The Spearhead
1.
Date: July 23, 2022 (Sat)Trip Report #: 561Partner: Nate Arganbright2.
Date: September 4, 2022 (Sun)Trip Report #: 578Partner: Nate ArganbrightRoute: The Kingfisher (5.11, 7p)
(+ bonus climb: RAIN DELAY CRAG: Rain Delay (5.9+, 1-2p))
This route is a wonderful addition to The Spearhead, full of impeccable rock, awesome position, and well-protected 5.10-5.11 sections of climbing. So good Nate and I climbed it twice in one season.
Route Overlay for The Kingfisher
Trip Report #1 (July 2022)
(first time climbing The Kingfisher - bypassed Pitches 1&2 and toproped them on rappel)
Intro
In 2021, Nate and I had caught wind of a new route being established on The Spearhead, starting just right of Sykes' Sickle and climbing seven pitches to the top of the Barb Flake. By early summer 2022, the route was completed and first ascentionists Jeff Giddings and Adam Sanders posted a topo and pitch descriptions on mountainproject. The route was reputed to climb excellent stone up cracks and bolt-protected face, with difficulty ranging from 5.9-5.11, and with bolted belay anchors (in accordance with National Park regulations, all bolts on the route were drilled by hand). This new route was called The Kingfisher (the FA'ers named it after a kingfisher-shaped area of black waterstreaks in the wall just left of the first pitch, but coincidentally there is also a kingfisher-head-like appearance to the final pitch of the route, a dramatic finish up the left edge of the Barb Flake).
Nate and I have climbed several of the routes on The Spearhead, so obviously we were intrigued by the opportunity to climb another section of rock on the wall. In late July 2022, we snatched a morning weather window and climbed The Kingfisher (figuring that with the bolted anchors and easy rappel descent, we could retreat quickly if weather moved in). Fortunately the weather window lasted just long enough for us to climb the route. We had a blast. We found The Kingfisher to be well-protected and the climbing to be enjoyable and quite manageable at the grade. The Kingfisher is a stellar route with superb rock, climbing, and position. Nate did a superb job leading every pitch (except the first two, which we toproped—see notes below), and neither one of us took a single fall or hang.
On this trip, Nate and I also bivied below The Spearhead the night before the climb, snatching another opportunity to spend an evening in the spectacular Upper Glacier Gorge.
The following page gives a route overlay and pitch-by-pitch photos of The Kingfisher, as well as photos from our evening below The Spearhead. Enjoy!
Our Rack
We determined that the following rack was perfect for the route:
Offset cams (0.1/0.2, 0.2/0.3, 0.3/0.4, 0.4/0.5, 0.5/0.75) (love these cams!)
Singles 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2 (no #3 needed)
No stoppers (we placed one, but just because we had it)
6 regular draws, 6 alpine draws
70m 8.5mm rope
Beal escaper (for final rappel)
Time Stats
Glacier Gorge Trailhead to bivy (with overnight packs + wait out some rain): 2 hours 50 minutes
Bivy to base of route: 12 minutes
Climb route (base to top of Barb Flake): 3 hours 7 minutes
Rappel route (top of Barb Flake to ground): 35 minutes
Hike back to trailhead (with overnight packs + wait out some rain): 2 hours 30 minutes
Pitch-by-Pitch Photos
Approach
2nd
Hike Glacier Gorge trail to Black Lake and continue up into basin below base of The Spearhead. The Kingfisher begins about 100 feet right of Sykes' Sickle.
Note: It is possible to bypass the first two pitches of The Kingfisher (Pitch 1 has the hardest climbing on the route) by climbing the first pitch of Sykes' Sickle. Due to the uncertainty in how long our weather window would last and the high first bolt with damp climbing shoes (see note for Pitch 1—high first bolt has since been resolved), we chose the Sykes' Sickle option and then checked out Pitches 1&2 of The Kingfisher on rappel (I toproped them, while Nate left them for a future onsight).
Pitch 1
5.11c, 130'
"Mjölnir"
Climb past two bolts (11b) and go left into a small corner. Climb the corner with gear and a fixed pin. When the corner fades climb the face past 4 bolts (11c). After the 4th bolt go up and left with nice edges to an overlap with gear. Go straight up past a large detached flake (climb left of the flake) to an anchor on a small grassy ledge.
Note 1: The first two bolts are buried under snow in June. In early July one of them can be used as a belay bolt to get established onto the wall from the snowfield. In later summer, when the snow is melted, the first bolt is ~10 feet up and the second bolt is ~16 feet up. The climbing is sustained 5.11.
