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Half Mountain (11,482’) forms the terminus of the extensive north ridge of Longs Peak. Its west
face rises 1,600 feet above Mills Lake, and with Longs Peak, forms the east wall of Glacier Gorge.
The summit of Half Mountain is seldom visited, but the steep buttresses just below and to the south
are of interest to climbers. There are five distinct features: The farthest north is the southwest buttress
of Half Mountain. The second buttress, the Astroid, stands alone and may be identified by a
horizontal block protruding from its upper southeast side. The third and largest buttress is Astro
Tower (Point 11402). To the right of Astro Tower is the flat-topped Astro Slab. One more buttress of
similar shape to Astro Slab exists still farther to the south, the “Astronaught”, although nothing is
known about it.
Approach: The “easiest” approach to these features is to hike directly up from the east side of
Mills Lake, Jewel Lake, or from points farther south along the Glacier Gorge Trail . They may
also be reached from above by taking a contour west from some logical point along the North Longs
Peak Trail (p??). It is easy to scramble off the backside of any of the buttresses, but take care in
choosing the gully of descent.