Opal Ridge- N Peak 312308 Scramble on 14-Sep-2024

Opal Ridge North peak just happens to be one of the coordinators all time favorite hike/scrambles in the front ranges, so he was pleased to gather with the group of 8 Ramblers at the Rocky Creek trail head at 9am on the day of the RMRA pot luck BBQ. We headed off up the treed ridge under cloudy weather conditions and pleasantly cool temps. The trail below tree line is now well-defined all the way and above tree line it is readily evident, just follow it up through the two rocky parts and the scree section.

Opal Ridge North - near treeline

From there the route proceeds close to a rock face where the use of a left-hand rail is helpful. The crux is not a bad as it looks from below and leads up to a relatively level section.

Upper Ridge - destination behind

Some people stop at this point, but we discussed options and after a short stop and snack, decided to proceed to a higher point on the horizon to the south, for our lunch break.

Lenard on the Crux

We retraced our steps on the descent and were back a the cars about 3:30pm in time for the BBQ.

Descending the upper crux section

Descending the middle scramble section

Upper Ridge - Fortress ski area down below

The weather held all day even though the ceiling became lower and lower and we did feel a few drops.

Thanks for such a great group - participants: Gary,Susan,Cordula,Jack,Clifton - c/s,Gary,Lenard,Tina, and thank you Gary R and Tina for the photos.