PRINT: Rock Climb You're So Vrain, Alpine Rock

You're So Vrain

4th, Trad, Alpine,

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FA: James & Wes?
Colorado > Alpine Rock > Indian Peaks > Indian Peaks Traverses

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.

Location

We parked at the Saint Vrain Mountain Trailhead in Allenspark and ended at the Monarch Lake trailhead by Lake Granby.

Protection

Bring water, and watch the weather.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Some slabby fun heading up Ogalalla.

From Ogalalla's summit looking back down towards Elk Tooth.

From Saint Vrain Mountain looking back down on The Front Range.

A quick, little 5th Class variation heading up Ogalalla.

Some offwidth snow heading up Cooper!