Note 2: Originally, there was only one bolt at the start ~16 feet up which made the 5.11 start dangerous in the summer once the snow melted. In August 2022, a second bolt was installed ~8 feet up; however, this meant there was still decking potential when making the second clip on 5.11 terrain; in October 2022, the first bolt was moved a couple of feet higher to make the second clip safe. A stiffy draw may be nice to clip the new first bolt. Thanks Jeff for all of your efforts to make this awesome route safe!
Pitch 2
5.10+, 80'
Go to the very right side of the small grassy belay ledge. When the ledge ends work up to a small overlap. Place good gear in the overlap. Pull over onto the face above then work slightly right and up to another overlap. Clip a bolt then go up to the large roof above. Place gear and pull through the roof using some sharp finger locks. Once established over the roof follow a crack up to a nice grassy ledge and the anchor.
Pitch 3
5.9, 105'
Climb up to three massive flakes on a ledge. Go right along the flakes into a left-facing corner/flake system. Climb up the flakes to a roof, pull over the roof to the right (5.9) and get established on the face above. Clip one bolt on the face and climb up and then left to a nice ledge.
Pitch 4
5.10c, 100'
"LA Times"
Climb up and right to a nice grassy ledge then follow a left slanting crack placing gear. When the crack ends pull out to the right and mantle onto a small stance (5.9+). Clip a bolt then go straight up to the start of a beautiful rising seam that leads out to the left. Climb the seam passing 5 fixed LA's (some supplemental gear can be placed between the pins). The seam ends at a beautiful stance in the middle of the blank wall.
Pitch 5
5.11b, 100'
"Sea of Doubt"
Go to the left side of the belay ledge and clip the first bolt. Pull the crux move then follow the bolts as they arc across the beautiful wall up and back right. Sustained face climbing on scoops and knobs and smears past 8 bolts take you to the belay stance. No gear is needed on this pitch.
Pitch 6
5.10b, 105'
"Halcyon Crack"
Climb a short way up a small left-facing corner above the belay then face climb right across cool knobs to the start of a straight in crack. The crack starts as tight fingers then slowly widens to big fingers and tight hands. Take the crack to a small ledge then head up into a left-facing corner for 5 feet to the start of a hand crack that slants up and left out to the edge of the wall. There's a nice belay ledge below the Kingfisher Arete.
Pitch 7
5.11a
"Kingfisher Arete"
Climb the pillar off the belay ledge to a high first bolt (gear can be placed prior to the bolt). After the first bolt pull into a small corner then reach up and right to a horizontal crack (11a). Now follow bolts up then out to the left while traversing along the very lip of the roof. Gain the arete and climb this amazing feature using beautiful knobs. Clip a fixed pin near the top of the arete then pull up onto a stance. Go hard right from the stance and reach out to clip one final bolt. Do a balancy move past the final bolt (11a) then mantle up to the top!
Top
Route tops out on top of the Barb Flake.
Descent
Rappel the route from the top of Pitch 7 or you can downclimb off the back side of the Barb Flake (tricky 10a) and finish on the last two pitches of the North Ridge route.
To rappel the route, a 70m rope will work EXCEPT for the final rappel to the ground. Once the snow is melted, the final rappel is about 40m. On the climb in this trip report in late July 2022, Nate and I were not quite able to rappel all the way to the snowfield; so we made use of a Beal Escaper for the final rappel. It also would have worked to have the first rappeller lengthen the rope with a cordelette and act as a counterweight for the second rappeller (a longer piece of rope than a single cordelette would be needed once the snow fully melts) (this is called the "Reepschnur rappel method").
other photos
On this trip, Nate and I also bivied below The Spearhead the night before the climb, snatching another opportunity to spend an evening in the spectacular Upper Glacier Gorge.
Our bivy
Upper Glacier Gorge has some of the best bivy locations in RMNP. We stayed at one of the better bivy spots below the base of The Spearhead. It is sheltered enough to keep one dry in a storm and has a nice flat area for sleeping.
Flora
The wildflowers were out.
Scenery
Upper Glacier Gorge is a picturesque place.
Hiking
It's a pleasant hike from Bear Lake / Glacier Gorge Trailhead to Upper Glacier Gorge. We had gone in under a forecast for afternoon rain on Saturday, so we expected the somewhat wet hike out.
