Who has been up there since the road closed and can tell me the best way to access climbing on the Black Wall? Looking at maps online it seems like the Chicago Lakes Trail might be the best bet?
Yes, take the trail to Chicago Lakes and saunter up to the base of the Black Wall.
The routes on the right side are the easiest to access. I'm not sure if the left side routes like Good Evans, Cary Granite, and Road Warrior are easily accessible without adventure climbing.
Was out today - hiking in from Guanella is 100% the move. Saves a couple miles and a couple thousand feet in elevation gain. We were from the top of the wall to the parking lot in 1:34, with us waiting in the trees for 15 minutes for the thunderstorm to pass. Plus, it drops you on the top of the formation so getting to all of the routes is no problem
Follow the bierstadt trail until you do the stream crossing. Right after the crossing (like 100ft) there’s a moderately easy to see turn off left for the Gomer’s Gully trail. Follow that until you’re walking alongside the stream, you’ll see an obvious spot to turn off the trail and cross the stream on your left. You’ll follow some cairns up, probably get lost and do some bushwhacking, and finally emerge from the willows at the toe of the gully that goes off the backside of black wall. Just do tundra hopping from here to the top of the wall. Something like 4 miles and 1700’ of gain