All Locations > Colorado > Alpine Rock > Indian Peaks > Indian Peaks Traverses

You're So Vrain

Name: You're So Vrain
Rating: 3.0

4th YDS 1 French 2 Ewbanks I UIAA 2 ZA M 1b British

Routes in Indian Peaks Traverses

	Audubon-Arapaho Traverse T Easy 5th 1+ 3 I 5 M 1c
	Blue Lake Traverse (Aka the JV Traverse) T 4th 1 2 I 2 M 1b
	Continental Divide Tour T Easy 5th 1+ 3 I 5 M 1c
	LA Freeway (Long's to Arapaho Traverse) T Easy 5th 1+ 3 I 5 M 1c
	You're So Vrain T 4th 1 2 I 2 M 1b

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Type:	Trad, Alpine
FA:	James & Wes?
Page Views:	46 total · 5/month
Shared By:	James Brown on Jul 7, 2024 · Updates
Admins:	Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC Page Updates (admin only)

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Access Issue: Closed Area - City of Boulder Watershed Details

Parts of the continental divide between Navajo and S Arapaho fall inside the City of Boulder's Silver Lake Watershed, whose boundary crosses and re-crosses the divide in multiple places. In theory the watershed is a closed area, but the W boundary isn't marked, and in practice the City doesn't restrict access to peaks on the divide such as S Arapaho, N Arapaho and Navajo, even though their summits or parts of their approaches are inside the watershed. It's unclear if they have a policy for other peaks on the divide but inside the watershed such as Arikaree and Deshawa. Peaks that are well to the E of the divide such as Albion and Kiowa are clearly off-limits.

Watershed boundary map: caltopo.com/map.html#ll=40.…

Description

This is a 6 peak link-up that connects Saint Vrain Mountain > Elk Tooth > Ogalalla Peak > Ooh La La > Cooper Peak > Marten Peak with views of the Saint Vrain Glaciers most of the way. There are a couple Class 4 spots along the route heading up Ogallala and Marten, but the rest is pretty solid Class 3 between the peaks.

It's about 10 miles above tree line along ridges and peaks with amazing views in all directions and about 21 miles total. Bring a couple liters of water, as there isn't much option once you break tree line on Saint Vrain until you descend Marten.

Vrain > Elk Tooth: stick to the ridge as much as possible to avoid some dense trees.

Elk Tooth > Ogalalla: the route info is pretty spot on, and enjoy the most amazing views through this section!

Ogalalla > Ohh La La: follow the ridge around with nothing but views to worry about here!

Ohh La La > Cooper: go straight for the peak, and be ready for some steeper talus descending down, and depending on conditions, it should be a straight shot 3rd Class up.

Cooper > Marten: stick to the east side of the ridge for a pretty straightforward traverse across. Climb a class "fifth-y" move up Marten or wrap around the south side for Class 3/4 options.

We opted for some more gradual descending to the southwest off Marten, but there are plenty of options on how you want to run out the rest of the route.

A link to GaiaGPS gpx.