell to South Early Winters Spire) is and interesting and unique one. It is different since it is an "alpine cragging" traverse that is mostly 5th class rock climbing on good rock (or rapping), and not so much in the way of typical loose alpine ridge terrain. Plus the hike is short.

Haven't done either of those two yet, but would like to.

I feel like Colorado has dozens, if not hundreds, of fairly good traverses. In pretty much every major alpine cirque in the state, you can start on one side and ride the ridge around to the other, ticking off a number of 12k, 13k, and/or 14k peaks along the way. Most involve mainly 2nd and 3rd class talus hopping, with some featuring loose 4th and 5th. Some of these are better than others, of course. The trick is picking out the really great ones from the merely good.

Overall, I think that the Sierra and the Cascades likely offer more in the way of really great traverses than Colorado, with exposed ridges, solid rock, fun climbing, and all that. Once you leave RMNP, the alpine terrain in CO is too much rubble slogging once you get above 13k, with some awesome exceptions, of course. Not that rubble slogging isn't sometimes satisfying, but we are talking about the best of the best here. The Sierra, on the other hand, just has so much good granite exposed at the tops of the high peaks.

No technical rock climbing, but the "skyline experience" traverse in Glacier National Park, Montana is awesome. Incredible views for several miles of traversing over several peaks to the high point of Mt. Siyeh where you look down the tallest rock face in the lower 48.

Torment-Forbidden in Washington was good enough for Roper and Steck

Three Sisters Traverse in Oregon isn't technical, but might be the longest traverse in Oregon.

Favorite things I've done:

CA | Evolution, Temple to Tbolt, Saber Ridge, Matthes, N Peak to N Ridge and W Ridge of Conness, N Ridge of Lone Pine

CO | Spearhead to Longs (more technical climbing than Walk in the Park), Blitzen Ridge to Donner

On the to do list:
NM | Organ Mtns
WY | Cirque of the Towers, Grand
WA | N Ridge of Stuart

CO has some good ones but they are typically less sustained and technical in nature than other states. Might get a one or two move wonder. Still, I doubt all but a limited handful would enter the "Best" discussion. Top ten would likely only include Sierra, WA, and WYO (Cirque, Grand, Cathedral).

Sierra are pretty well covered. Limited experience on the rock routes, but I've heard Evolutions, Mathes, and Palisades.

It would be great to hear more about the Montana and Glacier scene as I've heard they have some good obscure ones, similar to the Bells area in CO.

My overall top 5 in CO might be Megamidal, the full Maroon Traverse (W Maroon to Buckskin Pass over the Bells), Mohling, E Thorne E Ridge to Rain, and the truncated Glacier Gorge traverse. If Blitzen counts as a traverse, tack it on.

Haven't done Kasparov proper, might be good. Same with 13060 to Clark.

Next up would be Finnegan to Pika, LB/Blanca and north to California, Partners, Ripsaw, and the more obscure Gore traverses (Red, Partners, Eagle's Nest, Gore Thumb, Zodiac) would go in there.

SJs have fun peaks, particularly with snow or in the non-traverse-y Weminuche, but I don't know if I'd put them anywhere close to RMNP/IPW/Gore/HCW level. Besides LB/Blanca (not much route-finding), Sangres has the Crestones, Milwaukee, Tijeras, etc and that's about it. Sawatch? Meh. Indy pass Williams Trav, Frying Pan, Twinings, and other obscure GOOD ones, but not great and certainly not best.

three others in the High Sierra:

• Minarets -- I heard this discussed today by two parties out climbing (including mention that perhaps it has never been done in winter?)
• Sawtooth
• Rock Creek (Mono Pass to Bear Creek Spire to Morgan Pass).

I think these and the previously mentioned Evolution, Palisades, Saber, Mattes Crest. North+Conness ridges - (? perhaps unlike some other U.S. states and mountain ranges ?) - all have significant sections with class 5 rock climbing.

Best?
I've never heard detailed reasoned comparisons of the high Sierra traverses which explain why one is "better" than another.

Like the Palisade - Sill traverse gets mentioned most frequently in climbing magazines. Do experienced local climbers believe that it's better than the Minaret traverse?

