Ascent of Red Rocks on 2018-04-08| Date: | Sunday, April 8, 2018 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Red Rocks | | Location: | USA-Colorado | | Elevation: | 5800 ft / 1767 m |
Ascent Trip Report
Far less crowds and a very short but gratifying little hike. Perhaps my favorite of the day. It is a very quick hike up to the red rock feature. The fins of the sandstone were not easy for Willie so I tied my dog to a fence post and let him drink water. Most people did not attempt to summit the tallest fin but I saw a young competent climber rumble up a steep seem and guide his girl friend. There are two approaches to the true peak fin. On the east side is a more gradual sloped smear climb some nice hand and feet holds that I would guess is about a 66 to 70 degree angle. It is very exposed. Because it relies on more smearing and if you fall it would be bad, I would call this approach a class 4 perhaps 5.0. On the west side there is a thin seem cut into the rock that has outstanding hand and footholds and thus does not feel nearly as exposed and the fall is not as far. The seem is only 4 to 6 inches wide as a foothold and is closer to a 75 or 80 degree slope so it is a very vertical climb. But the couple dispatched it with ease so I followed them up. It would be a class 3+ in my book some might say a class 4 approach. Down-climbing it was far more easy than it looks from below.
Jeremy Hakes in LOJ wrote this about the highest fin, "We went up the wandering trails straight to Red Rocks, then circled around from the north side back south up to the highest fin. I'd call it 4+ to actually get up to the highest fin and stand on it, but others may feel differently."
I am not sure what the south approach was that he mentioned. All the trails I saw place you in a small valley that directs you to either what I would call and east of west approach so I am not sure if he came up the east side or west side. I would have no problem calling the slabbier east approach a class 4 or 4+ or possibly 5.0. If he got up the west side I could not call it somewhere between a steep class 3 or an easy class 4 so I would tend to think it was a 3+.
Regardless, a fun place to play!
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| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 460 ft / 139 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 160 ft / 48 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 1.1 mi / 1.8 km | | Grade/Class: | 1, 3,3+ | | Quality: | 5 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Scramble, Exposed Scramble | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 320 ft / 97 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 300 ft / 91 m; Extra: 20 ft / 6m | | Loss on way in: | 20 ft / 6 m | | Distance: | 0.4 mi / 0.6 km | | Start Trailhead: | below hospital parking 5500 ft / 1676 m | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 140 ft / 42 m | | Gain on way out: | 140 ft / 42 m | | Distance: | 0.7 mi / 1.1 km | | Route: | scrambling the formations for gfun | Ascent Part of Trip: Boulder-2
Complete Trip Sequence:
Total Trip Gain: 2968 ft / 904 m Total Trip Loss: 1328 ft / 405 m |
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