Colorado Report
September 1999
Live Estes Park Cam showing Castle Mountain (which I never saw!).
Colorado Report
September 1999
Live Estes Park Cam showing Castle Mountain (which I never saw!).
We drove to Estes Park, the little town
at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The place had the feeling of Banff...you could handle it without the tourists, for a while...but the throngs of shoppers were depressing...
We hiked from the trailhead (elevation 5000 feet or so) to a bivouac at 10,000 feet, at the base of
the North Ridge of Spearhead, a nicely-shaped granite pinnacle (pics coming soon) among several others in a beautiful alpine cirque unimaginatively named 'Glacier Basin'. The hike is about 6 miles, and we knocked it out in about 3 hours. Our packs were pretty light, with just hardware, a bit of food and minimal bivvy gear. Trails are excellent and you would have to work hard to get lost; routefinding is nonexistent, you can make the approach hike smoothly.
The plan was: (1) an ascent of Spearhead, (2) an ascent of 'Syke's Sickle', a 5-pitch Royal Robbins classic with a 5.9 bombay chimney/overhang crux. Sounded particularly grievous and attractive. The North Ridge of Spearhead is 5.6, 7 pitches. We saw the formation as we approached through some of the most beautiful subalpine territory I've ever seen. We left the crowds and pushed on up the last mile...Near the base of the route we found the best bivvy cave in the world, so large
you could stand up and perhaps 5 people could fit inside (we decided to
leave the Megamid in the car and just use bivvy sacks). Lipton soup dinner, ice water to drink and a snap of chocolate for desert, and we were in heaven. McRee fell asleep reading 'The Epic of Gilgamesh' which I'd just given him; I just crawled onto my ledge, several feet away, and fell into a dreamless sleep.
The weather early that evening was Ok, but late in the night it began to storm. By 5am when we hiked the
last 10 minutes to the bottom of the route, the clouds were low and fast
and the rock was still wet and it was absolutely freezing with a high
wind. This was not the normal 1pm thunderstorm which normally happens in
the Rockies, it was a front moving in. The bear McRee had seen the previous day was nowhere in sight, and we figured he was bedded down, knowing what was on the way. We decided to bail. A difficult decision, as always, but I accepted it with less agony than usual. Maybe I'm gettin' old...Down we
hiked, 6 miles to the car, and then we spent the day bouldering at Lumpy
Ridge. This is a local cragging and bouldering area with excellent granite and plenty of cracks.
We did a lot of good problems. I was borrowing Chiu's Kaukulator shoes, what a difference from my old 1986 Boreal Fires! I feel I can climb a full grade harder simply by wearing these shoes. On one
boulder problem I got to the top...but found little int he way of a downclimb...My brain harkened to its primitive, arboreal origins, and before I really had time to think about it, I was jumping -- leaping -- for the tree. Miscalculation. Weight-bearing capacity of limb exceeded. Crash downwards. 10-foot bellyflop to the ground. Results; I got down from the boulder with minor cuts, abrasions, bruising and plenty of laughs.
NOTE: McRee and I found a free bivvy up on an abandoned road. You'll have to find that yourself! Another bivvy at a paid campsite, with no name, is available over towards the Diamond; $6.00 for the night. Parking for a week in RMNP I think was $10.00. Camping permit was $10.00/night/person (required for camping up near Spearhead). Best hangout in Estes Park is the 'Notchtop' bakery / pub / coffee shop. You can sit there for hours with one coffee, reading the guidebook as the weather rages.
The next day we climbed the 'Kor Flake' at Lumpy Ridge. The Kor Flake is 5.7+, 4 or 5 pitches plus a scramble to summit at around 7,000 feet (?). We used McRee's
new double ropes, 60 meters. We ignored the topo belays and just climbed the
full 60m and set our own belay anchors; this allowed us to climb the route in 3
long pitches (180 feet) plus a fourth 5.5 easy pitch.
The fist pitch was mine, a 5.6 chimney with an overhang followed by a
thinner but easy crack, and then a left ramp of 5.6. At one point, where I was holding on to a wet, reasy flake, my right foot stuck in a crack! I had to
use a lot of energy to pull it out. Made me feel like an old man!
After this section, I continued past the belay and moved up an easy ramp with great hand jams and solid gear. By this point, the rope drag was killing me. I had placed all long runners, but we were clipping ropes as twins, not
double-rope technique, so there was too much drag. The 5.6 moves felt
like strenuous 5.9; I had to pull very hard to get 5 feet of rope, hold it
in my teeth and then move up. I though my teeth would be pulled out and I'd come home looking rather interesting. Finally I set three cams and a stopper, equalized them and called up
McRee. He came up and passed me, entering the crux 5.7+ offwidth/squeeze
chimney.
A wind was coming up and the clouds were low and racing just above us. As I watched McRee take off into the slot, I just waited for the rain to start and thought, 'Well, Smitty, you and McRee just ran dry of luck.'. I could taste the damp air and the cold. McRee, the 'Redneck Alpinist', struggled on above, thrashing through the slot protected with one giant, #5 camalot. McRee climbs every day, and regularly leads 5.10. He's climbed the Diamond, the Sun Ribbon Arete, many alpine walls in Wyoming, and in fact over the last three years, while I was working on my PhD or off on the Manteno Expedition, McRee had acquired a huge amount of experience...he was now the better climber, with more experience. I hadn't climbed a proper roped pitch since....geez, was it El Cap, winter 97? Oh, no, it was with McRee in Red Rocks, April 98...Over a year ago! I hoped this would be reasonable for me...My mind annoyed itself with such thoughts...But remember, Cameron, your climbing experience is also varied, and extensive! You are simply out of practice! You'll be fine! My, how a mind can flutter about while at the belay...
After a while it was time for me to head up. Following was OK, but at this point the daypack I was carrying interfered with properly staying in the slot. I noted some snowflakes, but expected this was the beginning of the mess, and just kept going. Luckily by the time I reached McRee, the snow quit and we had generally good weather. I was glad to feel no problems on the pitch. As usual, my fears of getting out of condition and forgetting how to climb were rather extreme, and I feel I will be back in top climbing condition by winter...and then...the ice!
The next lead was mine again, a 5.6-5.7 (?) left hand traverse followed by a 5.7 (?) face and thin cracks up and left. I moved through these quickly, placing
plenty of gear and long runners. No problems. I ran it out on the chimney and finally
placed a belay, using two camalots and two stoppers. The wind was high and since I had
climbed around a corner at the beginning of the pitch, I could not
communicate with McRee. I just reeled in the rope until it was tight and
started pulling hard.
McRee understood, took apart the belay, and came up.
When he finally arrived we were not sure of the route and he took the gear
to go up and have a look. It appeared that we were near the summit.
McRee took a brief lead up easy rock, and finally found a belay. I
came up to his belay. I had not had any water all day and was dehydrated,
but it felt good. I love all these outdoor maniacs who harp on 'staying hydrated'....first off why not just say 'drink' and second, how do they know my physiology?!?!? Guess I can rant about nearly anything...
We hiked to the real summit, and our weather luck continued, with a total lack of the normal afternoon rain/hail/snow. We found a descent gully and moved down to the base of the
route.
Guess that's about it! Any beta requests, email me at csmith@sfu.ca.
Cameron
p.s. At Lumpy Ridge there is a 5.11 chimney, the 'Crack of Fear' which is a great objective to train for. A real gripper, first freed by legendary Layton Kor...It takes all large gear and Arkansas legend 'Big Crack Bob' even retreated from the slot, covered in blood and reporting a shoe and a small backpack lodged deep inside...I need to climb that route! If you have any info on this, please contact me!