Author:
Larry Earley.
Participants:
Larry Earley and Don Taylor.
Mountain
Project Route Guide: click
here.
When its summer and all the climbing
areas are hot then think Independence Pass Colorado. This area is
never crowded and most approaches are short. There are many
campgrounds and the scenery is hard to beat too. The largest area is
Monitor Rock.
This is my third trip to Monitor. The
approach is 5-10 minutes and there is a lot of nice granite. You can
sport climb or try a couple of long trad routes. The climbs face
west so its cool in the morning. Don't start before 10am. It was 36
degrees for a low on June 20. The high temperatures hit 70 degrees
with afternoon sun. Views up to 14er La Plata. What more do you
want. Parry Peak Campground is 5 minutes away. There is also free
camping across the road from Parry Campground. There is also the
cool creek that flows through the campground.
Don and I did lots of sport climbs. This is smooth granite so stay
on the edges. Smearing is not recommended. Try Baby Doe 5.8 for a
warmup. Little Flatulence 5.8 is longer and more exciting. Don
passed on this one. Lots of hidden holds save the day. It looks like
a 10 from below. There are a lot of 10a climbs. Squid Kid is great,
Wild Flower is a sandbag while Grave Line is my favorite. You can
top rope Slip...Not! 10d for a really great challenge. Crux is short
and right off the deck so a clip stick is recommended for leading.
Printer Boy 10a is interesting with route finding a key. We thought
Prospector 10a had a few hard moves and some intimidation factor.
Try Monitor Rock on any trip to Aspen.