Trip Report #2 (September 2022)
(second time climbing The Kingfisher - bypassed Pitches 1&2 and toproped them on rappel)
Intro
After a rather wet summer, September had arrived with a splitter forecast—warmer and sunnier than it had been for weeks. For Labor Day weekend, Nate and I snatched this late-season opportunity to spend a few days in the alpine. I secured a bivy permit for Upper Glacier Gorge (need to be climbing a route that is at least four pitches to qualify for a bivy permit), and Nate and I bivied up there for three nights (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights) below The Spearhead. (As a sidenote, after this Labor Day weekend trip, I realized that Nate and I had spent a total of 20 nights bivying in RMNP in Summer 2022.) Nate and I climbed three routes: Bequeathed (5.10d, 6p) on Arrowhead, The Kingfisher (5.11, 7p) on The Spearhead, and The Barb (5.10b, 10p) on The Spearhead. We also enjoyed a couple of sunny afternoons hanging out in this spectacular area.
This page gives a trip report for The Kingfisher on The Spearhead, the second of three climbs during our Labor Day weekend in Upper Glacier Gorge. Nate and I had climbed this route only 6 weeks previous, but we had perhaps even more fun climbing this route for a second time. One of my favorite routes on The Spearhead!
Nate and I arrived back at our bivy in the early afternoon, and after relaxing a bit we decided to check out the nearby Rain Delay Crag, which has at least four established one- to two-pitch routes on excellent granite. We climbed Rain Delay (5.9+, 1-2), an excellent climb featuring a splitter finger crack to a splitter fist crack.
The following gives pitch-by-pitch photos of our second time climbing The Kingfisher, an overlay and photos from Rain Delay, and below that a photo smorgasbord from our three-day, three-night Labor Day weekend hanging out in Upper Glacier Gorge. Enjoy!
Time Stats
Bivy to base of route: 12 minutes
Climb route (base to top of Barb Flake): 3 hours 9 minutes
Rappel route (top of Barb Flake to ground): 35 minutes
Pitch-by-Pitch Photos
Approach
2nd
Hike Glacier Gorge trail to Black Lake and continue up into basin below base of The Spearhead. The Kingfisher begins about 100 feet right of Sykes' Sickle.
Note: It is possible to bypass the first two pitches of The Kingfisher (Pitch 1 has the hardest climbing on the route) by climbing the first pitch of Sykes' Sickle. Despite the presence of a new bolt to start of Pitch 1, we didn't feel like starting the day with 11c, so we chose the Sykes' Sickle option and then toproped Pitches 1&2 of The Kingfisher on rappel.
Pitch 1
5.11c, 130'
"Mjölnir"
Climb past two bolts (11b) and go left into a small corner. Climb the corner with gear and a fixed pin. When the corner fades climb the face past 4 bolts (11c). After the 4th bolt go up and left with nice edges to an overlap with gear. Go straight up past a large detached flake (climb left of the flake) to an anchor on a small grassy ledge.
Note 1: The first two bolts are buried under snow in June. In early July one of them can be used as a belay bolt to get established onto the wall from the snowfield. In later summer, when the snow is melted, the first bolt is ~10 feet up and the second bolt is ~16 feet up. The climbing is sustained 5.11.
Note 2: Originally, there was only one bolt at the start ~16 feet up which made the 5.11 start dangerous in the summer once the snow melted. In August 2022, a second bolt was installed ~8 feet up; however, this meant there was still decking potential when making the second clip on 5.11 terrain; in October 2022, the first bolt was moved a couple of feet higher to make the second clip safe. A stiffy draw may be nice to clip the new first bolt. Thanks Jeff for all of your efforts to make this awesome route safe!
Pitch 2
5.10+, 80'
Go to the very right side of the small grassy belay ledge. When the ledge ends work up to a small overlap. Place good gear in the overlap. Pull over onto the face above then work slightly right and up to another overlap. Clip a bolt then go up to the large roof above. Place gear and pull through the roof using some sharp finger locks. Once established over the roof follow a crack up to a nice grassy ledge and the anchor.
Pitch 3
5.9, 105'
Climb up to three massive flakes on a ledge. Go right along the flakes into a left-facing corner/flake system. Climb up the flakes to a roof, pull over the roof to the right (5.9) and get established on the face above. Clip one bolt on the face and climb up and then left to a nice ledge.
