East Face/4th Flatiron

The Fourth is probably the longest of the major Flatirons, extending nearly to the summit of Green Mountain. The formation, however, is actually broken into three smaller subflatirons, separated by gullies which are hidden from the normal view from town. The northernmost extension of the 2nd sub-Flatiron is actually Green Mountain Pinnacle. The route really isn't much fun, requires bushwhacking in the gullies between the subflatirons, and culminates in the most anti-climatic summit of the 5 major Flatirons. I give it one star only because it takes you to the top of the 4th Flatiron.

Approach via the Royal Arch trail. Take the trail 100 yards past Sentinel pass. The 1st sub-Flatiron at this point nearly touches the trail and can be identified by a cave 150 feet up.

Climb up to the cave (actually an arch) and exit on the left up to a ridge. Climb the ridge until it is possible to drop into the gully between the 1st and 2nd sub-Flatirons. Bushwhack up this gully to an obvious crack splitting the face of the 2nd sub-Flatiron. Climb the crack/gully (and face on either side) to the "hanging garden" near the top of the formation. Hike through the woods in the "garden" to the gully separating the 2nd and 3rd sub-Flatirons. Bushwhack down this gully to a crack splitting the face of the 3rd sub-Flatiron. Climb this straight up to the summit area.

For a very detailed route description, see Roach's guide to easy Flatiron routes (possibly out-of-print?). The Falcon guide description is very similar to the one above.

Descend to the north of the Fourth Flatiron eventually connecting with the Green Mtn Pinnacle approach. The gully on the south of the 4th (which I descended) is not recommended.

As with most east face Flatiron routes, it didn't look like you could get much pro...or good belay anchors for that matter. Probably best to solo this because the leader pretty much is anyway.