Arrowhead

Other routes I've climbed on Arrowhead: 
Airhead (5.11d, 5p)    •    Arrowplane (5.11a, 6p)    •    Artemis (5.9+, 4p)     •    Bequeathed (5.10d, 6p)     •    Full Metal Jacket (5.10c, 3p)   •    Godfather, The (5.11b, 5p)   •    Goldfinger (5.11d, 3p)   •    Raindance (5.9, 6p)   •    Refugium (5.10a, 5p)   •    Ripsaw (5.7-5.9, 4-8p)   •    Shoshone (5.10a, 4p)     •    Warhead (5.10a, 5p)
Category: Colorado (RMNP)Summit Elev: 12,660 ftRock Type: Granite
Date: July 18&19, 2021 (Sun&Mon)Trip Report #: 480abPartner: Nate Arganbright

Overnight bivy in McHenry's Basin and 2 routes on Arrowhead:

Overnight bivy and two enjoyable climbs on sunny alpine granite.

Intro

On this overnight trip into Upper Glacier Gorge / McHenry's Basin, Nate and I climbed two routes on Arrowhead. As of this trip I have climbed nine routes on Arrowhead (and Nate has climbed a couple of more in addition to those I have climbed). I'll never tire of the sunny and secluded alpine granite of Arrowhead. (For links to trip reports for the other climbs I have done on Arrowhead, go to my Colorado Main Page)

Nate and I got a rather leisurely start by picking up a bivy permit at the backcountry office at 8:30am (the bivy permit also serves as a timed entry) and then hiking into Upper Glacier Gorge / McHenry's Basin where we arrived just after noon. We established our camp at our favorite bivy location, collected water, waited a couple of hours for a few parties to finish their climbs and vacate the basin, and then as a mid-afternoon jaunt climbed Artemis, a 4-pitch climb with a 5.9+ crux pitch that climbs to the top of an obvious dihedral on the left side of the wall, just above our bivy. We spent the remainder of the day relaxing at the bivy eating dinner, enjoying the views, and reading. The following day after enjoying a nice breakfast in the sun, we headed out to climb Raindance, a fun and quick 6-pitch 5.9 climb on one of the longer sections of the south face. We were back to camp well before noon, and back to the trailhead by mid-afternoon.

 

The following page provides a trip report for our two climbs and overnight up at Arrowhead. Enjoy!

Time Stats

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

ARTEMIS (5.9+, 4p)

Artemis (5.9+, 4p) climbs to the top of the obvious dihedral high on the left side of the wall. I thought that the 5.9+ pitch, although quite good, was no gimmie.

Approach

3rd

Begin about 100 feet right of the low point and scramble up and right along a ramp to the base of the route.

Approaching the base of the route. Artemis climbs to the top of the obvious corner.

Pitch 1

5.6, 100-150'

Work up flakes to a right-angling ramp that leads to a large flake. A bit of your choose your own adventure pitch.

Looking up the route from the base of Pitch 1. 

Pitch 2

5.4, 100-150'

Head up and right from the flake. Traverse a narrow, rising ledge to its right side and belay at the start of a huge, hanging, left-facing dihedral.

Nate starting off Pitch 2.

Pitch 3

5.9+, 80'

Lieback a crack to an overhang and pull through on the left. Go past a ledge to a second one that's just right of a big roof. Although the climbing was good, I found the rock on this pitch to be a bit flakey and the climbing to feel a bit insecure; it got to my head a bit and I struggled more than I would have liked on my lead.

Looking up Pitch 3.

Pitch 4

5.7, 80'

Climb the dihedral to the ridge crest.

Looking up Pitch 4.

Top

12,660 ft

The route ends much closer to the beginning of the rappels than the summit, so if you've already tagged the summit before, it may be tempting to just start the descent.

Descent

Rappel 

Scramble down to the low point between Arrowhead and McHenry's Peak, which is very close to where Artemis tops out. Locate the first rap station (under a big boulder). There are two raps and some 4th-low 5th class downclimbing. A single 70 works just fine.

Rappelling.