Or is that the Palisade-Sill is just more impressive to non-locals because it's higher in altitude? Or does it have a longer length of more-fun climbing moves? (measured how by whom) - or longer length of narrower ridges with more dramatic exposure? (measured how by whom) -- or what?

The lack of such thoughtful comparisons has caused me to make the Palisades traverse a lower priority than some others.

Ken

Utah isn't so great for alpine traverses for the most part.

The best short one is to go up the South Ridge of Superior in the Wasatch, and then do the Cottonwood traverse over to the Broads Fork Twins. Low 5th class with some good knife edge ridge on mostly solid rock. The Cottonwood Traverse

The best fitness challenge is the WURL. outdoorresearch.com/blog/st…

re: Sierra
Rock Ck is notorious for shifty death blocks (see Moynier and Fiddler). Competent High Sierra climber friends warned me about Sawtooth as well for sketchy rock, so I have avoided it.

Thanks for the negative comparisons -- they do help set priorities.

I was out on the ridges of Rock Creek canyon today, and I checked out the northern end (by Mono Pass) of the "grand traverse", and my problem with it was different:
That section just didn't seem fun for me. And seemed like it would be slow.

So I think I could design a different version of the Rock Creek grand traverse that avoids that.
And I have an idea for how to avoid the dangerous section that the Moynier and Fiddler book warns about.

Ken

Somebody mentioned the Kasparov Traverse above... This one slipped my mind but is definitely worth consideration! If you climb all the towers (as you should) you get some cool little summits in and a some fun technical pitches!

re: Rock Ck

To me a more fun version of the traverse is Mill-Abbott-Dade-Bear Creek Spire, but that also includes the death block section between Abbott and Dade. I suspect Croft's experience with this section (noted in Moynier and Fiddler) is what kept it out of his book. At any rate I wouldn't put it on the best list.

This is really broadly defined. Some of those described are technical ridgeline traverses, while others are more like link-ups to be done when you're already high up.

OP mentioned Pickets in WA, but most who do traverses of the range are really doing link-ups; pure ridgeline traverses in the range are not as commonly accomplished (though subsections are done by mortals / weekend warriors).

Pitch for a nontechnical but beautiful one in WA - Ruth / Icy traverse. It's just walking on rock / snow / glacier, but in a dramatic and beautiful setting.

The Ptarmigan Traverse is another common route in WA which, in reality, is a traverse through high country across many drainages, where parties have the option of tagging summits along the way. Debatable whether it's in the same category as those mentioned here, but figured I'd throw it out anyhoo.

Can't believe this thread withered out this fast. Was kinda excited to see the replies

To stave off the disappointment of a withering thread, how about the Stuart Traverse in the Cascades? Croft did the thing in a day in trail runners back in the early '80s if I recall correctly. Only a couple repeats of any kind since that I'm aware of. However, I definitely don't think it qualifies as a "best."

DavisMeschke wrote:Can't believe this thread withered out this fast. Was kinda excited to see the replies

+1

Derek DeBruin wrote:...in the Cascades?...

I bet Jens would have a great list.

The West is getting covered pretty well, so I'll add some to the East Coast

New Hampshire:

Magical Mystery Tour aka the Girdle Traverse of Cannon Cliff
mountainproject.com/v/magic…

various traverses on Cathedral and Whitehorse (more straight up rock climbing than alpine)

Maine:
The Armadillo on Katahdin (not completely a traverse, just an alpine ridge climb)
mountainproject.com/v/the-a…

North Carolina:

Looking Glass and Laurel Knob both have traverses, or you can play "pick your anchors" and go for it.

New York:
(Adirondacks) Trap Dike to Mt Marcy to North Face of the Gothics
also see: mountainproject.com/v/climb…

A couple more from out West that I didn't notice on here:
Colorado:
The Crestone Traverse (up Ellingwood Arete, down the back side of the Needle, up the gully to Crestone Peak, then back down to the Colony Lakes from Humboldt Saddle)
-in the Crestone Area, there are many options for nice ridgewalking and some added scrambling. The prow up Kit Carson; you can add some scrambling or even roped climbing up the 13er close to the Crestone Needle