Monte Cristo Range linkup, Also Chilliwacks and Isolation - Columbia -> Kyes -> Monte Cristo -> Cadet 06/17/2026

After getting back from the Chilliwacks(more below), I stuck around in seattle for two days before heading out to Monte Cristo. Continuing with my lazy route research trend of recently, I screenshotted a few photos from this lovely TR before heading out at a civil 7am from seattle. I made the mistake of taking the lower monte cristo road in, which wasn't all that bad, but was certainly bumpy and not too smooth. At the town, the first time I've been, I locked up the bike and enjoyed(?) the quick hike up to Columbia. Columbia was a nice scramble and I topped out around 1:30. Once I descended I was suprised to find old tracks on my route, but it made it easy to routefind. I descended down onto the glacier and made my way over to the chossy 3/4th class ramp. Heads-up scrambling got me up and soon I was to the ridge of Kyes. A nice walk and then scramble got me to the summit.

My reference TR mentioned rappelling from here but I didn't want to bivy on the ridge or on the exposed windy side so I decided to walk back down and find a spot in cover where I would be able to avoid ropes in the morning. This turned out to be an amazing decision as I found a little cave. I dug out a nice bivy, got some music and food going, and enjoyed a nice warm night. The green stuff put me to sleep and when I woke up at 5 to my alarm, I was feelin quite content in my bag so I enjoyed another hour.

In the morning I traversed snow slopes, following the old tracks over to monte Cristo. the slope got quite steep as I neared the Kyes-Monte Cristo Col and being above cracks I wasn't happy with one axe, but that was soon over and I was at the base of the route quickly. I rope soloed the 20ft bolted(!!!!) 5.6 pitch and scrambled to the top by 9am. From there it was a traverse over to Cadet which was moderately enjoyable. I dropped the bag 1000' below the summit  and topped out around 11:45. Boot skiing, a split finger nail from a fall, and small easy bushwacking brought me to the trail, where I enjoyed reading the signs and looking at the abandoned town before I got back to the bike and subsequently, the car. I stopped at REI on my way back to get food for the next three days- the isolation traverse.

For those interested about the chilliwacks, the TLDR is that after grad on the 10th, I headed up with a partner for 4 days and bagged Spickard, Solitude, Custer, and Ramh. Spickard was done on the second day, and then Solitude Custer and Ramh were done on day 3 solo. all 4 would have easily been done in a day solo. The highlights of that trip were the exposed scrambling on Solitude and the Spicy S. Ridge(and traverse to it) of Custer. Looking to go with a fit partner and grab the moxes and Redoubt over 3 days but still looking for the right person. photos(by me):The Isolation was also quite fun, even if late season. I did it the 3 days following Monte Cristo The only part done in trailrunners aside from beginning and end was from base of ice-elation couloir to Isolation peak. The one descent between the two had snow to ski but it would've just been a hassle for 300' of skiing. We added summits of Eldorado, Isolation, and Neve peaks for extra skiing. Though it was quite late in a crappy season, it was still super fun and nice to tick off something that had been on my mind for years. photos(by me):

Anyways now the weather ofc has to suck but I've been finding motivation for the bouldering gym and cragging so at least it's not all that bad.