RMNP climb with short approach?

What time should one be at the parking lot for a day trip on the Sharkstooth? Is 7 am too late? 

Micah Kurtz wrote:

What time should one be at the parking lot for a day trip on the Sharkstooth? Is 7 am too late? 

That's about what time I'd want to be at the crag.
If it is light out, consider yourself late.  

When I climbed Sharkstooth, my buddy and I drove up the morning of from Westminster which got us in around 9 am not realizing the headache we were in for. Fortunately, the ranger station still had permits available (this was a Sunday morning) and told us that we would be departing out of the lot in front of the main trail head. Permit in hand, we entered the park only to be turned around by a police officer (not park ranger) farther down because the parking lots above were at capacity. We then exited and spoke with the ranger station who said that they weren't supposed to be doing that for those with permits. So we turned around once again and re-entered. When we finally got back to the turn off, the road block had been broken down and they were letting people through again. Low and behold the lot that we were supposed to launch from was full so we ended up having to all the way up the hill which added like another mile or so to the approach time. This whole ordeal took about 2-2.5 hours. So you may be fine getting in at 7 but I would just play it safe, especially if you are planning for a weekend, and get there by 6 so that you are parked and ready to role by 7.

Edit: My recommendation above is if you are planning on bivying overnight and climbing the next day like us. If you plan on doing it car-to-car, like the above comment stated, you want an early 3 am alpine start.

It's a long approach - don't underestimate how long the talus and boulder field will take you, don't just go by distance for planning your hike time. Add in the probability of afternoon storms with the exposed nature of the climb and I think it would be very foolish to start at that time. Second Tony - base of climb at 7 is more realistic. I think we left the parking lot around 3am when we climbed it - and I was super happy to be off the summit when the thunderstorms rolled in around noon that day. Of course you might be super fast and have a perfect weather day, but you did ask....

I would say 3AM at the latest.

The parking lots up in that area - Glacier Gorge and Bear Lake - have been filling earlier and earlier every year. If you rolled in at 7am (which I think the others are right is probably too late for the Sharkstooth) you'd be close to running into having trouble finding a parking spot, let alone the other issues.

Alright thanks for the replies. I've never done a technical alpine climb before so this is all good info. I didn't realize it would be such an early start. 

Micah Kurtz wrote:

Alright thanks for the replies. I've never done a technical alpine climb before so this is all good info. I didn't realize it would be such an early start. 

Sharkstooth was my first alpine climb and I had an 'are you kidding me??' response to my partner when she said we'd leave Denver at 1 am. It became very clear why that was a good idea after I realized what was involved. I have to say, one of my favorite parts of alpine climbing now is hiking in by headlamp - it's so quiet and such a contrast to the hike out when the trails are packed with the RMNP tourists! Do it and enjoy! But definitely prepare for and embrace the long day!