Crag Name Origin: East Colfax

Just curious:

What's the story behind naming the crag "East Colfax" near tunnel 6 in clear creek?

Based on rudimentary and slip-shod MP sleuthing, seems like Greg Hand did most of the development on that crag around 2014, but vectored into a couple different themes that don't seem much aligned with or referential to the crag name. 

It also looks like the eponymous route, put up by Kevin Capps in 2011 (I'm deducing), may be the first route up on the outcrop, and the lead-in to the story?

(Thought there was a way to tag users.... but maybe I hallucinated that in a fever dream? Will msg Capps the link to this post.)

As for the name, I was living off of East Colfax in Denver at the time when I bolted the first route of the crag, East Colfax, which is my only route there. I had no idea the crag would get quite so popular a decade later. I used to bring beginners to the slabs before any of the sport routes were bolted, but it’s much better now with all of the bolts and beginner sport leads. Luke put up the first two beginner sport routes and then a few years later, Greg filled in the rest of the crag. Great spot for beginners!

Thanks Kevin!

Been curious about it for a while! 

I worked for a summer camp this year that would bring a gaggle of kiddos to the East Colfax crag for some introductory top-roping. The river noise and popularity of the crag introduced some management difficulty, in addition to the questionability of the endeavor altogether (as many of the kids had almost zero climbing experience and there's always inherent danger with climbing...)

But it was always funny to see the look in parents' eyes when they dropped their kids off at the Denver school or park meetup location, as we told them we would be bussing their kids to East Colfax for the day. Got pretty efficient at explaining that it's a crag out near the west end of Clear Creek Canyon.

Interesting, Kevin.  I think the crag description on MP used to say something like “weird and dirty with a little bit of everything, like it’s namesake”, loosely implying that the eclectic weirdness of the street was the origin of the crag name.  But it was a bit simpler than that.

Jim, that sounds about right! Haha

My personal interpretation (prior to this post, and still now) has been that in addition to the "weird and dirty with a little bit of everything like it's namesake", it's also (a) a little bit dangerous and scary, despite how inviting it may be, especially if you are unfamiliar with the terrain or aren't staying a bit 'heads-up' & (b) ripe with potential for being a fantastic venue for enjoyable and didactic adventure, just needs a little TLC from the community to get there.

Glad to hear that I'm not way off base in presuming as much! And much gratitude to you, Kevin, and Greg Hand et al for transforming the crag into the sweet spot that it is today.

The quote I recall was “it’s a little rough but not that bad,” which apparently was apt to both the crag and the street.