East Ridge
July 24, 2020
There was an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms by noon but since Laura and I had the day off of work and Hazel was hanging out with her Aunt Jennifer, we decided to go for a fun ridge scramble that we thought we could get done in a reasonable amount of time. Bancroft fit the bill. It was only a 2 hour drive and since we bailed last winter, we figured we'd better go back. We dropped Hazel off in Monument at 7 am and drove north, arriving at the 4 wheel drive road below Loch Lomond at 9 am. We drove to a good pullout and parked. Hiking up the road toward the lake, the clouds hung in the valley but occasionally gave us a view of our planned route. 
The clouds all around us seemed nonthreatening and seemingly stable, so we steadily pushed on. By 10:30 we had accessed the east ridge and scrambled our way to the notch where a rappel is supposedly mandatory. Both Laura and I rappelled but when we pulled the rope it became stuck in a crack high on the notch. I decided to climb up and free the rope and then down climb rather than rappel and risk getting the rope stuck again. In summer conditions, it is my opinion that if you can down climb 5.2, there is no reason to carry a rope on this route. I coiled the rope as Laura climbed ahead then I started up a nice low 5th class crack system to get out of the notch. We continued scrambling along the left or south side of the ridge eventually passing most of the class 4 - low class 5 difficulties. We really enjoyed the scrambling and were both very happy to be out on some fun terrain moving quickly again. All along, we kept an eye on the surrounding clouds and as they built to the north and south, we enjoyed mostly sunny skies above us. 
At 11:45 we were on the summit. We relaxed and contemplated heading over to James Peak but since we could see a storm headed our way from just across the valley, we decided we had better descend to the south and back to the car. We reached the car just after 1 pm and as we took off our shoes and grabbed a snack, the sprinkles began to fall. Whew, we made it in perfect time! Mt. Bancroft is a great scramble for anyone looking for a fun day out in the summer and would be a very fun winter climb as well. I bet we will be back sooner than we think!
At 11:45 we were on the summit. We relaxed and contemplated heading over to James Peak but since we could see a storm headed our way from just across the valley, we decided we had better descend to the south and back to the car. We reached the car just after 1 pm and as we took off our shoes and grabbed a snack, the sprinkles began to fall. Whew, we made it in perfect time! Mt. Bancroft is a great scramble for anyone looking for a fun day out in the summer and would be a very fun winter climb as well. I bet we will be back sooner than we think!
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