Ben on pitch 1, during the first ascent of Firebir...
Description
At present there are two routes that start in roughly the same place. Firebird is the righthand route.
Pitch 1- Start in the small groove, and then up the slab directly above. Climb up passing 12 closely spaced bolts to a two bolt belay anchor with chains on a small ledge. 190' 5.7
Pitch 2- Continue up the slab above, passing 5 bolts and then a long, very easy runout to a 2 bolt and chain belay anchor on a good stance. 210' 5.3
Pitch 3- Continue up mostly 4th class terrain to a steeper bulge (5.0) which can be protected by a #1 or #2 camalot sized cam. Above the bulge is a two bolt and chain belay anchor. 210' 5.0
Un-rope here...
Pitch 4- Continue up the ridge with easy 3rd class scrambling to a large flat area. On this large flat area is a cairn made of dark colored rocks. Under this cairn is a summit register.
Pitch 5- A short 5.0 downclimb reaches another 5.0 slab which climbs to the true summit of the formation.
Descent- Downclimb the last two scrambling pitches to the top of pitch 3. From there you can rappel the route with two ropes. We had two 70 meter ropes, but I tried to put the belays in spots where if you had two 60 meter ropes it should work out. (With 60 meter ropes it will be cutting it close!)
Location
This route is located on a formation we called the "Forgotten Buttress" as it was previously unclimbed before our ascent. This buttress is the second buttress to the north of Little Spotted Wolf Canyon. From the turnoff on the dirt road from I-70, drive south for 2.1 miles to a parking area and campsite on the West side of the road. From the parking, a good trail leads WSW into the wash. Walk up the wash a few hundred yards to some old cottonwood trees. From there, leave the wash and follow an old road/trail towards Little Spotted Wolf Canyon. Walk up a steep hill and down into the wash on the other side. From here you can easily see the mouth of Little Spotted Wolf canyon to the west. Instead of going into the canyon, follow the wash to the north for about 600 feet. About 30 feet before a small, white boulder in the middle of the wash are some large bushes on the left and a cairn. From there, follow a cairned trail to the NW and up the major talus tooth just south of Forgotten Buttress. At the top of the tooth there is a juniper tree and a sloping ledge heading north. Follow that ledge for about 100 feet, then turn west and scramble up easy 3rd class slabs to the base of the formation. Total approach time approximately 20 minutes.
Protection
All you need is quickdraws and long slings. There is an optional #1 or #2 camalot placement at the 5.0 bulge near the top of pitch 3 if you are not feeling comfortable.
Dennis Jump and I did this yesterday. Good climbing. The first 2 pitches are very fun. The problem I had was finding the start of the route!
We parked our packs directly under the route but the angle of the sun precluded seeing the bolts above. I spotted a line of bolts about 100 feet to the right and scampered up that pitch...5.6...6 bolts to a chain anchor at 100 feet. I figured that must be a new intermediate anchor or something. So I kept climbing and climbing...another 600 feet of unprotected 3rd and 4th Class to the lower summit!
After climbing to the summit, we found the register (4th ascent) and downclimbed an obvious ridge and found the top anchors. Rapped back down and climbed the correct line. At that point the bolts and line is obvious from the ground...so we dubbed our scramble to the right "Wusses Day Out"!
Anyway, great climbing Ben. I like all those bolts on the bottom 2 pitches. People are gonna show you love for them!
If you plan on climbing Firebird...don't follow that right-hand line of bolts. They're simply a one-pitch climb! Also, the rappel down the second pitch is damn long, 2 200-foot ropes barely reach. Tie knots and pay attention. We ended up rapping to the left anchors for Rumble Strip on a ledge and traversing down right to the other set...
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