Raindance (5.9, 6p)

Raindance (5.9, 6p) is characterized by a beautiful crack that cuts up and left across the southeast face right of Refugium, and leads to a conspicuous orange pillar high on the wall. This fun route climbs one of the taller sections of the south face, yet with the straightfowrad route-finding and nice ledge belays it goes quite quick.

Approach

3rd

Follow the talus to the high point at the bottom of the South Couloir. 

From here, there are a few ways to get to the base of the route. (1) 4th. Start up the South Couloir, then break left and gain the lower west section of the South Ramp. (2) 5.7. Climb the first pitch of Refugium to the South Ramp, then walk right to the start. We chose Option 2.

Approaching the base of the route from our bivy.

Pitch 1

5.7, 200-250'

(Pitch 1 of Refugium)

Begin 50 feet left of a chimney. Follow a crack to a ledge and belay, or run the rope all the way to the South Ramp.

Nate starting up Pitch 1 of Refugium. We climbed this as an alternative to the 4th class scramble that brings you to the base of Raindance.
Higher up on the pitch.

Pitch 2

(Pitch 1 in Rossiter guidebook)

5.7, 120'

Climb along the right side of the blocks, then continue up cracks to a big grassy ledge, and belay beside a block at the base of a beautiful, left-leaning crack.

Looking up the pitch.

Pitch 3

(Pitch 2 in Rossiter guidebook)

5.9, 160'

Start from the top of the block. Follow the crack and stay with it as it trends left. Climb a left-facing corner and belay at a stance where a thin crack goes out left across the wall.

Nate enjoying the nice crack.
Midway up the pitch.

Pitch 4

(Pitch 3 in Rossiter guidebook)

5.7 or 5.9+, 60'

Follow the corner up and right, and climb the right edge of a squeeze chimney to a ledge. Belay at the bottom left side of the Orange Pillar. (A 5.9+ version heads straight left from the belay and climbs a flared crack to the ledge.)

Looking up the 5.7 way (right from the belay).
Looking up the 5.9+ way (left from the belay).

Pitch 5

(Pitch 4 in Rossiter guidebook)

5.9, 100'

Work up and left, then up and right in a slot to the bottom of a large left-facing corner. We climbed a 5.10ish finger crack variation just before the slot.

Nate starting up the pitch. Here he is climbing what we figured was a 5.10 variation (quite good) just right of where the route goes.

Pitch 6

(Pitch 5 in Rossiter guidebook)

5.9, 80'

Climb the dihedral to the top of the wall. 

Looking up the corner from the base of the pitch.
Looking down from the top of the pitch.

Top

12,660 ft

The route ends 400 feet west of the summit. Scramble to the summit if you want. It's worth it.

Looking towards the summit from the top of the route.

Descent

Rappel 

Scramble down to the low point between Arrowhead and McHenry's Peak. Locate the first rap station (under a big boulder). There are two raps and some 4th-low 5th class downclimbing. A single 70 works just fine.

Descending the ridge towards the rappel route.
Rappel 1 of 2.

Photos from Hike in and out

Hike the Glacier Gorge Trail to Black Lake. Just as you reach Black Lake, head rightward, crossing the outlet and picking up a path through the brush to a talus field on the slope to the west of the lake. Follow a faint path up the right side of the talus field, and then head left (south) over grassy slopes and ramps, wrapping around until beneath the south face of Arrowhead. 

Hiking in mid-morning.
The steep approach above Black Lake.
Lots of alpine columbine on the approach. The flowers were in full bloom in mid-July this year.
Another photo of the alpine columbine.
More alpine columbine. I cannot take enough photos of these pretty flowers.
A lunch break at Mills Lake on the hike out.

Photos from overnight bivy in McHenry's Basin

The basin below the south face of Arrowhead is a gorgeous place to bivy.

Our bivy.
Inside the bviy,
Collecting water from a reliable water source about 5 minutes from the bivy.
Afternoon light seen on Longs Peak, Pagoda, Spearhead, and Chiefs Head from the bivy.
Alpine columbine near the bivy.
Alpine columbine in morning sun. 
There's a saying that you can learn a lot about a person from looking at their garbage. You can learn even more by how they organize their trash. My trash on left, Nate's on right.
Oatmeal for breakfast.

previous and next adventures