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Arrowhead, Refugium (5.10a, 5p)

Arrowhead

Route:

Refugium

5.10a, 5p

The first of two climbs on a two-night, two-day weekend in the spectacular Upper Glacier Gorge.

Region: Colorado

Elev: 12,660 ft

Rock type: Granite

Type:

Date(s): July 9, 2022 (Sat)

Partner(s): Nate Arganbright

Related trip reports:

Arrowhead, Airhead (5.11d, 5p)

Arrowhead, Arrowplane (5.11a, 6p)

Arrowhead, Artemis (5.9+, 4p)

Arrowhead, Bequeathed (5.10d, 6p)

Arrowhead, Full Metal Jacket (5.10c, 3p)

Arrowhead, The Godfather (5.11b, 5p)

Arrowhead, Goldfinger (5.11d, 3p) (+ Accident/Rescue Report)

Arrowhead, Raindance (5.9, 6p)

Arrowhead, Ripsaw (5.7-5.9, 4-8p)

Arrowhead, Shoshone (5.10a, 4p)

Arrowhead, Warhead (5.10a, 5p)

Arrowhead, Summit Ramp (4th) to SW Ridge (3rd) on "Glacier Gorge 5-2+1 Traverse" (Arrowhead to Spearhead) (4 summits, rock up to 4th)

Route Overlay

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Intro

Summer was in full swing, with a splitter forecast and temperatures in the mid-80's in Estes Park and mid-90's in Boulder. So it was time to head to the alpine for the weekend. 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 two nights (Friday and Saturday nights) at our favorite bivy location below The Spearhead. On Saturday we climbed Refugium (5.10a, 5p) on Arrowhead and on Sunday we climbed East Prow (5.9+/10b, 6p) on The Spearhead. We also enjoyed a couple of afternoons hanging out in this spectacular area. The sun was out, the wildflowers were peaking, and the elk were grazing.

This page gives a trip report for our climb of Refugium on Arrowhead. This route ascends the prow of the buttress. We had all of Arrowhead to ourselves for the day.

The following page gives an overlay and pitch-by-pitch photos of the climb, and below that a photo smorgasbord from our weekend of hanging out in Upper Glacier Gorge. Enjoy!

Time Stats

Glacier Gorge Trailhead to bivy below Spearhead (overnight packs): 2 hours 50 minutes
Bivy to base of route: 1 hour 2 minutes
Climb route: 2 hours 22 minutes
Descend to bivy: 1 hour 57 minutes
Hike back to trailhead: 2 hours 30 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd-3rd

Somehow get to the base of Arrowhead. If Arrowhead is the only objective, then it makes sense to ascent the steep hillside right of Black Lake. However, we were bivied below The Spearhead, so we made a pleasant traverse across the Upper Glacier Gorge basin into McHenrys basin and to the base of Arrowhead. Follow the talus to the high point at the bottom of the South Couloir. Begin 50 feet left of the chimney for the South Couloir.

Pitch 1

5.7, 250'

Follow cracks and ledges up to the South Ramp. This involves some simulclimbing, or can be broken into two pitches.

Pitch 2

5.7, 170'

Scramble up cracks and ledges to the base of a conspicuous right-facing dihedral that forms the right edge of a 100-foot pillar to belay.

Pitch 3

5.8, 100'

Jam cracks on the face of the pillar and belay at its top.

Pitch 4

5.8, 80'

Climb along a flake, then work up and left to belay at the left side of a huge block. We combined the 5.10a flake (crux) at the start of Pitch 5 into this pitch.

Pitch 5

5.10a, 165'

Lieback along the right edge of a large flake (crux) and go left at its top into a dihedral. Follow the dihedral to the top of the wall. Rope drag may be bad if you place too much gear on the crux lieback. The crux lieback can be broken into its own short pitch or linked into the end of Pitch 4 as we did.

Top

12,660 ft

The route ends west (climbers' left) of the summit. Scramble to the summit if you want. It's worth it if you've not been there.

Descent

Rappel

Either take the rap route or scramble down the South Ramp (4th). We opted for the 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. Scramble back to the base of the route (not too far from base of rappels). Hike out the way you came.

Other Photos

We had 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 we bivied up there for two nights (Friday and Saturday nights) at our favorite bivy location below The Spearhead. What a marvelous place to hang out for the weekend!

Our bivy

Upper Glacier Gorge has some of the best bivy locations in RMNP. We stayed at one of our favorites, which we have stayed at a few times before. It is sheltered enough to keep one dry in a storm and has a nice flat area for sleeping.