NE Ridge Lone Pine Peak

Drove up with Ben Craft on Friday afternoon. Camped at Lone Pine Campground. 4am start. Topped out at 5pm. This route is 3 miles long with an elevation gain of 6900 feet and tops out on Lone Pine Peak at 13000 feet. The NE Ridge is the ridge next to very popular North Ridge route. The NE ridge sees very little traffic and starts at the desert floor while the N ridge starts a couple of thousand feet higher. The NE Ridge is rated at 5.6-5.7. We 3rd-classed the route. While the intial 2000 eet were a pain in the arse, the upper ridge provided some fun climbing and excellent exposure. A fair amount of snow required us to improvise. Spent the night on the summit because we were unfamiliar with the decent. It rained a 1/2" in Lone Pine last night, but we were spared. It did not rain on the plateau where we were bivying although the winds gusted as high as 50-60mph (my estimate). All in all, a big route and a long day.