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Notchtop Mountain, Optimismus (5.9, 3-4p) + Mornin’ (5.7, 2p) & Instant Clarification (5.9+, 3-4p)

Notchtop Mountain: Two 5.9 Hidden Gems

Routes:

- Optimismus (5.9, 3-4p) + Mornin' (5.7, 2p)
- Instant Clarification (5.9+, 3-4p)

Two hidden gems on Notchtop.

Region: Colorado
Elev: 12,129 ft
Rock type: Gneiss & Biotite Schist
Type: 
Date(s): July 14-16, 2023 (Fri-Sun)
Partner(s): Nate Arganbright

Related trip reports:

Route Overlays

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Route overlay for Optimismus and Mornin'.
Route Overlay for Instant Clarification (taken from base of route).
Route Overlay for Instant Clarification (taken from West Gully).
Route Overlay for Instant Clarification (taken from upper tarn).

Intro

There are ten "Wilderness Technical Climbing Bivouac Zones" in Rocky Mountain National Park. These are bivy zones reserved for those who want to bivy closer to their climbing route; the route must be at least four pitches in length to qualify. Nate and I had stayed in five of the ten bivy zones at this point, and we decided it would be a fun goal to stay in all ten. So for this July weekend, we decided to tick off the Notchtop bivy zone, and climb a couple of routes on Notchtop.

Nate and I had already climbed the classic South Ridge (5.9, 5-8p) in June 2021. So for this trip we decided to climb two 5.9 routes: Optimismus (5.9, 3-4p) —a steep route ascending directly up the east face of Notchtop and easily linked with Mornin' (5.7, 2p) to the true summit—and Instant Clarification (5.9, 3-4p)—another steep route ascending the southwest face of Notchtop and also used as a rappel route. Both are rarely climbed, but looked like they had the potential to be quite good or quite adventurous, or both. We were pleasantly surprised to find that both routes had solid rock, engaging and sustained climbing, and excellent position.

The following page gives overlays and pitch-by-pitch photos of each of the climbs, as well as photos from our weekend hanging out in this beautiful area. This is my favorite way to spend a summer weekend with my favorite partner.

Climbs We Did

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Route Overlay

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Route overlay for Optimismus and Mornin'.

Time Stats

Bear Lake Trailhead to bivy below Notchtop: 1 hour 55 minutes
Bivy to base of route: 19 minutes
Climb route: 3 hours 57 minutes
Descend via rap route and bivy below Notchtop: 1 hour 55 minutes
Total camp-to-camp (includes a nice summit break): 6 hours 40 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

3rd
Begin at Bear Lake Trailhead and hike the Fern/Odessa Trail to Lake Helene, and from there follow a path up to Notchtop. The route Optimismus begins in line with the black water streaks, beneath a groove in the east face. To get there, scramble left and then right up an exposed ramp system.
Leaving the Bear Lake parking lot on Friday afternoon after work.
Artistic bark photo taken by Nate.
On the approach, above Lake Helene. Photo by Nate.
On the approach, above Lake Helened. Notchtop towers above.
Approach ramp to base of Optimismus.
Approach ramp to base of Optimismus.
Approach ramp to base of Optimismus. The helmet would be more useful on my head. Photo by Nate.
At base of Optimismus.
View down from base of Optimismus.

Pitch 1

5.9, 130'
Optimismus
Climb a sustained crack and chimney in a left-facing dihedral, go past a roof (crux), and continue to the top of the corner. Step right under another roof and belay at the bottom of a right-facing dihedral.
Nate starting up Pitch 1.
Midway up Pitch 1.

Pitches 2&3

5.8, 200'
Optimismus
Pitch 2: Follow a right-leaning dihedral/chimney to a large chockstone, then climb a right-facing dihedral on the left and belay on a ledge. This is a short pitch so you can easily continue onward and link with Pitch 3 (as we did).

Pitch 3: Wiggle straight up a narrow cimney and continue in a right-facing dihedral to belay on a big ledge.

Move the belay up and right to the bottom of a large, reddish, left-facing dihedral.
Start of Pitch 2.
Lookng up Pitch 3, which we easily linked with Pitch 2. This pitch is rated 5.5 or 5.6 in the gudiebook but defintely felt more like 5.8.
Anchor at top of Pitch 2/3. Photo by Nate.
Move the belay up and right to bottom of the left-facing dihedral.
Move the belay up and right to bottom of the left-facing dihedral.

