Eagle Rock and 8220(S) 1/2
Soft ranked UN 8220 and unranked Eagle Rock sit on the very edge of Estes Park on the Crosier Mountain massif, paralleling Dry Gulch. A longer but less illegal route climbs from 34 just below the Mount Olympus Lodge, but a shorter route ascends a small ridge from the southern end of Loveland Heights from Canyon Cove Lane. As we scrambled up a rocky outcrop removing us from view of the highway, we followed a series of cairns to the gentler slopes of the ridge.
Heading up we passed over several recently used horse trails and a fence before pushing to a small knob where we overlooked the rest of our route. Continuing on the snow became less thick and we found many old trails ascending towards 8220. The summit is the northernmost 8220 contour, and the views were better than expected. After a small lunch we headed north towards Eagle Rock. Descending 8220 was as my partner described, "skiing without skis". As we passed over the paved road to the Eagle Rock School, we headed up a small access road to two water tanks, and then picked up the old trail on maps that passes just below Eagle Rock. The drifts again deepened, but we made quick time to the base of the formation.
We found several ropes on the more difficult routes up the Class 3 face, but these weren't necessary on the ascent. The best way for us was to circle to the NW edge of the summit block, where several cracks open an access to the summit. On top were several antennas and satellite dishes, but we didn't find a register. A nice hollow tucked away from the -10 wind chill sheltered us for a break. Views of Lumpy Ridge and the east Mummies were spectacular.
Daylight was fading on us as we reached the road again, and I convinced my partner to head down towards the school, despite the fact we had been trespassing. We jogged downhill along the road until we passed a parking lot and what looked almost like a residence, but beyond that we were home free. Following the small creek and washed out road, we were funneled down the gulch into old logging areas and the frozen ice flows. As we rounded a corner in the gulch and came to a wide area, we saw the last house on Canyon Cove Drive.
I checked it out to see if we could just slip past the house, but we decided to climb up the ridge a bit to avoid it. Not well enough though, as we dropped down to the road we heard the house's dog bark at us. Immediately we knew this was a bad sign, and we pushed faster down the road until we were in view of the highway. As soon as we intersected the highway, a old black pickup rolled down the lane and parked next to my car in the wide pullout. He stepped out and asked if we knew we were trespassing on his land. I explained our loop and how we only wished to to pass through his property to get to the highway and apologized for disturbing his dog and the peace. He understood, and said people often came through his land for similar reasons. He also mentioned(which I took note of for future outings on private land) that the same people felt entitled to the ability to trespass, and that he shouldn't try and stop them. Anyways, the guy said we were alright to leave, he just wanted to make sure we knew we were in the wrong.
We stopped at Chicago's Best Pizza and had gyros with cheese fries afterwards before heading down the canyon.
Heading up we passed over several recently used horse trails and a fence before pushing to a small knob where we overlooked the rest of our route. Continuing on the snow became less thick and we found many old trails ascending towards 8220. The summit is the northernmost 8220 contour, and the views were better than expected. After a small lunch we headed north towards Eagle Rock. Descending 8220 was as my partner described, "skiing without skis". As we passed over the paved road to the Eagle Rock School, we headed up a small access road to two water tanks, and then picked up the old trail on maps that passes just below Eagle Rock. The drifts again deepened, but we made quick time to the base of the formation.
We found several ropes on the more difficult routes up the Class 3 face, but these weren't necessary on the ascent. The best way for us was to circle to the NW edge of the summit block, where several cracks open an access to the summit. On top were several antennas and satellite dishes, but we didn't find a register. A nice hollow tucked away from the -10 wind chill sheltered us for a break. Views of Lumpy Ridge and the east Mummies were spectacular.
Daylight was fading on us as we reached the road again, and I convinced my partner to head down towards the school, despite the fact we had been trespassing. We jogged downhill along the road until we passed a parking lot and what looked almost like a residence, but beyond that we were home free. Following the small creek and washed out road, we were funneled down the gulch into old logging areas and the frozen ice flows. As we rounded a corner in the gulch and came to a wide area, we saw the last house on Canyon Cove Drive.
I checked it out to see if we could just slip past the house, but we decided to climb up the ridge a bit to avoid it. Not well enough though, as we dropped down to the road we heard the house's dog bark at us. Immediately we knew this was a bad sign, and we pushed faster down the road until we were in view of the highway. As soon as we intersected the highway, a old black pickup rolled down the lane and parked next to my car in the wide pullout. He stepped out and asked if we knew we were trespassing on his land. I explained our loop and how we only wished to to pass through his property to get to the highway and apologized for disturbing his dog and the peace. He understood, and said people often came through his land for similar reasons. He also mentioned(which I took note of for future outings on private land) that the same people felt entitled to the ability to trespass, and that he shouldn't try and stop them. Anyways, the guy said we were alright to leave, he just wanted to make sure we knew we were in the wrong.
We stopped at Chicago's Best Pizza and had gyros with cheese fries afterwards before heading down the canyon.
