Lumpy Ridge CLIMBING

Crescent Wall

Category: Colorado (RMNP)Elev: ~9,000 ftRock Type: Granite
Dates: see main page for all days I've climbed at Lumpy RidgePartners: see main page for all people I have climbed with at Lumpy RidgeTrip Report #s: see main page for all trip report numbers corresponding to reports for Lumpy Ridge

1 Trip Report

(routes organized west to east, i.e. left to right)


CRESCENT WALL:

December 2020, May 2024

This page is trip reports for Crescent Wall  at Lumpy Ridge. Go to Lumpy Ridge main page to access trip reports on other formations at Lumpy Ridge.

Table of Contents for this page

(routes organized west to east, i.e. left to right)

Crescent Wall

Overlay for Crescent Wall
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Cragging at Crescent Wall (5.7 X - 5.11a, 4 pitches)

CRESCENT WALL
  • Date: December 6, 2020 (Sun)       Partner: Nate Arganbright
  • Date: May 27, 2024 (Mon)       Partner: Nate Arganbright

Routes (December 2020): Milk Run (5.7 X, 2p), Wintergreen (5.8 X, 1p)

Routes (May 2024): Finger Lickin' Good (5.11a, 1-2p), Arctan Function (5.10c, 1p)

December 2020: This springlike December day was one of my first times back on the rock since an ACL + meniscus surgery 3 months previous. We climbed a couple of moderate X-rated routes (easy for me to follow but a challenge for Nate to lead, although he seemed to cruise up them without even breaking a sweat). I'll have to come back to Crescent Wall when my knee is healed - this is a cool spot. 

May 2024: Our goal was to get the rope on one of the classic harder routes (Finger Lickin' Good 5.11a, Pressure Drop 5.11a, or Crescent Arch 5.11c) on Crescent Wall and do some laps. Finger Lickin' Good was the most approachable of these routes (better gear than Pressure Drop, easier than Crescent Arch). Nate led up to the anchor and then we toproped it a few times each. On my third time, I got all the moved without a single hang. We finished the day with Arctan Function, a 1-pitch 5.10c that Nate and Scott had put up in 2020.

Photos from December 6, 2020:
Pitch 1 of Milk Run. This is not the X-rated pitch.
Higher up on Pitch 1 of Milk Run. It is a good idea to belay from the top of this pedestal since a single 70 cannot get you all the way from ground to top.
Nate cruising up Pitch 2 of Milk Run. The X-rated pitch. There is an old star drive bolt near where Nate is in the photo.
Old star drive on Pitch 2 of Milk Run.
Starting up Wintergreen.
There is no anchor at the top of Wintergreen so we left two nuts and a biner for the first rappel. The second rappel was off a single bolt on a route below.
Photos from May 27, 2024:
Crescent Wall from the trail. The arch comprising Crescent Arch (5.11c, 1p) is obvious.
Aspens along the Gem Lake trail. Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints. And carved initials I guess.
Nate checking out a geological phenomenon.....
...a sizable hollowed-out cave inside the boulder. I theorized that the granite pluton had formed around an erodable chunk of soil or sandstone.
Tree growing around a boulder. I wonder which was here first.
Nate on the crux traverse at the beginning of Finger Lickin' Good (5.11a, 1-2p).
Nate leading the stellar 5.10+/11- finger crack on the second half of Finger Lickin' Good (5.11a, 1-2p).
The bottom of the route seeps.
Arctan Function (5.10c, 1p), a fun pitch that Nate and Scott ascended and put an anchor on top of in 2020.
Nate leading Arctan Function (5.10c, 1p).
On the way out we ascended this gully on the east side of Crescent Wall. A bit scrappy but it was a nice shortcut to pleasant terrain above.
Water striders use the high surface tension of water, weight-distribution, and hydrophobic legs to walk on water. So cool.
Water striders use the high surface tension of water, weight-distribution, and hydrophobic legs to walk on water. So cool.
We finally found a pleasant hike to Crescent Wall (the wall is notirious for an unpleasant approach, but if you go up over the wall and wrap around the east side, it's actually fairly pleasant with lots of cool rock features. And water bugs.)
Jefferson shooting stars along the trail.
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