Pitch 4

5.7, 130'
Optimismus
Climb the dihedral for about 100 feet, then work up and left to the Spiral Route.
Looking up the dihedral.
Looking down while leading the dihedral. This was my favorite ptich on the route.

East Meadow

4th
Scramble through the grassy ledges of the East Meadow to get from the top of Optimismus to the start of Mornin'. We initially planned to climb the East Buttress (5.9) to the top of Notch Spire, so we took a bit of an unconventional route through East Meadows, and stayed roped up for it.
East Meadows.
We had initially planned to climb the East Buttress (5.9) to the top of Notch Spire. This was our first pitch. However, we couldn't determine where the second pitch went and the climbing did not look all that inspiring, so we ended up traversing right and climbing Mornin' instead. This was a fun choice.
Flower in the East Meadows.
Looking down at East Meadows.
Looking over towards start of Mornin'.
The final section of East Meadows to get to the base of Mornin'.

Pitch 5

5.7
Mornin'
The route starts at the base of a steep wall with a right-facing dihedral. Climb the dihedral to a good ledge and belay. 
Looking up Pitch 1

Pitch 6

5.7ish
Mornin'
Climb upwards for a long pitch, eventually ending on the summit.
Nate starting the pitch. This felt like 5.7, and the rest above was easier.
Featured rock to the summit.
Steph nearing the summit. Photo by Nate.
View of Notch Spire from near the summit.

Top

The route tops out on the summit ridge. If you want to tag the true summit, scamble carefully along an exposed ridge.
This photo was taken from the true summit, looking back at Nate on a subsummit. Also notice the climbers on the top of Notch Spire.
A view towards the Continental Divide from the true summit. Getting from the summit of Notchtop to the Continential Divide looks possible, but a little loose and complicated.

Descent

West Gully (4th) or Rappel Instant Clarification w/ 2 ropes
There are two options for descent: (1) Scramble along the summit ledges to the West Gully and descend the West Gully (4th). (2) Rappel the bolted anchors on Instant Clarification (two ropes needed). The top rappel anchor is near the top of Notch Spire, but from the true summit of Notchtop you can access a lower top anchor by descending a ramp that heads down from the notch between Notch Spire and the summit. We chose to rappel Instant Clarification.
Rap locations, on my Instant Clarification (5.9, 3-4p) overlay from the second climb Nate and I did on this weekend trip.
Descending a ramp from the notch between Notch Spire and the summit to intersect the rappel route.
Rap 1 of 4. There is a higher rap from near the top of Notch Spire that you can use instead, but this is the one to use if you come in from the true summit. It also may be wise to use this rappel station even if you do rappel from the top of Notch Spire, to avoid the situation of pulling your rope across a ledge of loose rocks (and potentially pulling a rock down on yourself) from the next rappel station.
Rap 2 of 4.
Some unfortunate climbers got their rope stuck on this rappel.....
Rap 2 of 4.
Rap 3 of 4.
Rap 3 of 4.
Rap 4 of 4.
Rap 4 of 4.
On the grassy ledge at the base of the rappels. Nate is looking at the route Raven Song.
The West Gully, which we descended after the rappels.
A short 4th class step in the West Gully.
Looking down the lower West Gully.
Nearing the bottom of the West Gully.

Route Overlays

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Route Overlay 1 (taken from upper tarn)
Route Overlay 2 (taken from West Gully)
Route Overlay 3 (taken from base of route)

Time Stats

Bivy to base of route: 25 minutes
Climb route: 1 hour 58 minutes
Descend via rap route and back to base of route: 30 minutes
Base of route to our bivy: 19 minutes
Total camp-to-camp (includes small breaks): 3 hours 45 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

3rd-4th
Ascend the lower West Gully to a grassy ledge below the steep southwest face of Notchtop. The route is left of Raven's Song and the South Ridge.
Starting the approach, heading towards the entrance to the West Gully.
Ascending the lower West Gully to the base of the climb.
Ascending the lower West Gully to the base of the climb.
Some cheery flowers on the way.

Pitch 1

5.9+
Climb up to a bolt and traverse left into a dihedral with a pin (5.9). Traverse back right to a another, right-facing dihedral. Finish at a ledge wtih a bolted anchor.
Nate starting up Pitch 1.
Bolt on Pitch 1.
Piton on Pitch 1.
There is a bolted anchor at the top of every pitch. This makes belays quick to set up and take down.

