Last Friday I got out for a bit of scRUNbling in the Flatirons before work. I cruzed up to Dinosaur Mountain and did five laps on Sunnyside Two before continuing up and hitting up another slab on an unknown formation. I then dropped north and ended up doing most of the East Face of Dum before topping out on the summit of Dinosaur Mountain. Other then sending the sport routes on Der Zerkle and Square Rock a long time ago, as well as sending the FA of the Avs Wall Traverse and some other hard boulder problems in the area, I've never really scrunbled on the flatirons on Dinosaur Mountain. They are pretty cool, and I think I've figured out a set of routes that I can put together into a fun line for a bit over 2,000' of scrunbling: TipToe to East Face of Dinosaur to Sunnyside Two to Mallory Flatironette to South Ramp on the Box to Primal Rib on the Rainbow to the East Face on Dum to the summit. I'm hoping to link this together this fall.
Top of Sunnyside Two with the downclimb off of Dinosaur in the background
Cave like feature near the Box.
Looking down into Bear Canyon from the summit.
Captured the full moon rising last night, but a thin cloud layer prevented a good photo of the eclipse.
I picked up an old guidebook (I like collecting guidebooks, you can learn a lot of history and obscure routes from them). Found this photo interesting - I don't think there has been a June with this much snow up high in a long time, maybe since 1982!
Fairly psyched to have finished in 10th place overall in the US Skyrunning Sky series. I really wanted to get to Flagstaff for the final, but couldn't afford it. Not bad for not doing any speed all summer and mostly just trudging in the mountains. Looking forward to next year to place higher, and hopefully they will have more races in the series as well.
Put in a nice long effort in the Mount Evans Wilderness the other day. Ran about 20 miles in 3:45 at a fun pace. I missed the aspens by about a week it looked like, but still found some good views and shots. I was on the southwest side mostly, on Abyss Lake and Rosalie trails. Great trails for running - mellow grades, not too rocky, excellent views - and I didn't see a single person the entire time. Not bad for being only 1 hour from home.
Hey, Peter. Yesterday I was searching for photos of the upper parts of the Sunnyside Two route, and apparently you, I and Mountain Project are the only three websites that have photos anywhere on the Internet. Heh.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was trying to find out is what the top part is like, because I'm a strictly 3rd class/easy 4th class climber, and I'm trying to figure out if I can do it. From the west side ledge on Der Zerkle, I couldn't see much except a sketchy dirt and gravel-covered hump with a steep drop-off to the right. Do you remember how difficult the upper part near the ledge was? Thx for any info...
That's funny, I'd imagine there would be more photos. The top is not too bad, there is a big boulder in the way, and you can either go around to the left (when climbing up) that is easy, but puts you right next to the edge with solid exposure. Going right (when climbing) is less exposure, but slightly trickier moves. I'd say it is right at the 3rd/4th class level. After you get around the boulder, it is a walk off on the ledges. Hope that helps - I checked it out from the top the first time.
DeleteThanks, I'll probably give it a try, I've been up part way but didn't want to get into a bind I couldn't get out of. I often traverse a couple of laps back and forth on the rock right at the base of that climb. Contrived, but fun friction/skills practice.
ReplyDeleteP.S. - The Rosalie/Abyss trails are great. Hopefully I can get higher up towards Evans next time (earlier start!).
ReplyDelete