Pitch 4
5.10c, 100'
"LA Times"
Climb up and right to a nice grassy ledge then follow a left slanting crack placing gear. When the crack ends pull out to the right and mantle onto a small stance (5.9+). Clip a bolt then go straight up to the start of a beautiful rising seam that leads out to the left. Climb the seam passing 5 fixed LA's (some supplemental gear can be placed between the pins). The seam ends at a beautiful stance in the middle of the blank wall.
Pitch 5
5.11b, 100'
"Sea of Doubt"
Go to the left side of the belay ledge and clip the first bolt. Pull the crux move then follow the bolts as they arc across the beautiful wall up and back right. Sustained face climbing on scoops and knobs and smears past 8 bolts take you to the belay stance. No gear is needed on this pitch.
Pitch 6
5.10b, 105'
"Halcyon Crack"
Climb a short way up a small left-facing corner above the belay then face climb right across cool knobs to the start of a straight in crack. The crack starts as tight fingers then slowly widens to big fingers and tight hands. Take the crack to a small ledge then head up into a left-facing corner for 5 feet to the start of a hand crack that slants up and left out to the edge of the wall. There's a nice belay ledge below the Kingfisher Arete.
Pitch 7
5.11a
"Kingfisher Arete"
Climb the pillar off the belay ledge to a high first bolt (gear can be placed prior to the bolt). After the first bolt pull into a small corner then reach up and right to a horizontal crack (11a). Now follow bolts up then out to the left while traversing along the very lip of the roof. Gain the arete and climb this amazing feature using beautiful knobs. Clip a fixed pin near the top of the arete then pull up onto a stance. Go hard right from the stance and reach out to clip one final bolt. Do a balancy move past the final bolt (11a) then mantle up to the top!
Top
Route tops out on top of the Barb Flake.
Descent
Rappel the route from the top of Pitch 7 or you can downclimb off the back side of the Barb Flake (tricky 10a) and finish on the last two pitches of the North Ridge route.
To rappel the route, a 70m rope will work EXCEPT for the final rappel to the ground. Once the snow is melted, the final rappel is about 40m. On the climb in this trip report in September 2022, Nate and I were not able to rappel all the way to the ground (no snow was left); so we made use of a Beal Escaper for the final rappel. It also would have worked to have the first rappeller lengthen the rope with a 10m piece of rope and act as a counterweight for the second rappeller (this is called the "Reepschnur rappel method").
Bonus climb: Rain Delay (5.9+, 1-2p) on rain delay crag
After climbing The Kingfisher, Nate and I got back to camp in the early afternoon, so we decided to check out the nearby Rain Delay Crag. Rain Delay Crag is a short, northwest facing cliff in Glacier Gorge about 0.5 miles east of The Spearhead. It has at least four established one- to two-pitch routes on excellent granite. We climbed Rain Delay (5.9+, 1-2), an excellent climb featuring a splitter finger crack to a splitter fist crack.
Description of Rain Delay: Start at the right end of a low roof, and traverse back to gain an obvious clean fingercrack. Climb the crack (5.7) to a grassy ledge. Entering the crack is a bit tricky. From here take the diagonal corner on the right (5.9) or the crack on the left (5.6) and jam a hand/fist crack (5.9+) to the top. With the nice ledge midway up the route, it makes sense to break this climb into two short pitches. FA Bernard and John Gillette 1999.
Below is an overlay and photos of Rain Delay.
other photos
It was Labor Day weekend and the forecast was for splitter weather, so Nate and I snatched the opportunity to spend three days and three nights in the spectacular Upper Glacier Gorge. We had secured a bivy permit for Upper Glacier Gorge (need to be climbing a route that is at least 4 pitches to qualify for a bivy permit), and we bivied up there for three nights (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights) below The Spearhead. What a spectacular place to hang out for the long weekend.
Our bivy
Upper Glacier Gorge has some of the best bivy locations in RMNP. We stayed at what I decided to call the "Under the Dome" bivy, which is a roomy cavern under a giant boulder. This is one of the coolest spots to bivy in the area, but it is usually filled with snow or ice until late in the summer. Earlier in the summer, Nate and I had made a note to try to return to Glacier Gorge in the late summer and stay at this bivy once the snow inside had melted. We were glad we got the opportunity to do so!
Scenery
Upper Glacier Gorge is a picturesque place.
Flora and fauna
Early September is usually when the mountains start to display the transition between summer and fall. We enjoyed late-summer wildflowers and early fall colors.
Rocks
I've always been fascinated by rocks (my undergraduate degree is in geology, in fact). Nate took several rock photos too.
Hiking
