It was a sunny Sunday on the first day of December and a great time to check out another nearby winter crag. The initial plan was to climb at East Quarry Wall above the town of Golden, but when my partner Mike and I arrived at the base of the wall, we discovered that all but a few of the steeper 5.12's were streaked with water from the melting snow above the wall. So we bailed. But as we were hiking out, I ran into Natalie (who I had climbed with a few times earlier that fall) and her friend Alex. After hearing our condition report, they decided to bail on East Quarry Wall and instead head to the nearby Clear Creek Canyon. They invited us to join. Mike decided to pass, but I was happy to tag along and check out a new climbing area.

We had a fun afternoon climbing at the sunny Graveyard. With direct southern exposure and a mix of quality sport 10s, 11s, and 12s, The Graveyard makes for a popular winter crag. We climbed six routes. Below are some photos.

8 pitches from 5.9-5.10d. A fun fall day on the rock!

8 pitches from 5.10b-5.11b. The 5.10c pitch in the driving rain storm halfway through the day was particularly exciting, but things dried off quickly and we kept climbing for a couple of more hours. I was quite impressed with the climbing at this location. Thanks Zach for the great session on the rock.