A group of 5 of us started at the Ebbets Pass TH around 10:30 with Reynolds as a goal. We followed directions from SummitPost which say to follow the PCT north for 3.5 miles from the TH. However, 3.5 miles is almost certainly not far enough for an ideal approach
Anyway, we left at about 3.6 miles and headed for an obvious saddle between Reynolds and Pt. 9540-ish to the South. After obtaining this ridge, we expected to head North around the West side of the summit; however, this was clearly not a viable route when inspecting from the saddle. The west face of Reynolds consists of a thin veil of loose gravel sized rocks over a hard sandy base - prime territory for prolonged slips and slides
Furthermore, the West face has 5 (or so) extensive gulleys running most of the way down to the basin on the W and SW of the peak.Deciding that our planned approach was bust, the group split. 3 ventured South from the saddle to climb what we dubbed "Egg Rock" (Pt. 9540-ish). This group found a pleasant ridge walk to the base of Egg Rock and then an estimated 5.1 to 5.2 climb (with solid holds) to the summit (estimated 25 ft climb). Sounded fun, but my OGUL'ed brain needed the true peak so I headed NW descending ~400' into the bottom of Reynolds' Western drainage basin with a partner. The traverse around the peak was short and more pleasant than expected. We finally ascended out of the basin to a saddle to the North of the true summit following a creek (visible on NGEO topo and USFS quads) and then backtracked along the ridge following the Western aspect of Reynolds. A few low class 3 moves to navigate the highpoints in-between the saddle and the summit block, but nothing worth writing about.
Finally, finally, at the base of Reynolds, we followed the obvious bench running SSE toward the summit. This led to a short crack briefly requiring hands and feet and topped out at a relatively flat smooth stone. The primary exposure on the climb is approaching the end of this stone (and the dropoff) and turning left for another 10' class 3 climb to the final summit. As SummitPost and Pete Y. have noted, none of the moves are difficult and the rock is *mostly* trustworthy, but there is an exhilarating view which demands concentration
The final 20' are on a relatively flat "butter knife" edged ridge to the summit. This part reminded me a bit of the top of Agassiz (in desolation). Found the register, not too many parties in there and not too much space on top so I have to believe all parties that summit sign in. All in all, a very fun climb
To return, we descended the way we should have come up - down steep and relatively loose gullies just to the NORTH of Reynolds (NNW to be more precise). My GPS estimates that we *should* have left the trail at about 4.25 miles for a better approach.
Hope this helps anyone planning to give it a shot
