Note, some of these cliffs are often closed (Mar 3 - July 31) for raptor nesting. MORE INFO >>>
Closed areas, from March 3-July 31:
Twin Owls Bat Flake Batman Pinnacle Batman Rock Lightning Rock Checkerboard Rock Thunder Buttress The Parish
BETA PHOTO: view from Gollums Arch
Description
This crag sits below and just right of the Twin Owls. It is visible from the center of Estes Park, as a small spiky looking cliff. Up close, it's characterised by an arcing Y-shaped crack and a dihedral on the right side (the dihedral is Cackle Crack).
Approach as for the Twin Owls, and hike a short way past, then follow a climbers trail straight up to the base. The obvious, beautiful face with the Y-shaped crack (5.9/9+) will be right above you.
Getting There
Approach as for the Twin Owls, and hike a short way past, then follow a climbers trail straight up to the base. The Twin Owls parking area at MacGregor Ranch no longer exists. Hike from the new parking lot towards the old parking lot, then go right/east to the 2nd branch trail towards the east side of Twin Owls. The obvious, beautiful orange face with the Y-shaped crack (5.9 or 9+) will be right above you.
This stout little pitch is found on the small slab between Rooster Tail (on The Hens and Chickens) and the Yosemite Crack crag. It's the obvious, thin, left-leaning seam that splits the center of the slab. Start in a steep, left-facing corner down and left of the seam. Climb the corner, hand traverse right and stand up to where two cracks diverge. The one on the right can be climbed at 5.7ish (One In The Stink), but it isn't nearly as cool, or c...[more]
On 31 August 2007, I set a rappel station with sling and rappel ring, between "Rooster Tail" and "Cackle Crack". The good aspects are that it avoids the downclimb and trail on the east side and it cannot be used for toproping. However, the setting is not optimal as there is a more secure-looking placement about 10 ft. higher. However, we were getting out as fast as we could because of lightning. Indeed a climber rappeling from above Thimbleberry Jam at that time was shocked by electric current (he's OK) as well as 2 climbers who had rappeled off Wolf's Tooth (they're OK). Sometime, I'll improve the rappel station, if you don't do it first.
Hen and Chickens
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