Mt. Meeker via the Loft

[camocreation]

I am thinking either the Iron Gates route or going from Sand Beach TH. Maybe do the Loft route next year. Any input on coming from Sand Beach?

[justiner]

Don't underestimate how long ANY route on Meeker/Longs becomes when starting from Sandbeach. Keplingers is a long route. Meeker SE Ridge is a long route. For Winter conditions, it's basically start before sun up, finish after sun down.

[LIV]

Meeker East Ridge is a great route. You should try that one!!

[turbocat]

Meeker Ridge is one of my all time favorites training climbs from Sandbeach TH, mostly overlooked and under rated because most take the Loft. It has it all, route-finding, minimal trail, long slog and awesome knife edge finish...then a long slog in reverse. As Justiner mentions though, do not underestimate. Once you get off the main SB trail just before Camper's Creek crossing to make the bushwhack to the saddle between Meeker Ridge and Lookout Mountain, you will probably see no one and it is a long day up/down and if you find the trail, consider yourself lucky. After the saddle, there is a lot of big steep talus that takes as much time down climbing as up climbing and the ridge is long...2.5 miles. It eases in the middle. The traverse finish is a short exposed bit to the summit from the East summit and requires an out/back (obviously). It is kind of a weird final scramble leaning toward climbers right. Having done Meeker from a few different directions, Loft included, I really enjoy the challenge and solitude of the Ridge. Even if you do not do the final traverse, East Meeker summit is a worthy objective itself with great views and a dramatic summit block of its own. Snow would make the ridge difficult because of the size and density of the talus though, but because it is East and above treeline, it gets lots of sun and melts off quick. I cannot find my picture of the last traverse from the East summit, but maybe someone else can post one.

[jmanner]

Iron Gates, probably is the easiest/safest route up this time of year, but I personally found the climbing to be boring and it mostly just a talus hoop.

Meeker Ridge-Meeker knife edge is super fun if you stay on the ridge, but its very exposed. If you commit to that route, you definitely should be willing to go back the way you came. Trying for the loft after that would likely be kind of dangerous.

[jmanner]

Here are some pictures.

[turbocat]

Sweet shots jmanner...makes me want to lace up my boots and get out there. Agree that descending Loft would not be advised without making an ascent of it...unless you've been there before and know where you are going.

[camocreation]

Anyone have GPS routing for the Iron Gates route?

[JChitwood]

Don't underestimate how long ANY route on Meeker/Longs becomes when starting from Sandbeach. Keplingers is a long route. Meeker SE Ridge is a long route. For Winter conditions, it's basically start before sun up, finish after sun down.

Gerry's 13ers book has the south ridge route as the easiest on Meeker and only .8 mile longer than the loft 12.2 to 11.4 miles. It is over 1,000 more vert though. I was thinking a backpack trip to Sandbeach Lake might make it considerably more manageable but it does not seem like there is a manageable route up Meeker.

[cougar]

you shouldn't need a GPS track (I should have one somewhere but haven't exported those files in a while) - it's pretty obvious on ascent, but mark a waypoint at the top of the descent gully if you plan to return that way. Summitpost has a decent route description. The ascent gully has a prominent notch at the top, and the Iron Gates are easily recognizable. It's also pretty much the only non-technical way to gain the ridge from Chasm Meadows, as the rest is high cliff walls and steep couloirs like Dreamweaver.

I just ascended Iron Gates and descended Loft last month. My previous trips I went up the loft. My take on the routes (in dry conditions):

- Iron Gates is more stable rock/talus, little to no scree and it can be avoided easily. Minimal to no class 3 to get on the ridge (despite what other trip reports say), but it's north facing and rather inset so any recent snow/ice may be sticking around in the shade. The route overall past that has a few class 3 moves up and down some boulders, but nothing sustained.
- The exposure on the Iron Gates route and knife edge was overhyped IMO, but exposure typically doesn't bother me. I walked across the knife in ~30mph winds - it's really short. The views are great though, better than loft. If the rocks are icy it could be different as there's a couple step-around ledge moves - could be avoided on a different line to the left. Time it to catch alpenglow on Longs.
- The Loft exit ramp is easy to find on the ascent, but if you didn't come up that way, it can be tricky to find on the way down, there are a lot of cairns though. Follow the white ones if going to/from Longs. Finding the ramp on the way down can take a bit of time and some horizontal traversing the top of the loft (towards Meeker) and just below it. But the cairns on the front side should be safe to follow.
- The loft overall seems to have gotten messier/sandier since the floods. There's still slab to climb up, and trail segments down lower, but with water running down from snowfields that could get icy its not so simple. This past year had more snow so the slabs are wetter and partially covered. That spot just always has a lot of flowing water.

[unclegar]

Loft Meeker CA Longs track.gpx

[B_2]

Thanks to all for the very useful info. Trying to figure out how to fit this in still this season. May have waited too long to keep it simple.