New climbing route on Arrow Peak in Highwoods

Arrow Peak summit cairn

Falls on North Fork Highwood Creek

The beavers have been at work on the creek

Nearing the summit

Lots of snow on top

Off-trail north ridge climb of Arrow Peak (elevation: 7,486 feet) in Highwood Mountains.
This involved walking up the North Fork Highwood Creek trail for 2.25 miles and attaining a ridge that leads to the summit.  The route was varied at about 5,500 feet by dropping 200 feet and regaining the elevation on a ridge to the east.
Some 3,700 feet of elevation was gained by this route.
The return trip moved to yet another low ridge to the east at 5,300 feet and dropping into a creek bottom where an abandoned trail led me directly to the North Fork Highwoods trail and back to the car.
About 10.2 miles roundtrip.
Because ridges emanate from the peak in several directions, there are numerous ways to climb and I've done four different approaches.
This was a new approach for me and not a bad one, although I think the route from the southwest (Geyser) is the most scenic, shortest (8 miles) and has the least elevation to gain (3,122 feet).  It is also the easiest to follow.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed the route-finding on this, using my GPS and discovering an abandoned trail system.
For topo map of route and more photos, CLICK HERE