I've added this as a separate route from Left Wishbone, as it's different enough to warrant its own description. Except for a few hundred feet of wet rock hopping to get to the base and a bit of bushwhacking at the summit, this is a great scramble, and it would be good for anyone looking to do an "alpine-ish" route, or it might even be appropriate for an experienced and adventurous mountain runner.

Perhaps the longest scramble on the East Coast and certainly the Southeast. After the snow and ice disappears in March or April, and before the weeds have yet to fully emerge, this route may come into condition. You probably want at least a week of warm weather with no rain. The route features about 2200' of rock scrambling gaining 1600 vertical feet. You will gain 3150' of elevation from trailhead to summit. While the technical scrambling is mostly 3rd class, there are definitely a few 5.easy sections depending on the chosen path. Most of the steep sections are featured enough to be casual, but if they are wet, I can imagine they could be quite tricky.

The route is pretty simple after finding the start. Begin up 45 degree slabs taking the path of least resistance. There are several places where you climb open books/corners. As you get higher, the route gets drier. The rock also tends to become more featured. There are several "cruxy" sections where an inexperienced person may want climbing shoes and/or a rope. I would guess that just about any steep section could be bypassed by bushwhacking around the rock into the woods on either side. But what's the fun in that?

As you approach 6000' elevation, the rock will begin to peter out into dense rhododendrons. From here, bushwhack up and left. You will come to a vertical 30' wall. Continue left, occasionally finding orange flagging. Eventually as you traverse left, the steep stuff above you will reveal easy weaknesses allowing passage to the summit of Celo Knob (6327').

There's water available until about half or 2/3s of the way up.

Left Wishbone (Rock Scramble)

Royal Air

Right Wishbone

An awesome route hidden within Mitchell's huge and complex east face.

The crux pitch is its start and can't be seen until you're 400' from it.

The name comes from an aircraft tire in the drainage near the start of the route. A C-47 crashed into Mount Mitchell in the late 1940's.

Adding this route to the list of gully climbs in this section because it appears in the beta photo for the area but is not mentioned elsewhere. Probably the easiest of the routes up Celo, very similar to Left Wishbone and Crescent in characteristics. It has one short almost vertical 10ft step that is WI2 or WI3- depending on the ice. Otherwise it is fairly low angle, but is more narrow and has less wide open slab than the others. This route joins the top of Left Wishbone for a shared finish to the summit of Celo Knob. This route can also be done as a non-ice 4th class scramble but has way less dry rock than Left Wishbone, so be prepared for scrambling up wet rock or bailing into the rhodo and moss along the sides to get around wet slippery sections.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Black Mountain Range Alpine