The Crux is the drive in

I went into this climb with very little approach beta and I would advise others to avoid this. I arrived at highway 28 in the dark and missed the turn off so I drove a little past the town of Lone Pine before I realized my error. Once finding the road it was not too bad. I chose to turn right at 1.75 miles into the gravel road. You go through two cattle fences then wind lookers left ignoring other tempting options (one right hand turn got me and I had to back track.) I decided to look for the correct road in the morning. A little light makes it pretty obvious where you need to go. I made the drive in a 2wd 4Runner and it did just fine and most any car would make a majority of the approach might have to walk a little further. I would avoid a low clearance vehicle unless you want to move some rocks. 

I started the climb in the rain at 6:45 A.M and it was kind enough to keep me company through most of the climb! After some easy hiking things get steep for about 400 meters until you reach the ridge line. From here on there is some 3rd class sections all on nice rock but lacking exposure so would be good for beginners in 3rd class climbing to get more comfortable. If your inclined if you stay true to the ridge there are some short sections of 4th class on good rock if not easily skirt around them. 

I reached the summit at 8:40 my Alti read 12257 so my ref was a bit off.  8:40 A.M ate a bagel then headed down at 8:50. The rain made the rock a little less stable and I definitely had to take it slow for the first 1000ft vertical of the decent but ran the rest  down and made it back to the car a at 9:40 A.M car to car time 2hr55min. 

I was a little worried that the rain was going to prevent my 2wd getting back up some of the hills that I drove down to get in there hence the hurried summit, but the roads were still solid and I had no problems finding my way out in the light!

Great trip and a fun Idaho 12'er!