Colorado National Monument: Medicine Man (5.12a, 4p) & Otto’s Route (5.8+, 4p)

Colorado National Monument

Routes:

- The Sentinel, Medicine Man (5.12a, 4p)
- Independence Monument, Otto's Route (5.8+, 4p)

Region: Colorado
Elev: ~5,500 ft
Rock type: Wingate & Entrada sandstone
Type: 
Date(s): October 5, 2019 (Sat)
Partner(s): Natalie Huey

Colorado National Monument is a 32-square-mile parkland protecting a spectacular slice of the Colorado Plateau just outside Grand Junction, Colorado near the Utah border. Here, on the northern edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau lie deep canyons carved into the sandstone layers. Excellent Wingate and Entrada sandstone, superb crack systems, and numerous spires of Colorado National Monument offer desert climbing more akin to Utah than anything else in Colorado. The main attractions are 400-foot Independence Monument and the spectacular finger-like tower that makes up Sentinel Spire, although there are several other routes in the area too.

The following page features some pitch-by-pitch photo trip reports from climbs I've done at Colorado National Monument. So far I've only climbed a single day there (a link-up of two awesome tower routes) but I hope to climb more, since Colorado National Monument it is a great fall and spring destination when temperatures are too cool for the alpine.

Route Overlays

Overlays for the routes I have climbed at Colorado National Monument. Photos of these routes are given in the trip reports on this page.

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Climbs I've Done

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Route Overlay

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Intro

Neither Natalie nor I had been to Colorado National Monument before, so we were eager to check it out and willing to make the 4.5 hour drive from Boulder just for one day of climbing (two days would have been better, but I have to split my weekends between climbing and math these days). Climbing in a cool area is always worth the drive though, and even more so if we could squeeze in two tower routes in a day. Our primary objective was Medicine Man on Sentinel Spire. This route ascends a crack system up the center of the east face of Sentinel Spire. This route is one of the best in the area, featuring exposed and steep desert crack climbing climbing, one of the best splitters in the desert, and a cool summit. We were on the top before noon, with plenty of time to rap down and hike across the valley floor to Independence Monument to climb Otto's Route....

Gear beta: This is the type of route where a standard double rack is not going to suffice. Our rack was 1 #0.2, 2 #0.3, 2 #0.4, 2 #0.5, 5 #0.75, 6 #1, 2 #2, 1 #3, and 1 #4. This seemed like the perfect rack for us, but it would have been fine to have just 1 big cam (I'd probably opt for the #4, since it was nice to have at a cruxy bulge near the top of Pitch 2, whereas the #3 seemed pretty optional at the one place we used it). Also, 6 draws and 4 shoulder-length slings seemed plenty sufficient as a lot of the gear-heavy sections are fairly straight up and splitter and we clipped cams directly. All belays are bolted on tis route. A single 70 m rope gets you down in 2 rappels. Because you rap the opposite side of the formation, you'll probably want to leave extra stuff at the base of Fast Draw and then scramble over to base of route from there. The scramble is far enough to warrant approach shoes.

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd
There are two main approach options: (1) From the viewpoint building right above the spire (on the loop road near the Saddlehorn campground), head to the rim. Fix a rope from a tree and rap down to slabs. Leave the rope as you will need to jug back up to the canyon rim after the climb. Scramble down and around to base of the east face of Sentinel Spire. About an hour. (2) Hike in from the Monument Canyon trailhead (1-2 hours?).

Pitch 1

5.10
Climb up through a chunky bottom later into a nice crack in a left-facing corner.

Pitch 2

5.11
Climb the 0.75-sized crack in the corner (4-5 0.75 cams protect this section well) to a roof. Exit left (2 bolts), make an awkward move, and continue up a steep handcrack to the bolted belay. Some parties break this pitch into two pitches with an intermediate belay about 40 feet below the chains, since the route takes an abrupt turn up here, and there is some unavoidable rope drag if you continue up. However, there is a strategically-located bolt that helps minimize this ropedrag. I preferred a bit of rope drag and bolted anchors to stopping short and having to belay on sandstone blocks.

Pitch 3

5.12a
This is the pitch you brought all the #1's for! What an awesome pitch of climbing! Vertical splitter up the face, with a crux pulling through the roof area near the top of the pitch. This pitch is rated anything from 12a-12c depending on guidebook/source. Both Natalie and I have thin hands and found nothing we thought was harder than 5.10-5.11. So if you have thin hands, do this route and feel good that you climbed a 5.12. =)

Pitch 4

5.10
Climb up the corner and through the roof, and continue up a hand crack to the summit.

Route Overlay

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Intro

Natalie and I climbed this as the second of a two-tower link-up. We had climbed Medicine Man on Sentinel Spire that morning, and finished with plenty of time to hike across the valley floor and climb the popular Otto's Route on Independence Monument. The route is climbed in four short pitches that finishes with the last steep and exposed prow to the awesome summit. This is a historic climb, first climbed in 1911. The FA, Otto, drilled and chopped many holds in the soft sandstone to aid up this route with pipes in the holes, but now just the holes remain, making the route quite unique, fun, and moderate. The climb is also on the north side of the tower, so is in the shade.

Gear beta: I set one cam the entire climb: the #4, on the wide crack on the second pitch. This was partly due to the fact that there was a party of 10 (!) that arrived at the base just before us, so I was in the mode of passing them quickly, and placing gear just took time and tangled ropes. But it was mostly due to the fact that the climb has drilled holes and chopped steps at all of the cruxes, so it was quite moderate climbing. Plus the upper pitches had several bolts for protection, since there's not an abundance of gear opportunities up there. I would recommend just bringing a few cams (the #4 was nice to have) and about 10 draws/slings. Fast and light is the way to go! We were ground to summit in just over an hour. A single 70 m rope got us back to the base of the route in three raps, so you can even leave your approach shoes at the base. A 60m rope would be a bit short for a couple of the raps.

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd
Most climbers just climbing Independence Monument for the day approach via the Monument Trail. But we were linking this climb with a climb on Sentinel Spire, so we approached via a cross-country hike across the desert landscape between Sentinel Spire and Independence Monument. This hike takes 30-40 minutes over pleasant desert terrain.

Pitch 4

5.8+
Follow chopped steps up the runnout airy prow and finish with a steep headwall below the caprock. There are bolts for protection on the upper headwall section. Belay on a ledge just below the summit.

Comments Pertaining to this Page / Trip Report

Useful beta. Updated route information. Corrections. Historical notes. Interesting facts. No fluff please.
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