Pitch 2

5.8
The second pitch is fairly straight forward up a right facing flake/corner. This pitch also ends at a bolted anchor. 
Nate leading Pitch 2.
Fun corner on Pitch 2.

Pitch 3

5.9
This pitch winds around a lot. Use double ropes or many slings. Head right and climb to the right of some roof features, and then cut back left to some bolted anchors. It is also possible to continue up a steep corner (5.8 or so) to a higher rap anchor (a few pitons), but there may be a 20 feet or so of simulclimbing.
Looking up Pitch 3. Head right.
The sun is so close! (This photo was taken at 10:45am, so the route stays in the shade until around 11am in July. We had bemoaned the fact we would be climbing in the shade, but we were glad we climbed this route and the climb went pretty quick so we weren't in the shade for more than a couple of hours.)
Pitch 3.
Final corner on Pitch 3 to get to the higher rap anchor. It is possible to head straght left before this corner to intersect another bolted anchor.
Old pin in corner.

Pitch 4

5.easy
It is possible to finish up easy climbing to the top of Notch Spire. Nate and I had both been to the top of Notch Spire when we climbed the South Ridge (5.9, 5-8p) in 2021, so we decided not to do this final easy pitch.
(no photos - see South Ridge (5.9, 5-8p) trip report)

Descent

Rappel Instant Clarification w/ 2 ropes
The best option is to rappel from the anchors on Instant Clarification (two ropes needed). We had rappelled this the previous day after our climb of Optimismus. See photos of the rappels from the descent section for that climb. See the topo for rappel locations.
Rap 1 of 4.
Rap 1 of 4.
Climber on the South RIdge (5.9, 5-8p).
Descending the West Gully.
Pretty pink rock at the opening of the West Gully.
Hiking out. Photo by Nate.
Bear Lake parking lot.
The line of cars waiting at the RMNP entrance was back to past the Visitor Center. Impressive! (This photo was taken at 2:53pm; there are always long lines just after 2pm, when the timed entry ends and anyone can enter.)

Other Photos

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If you are climbing a route that is at least four pitches, you can get a bivy permit to camp up high in the park. Although Notchtop can be easily climbed car-to-car, it is always nice to nab an opportunity to sleep up high in the mountains. The bivy zone for climbing Notchtop is the Notchtop bivy zone. We found a nice bivy below the base of Notchtop, with bushes for wind shelter, a large boulder for hanging packs during the day, and water nearby. We enjoyed a couple of evenings and mornings in this beautiful mountian home.
A pleasant mountain home for the weekend.
A pleasant mountain home for the weekend.
A cozy bivy.
A cozy bivy.
Morning coffee.
A marmot busy at work finding nesting materials.
We hung our packs while we climbed. Otherwise the local marmonts would have some nice nesting materials.
Reading in the evening at camp. Photo by Nate.
Nate had forgotten his book, so I did some surgery.
Reading in the afternoon.
Reading in the evening.
Reading a book in the morning before our climb.
A tarn near our bivy. Evening light.
A tarn near our bivy. Morning light.
A tarn near our bviy. Late afternoon light.
Tarns near our bivy.
A tarn near our bivy.
The south ridge of Notchtop as seen from the tarn.
An intriguing arch in the ridge to the east. I'm intrigued to scramble up there someday to check it out.
A marmot. There are lots of marmots in this area.
A forlorn climbing shoe without a climber.
The last rays of evening light. Puffies on!
Extra protein in my oatmeal.
Coffee Crisp is one of my favorite chocoalte bars from my years growing up in Canada. I've gotten Nate hooked on them too. My mom gave Nate a dozen or so when my parents came to visit in June. Thanks mom! Photo by Nate.
Enjoying a sunny afternoon below Notchtop.
Plant shadow.
Indian paintbrush.
King's crown bordering a tranquil stream. Photo by Nate.
A cute daisy.
Silky phacelia.
Silky phacelia. Photo by Nate.
Alpine columbine.
Yellow stonecrop.
Alpine buttercup.
Morning light on Notchtop.
I have a map of RMNP on my wall that has pins for summits (orange), lakes (blue), and camp spots (green). I got to put a new camp spot on my map when I got home!

Previous and Next Adventures

Grand Teton (Complete Exum w/ Gold Face), WY
Storm Point (Guide's Wall), Tetons, WY

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