Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 17, 2018 (Tue)  Partners: Dow Williams & Tristyn Butler
- Date: July 23, 2020 (Thu)  Partner: Toprope solo

Dow had arrived in the Estes Park area the evening before, so to kick off our trip together, we climbed the route Days of Heaven on Rock of Ages. Dow's friend Tristan joined us as well for a team of three.

Rock of Ages is a 200-foot granite wall in Rocky Mountain National Park, with a lower elevation and shorter approach than peaks further into the park. This area is a good choice for a half day or a day with possible thundershowers, or when you want to crag on a harder (5.10 or higher) route, or both. Days of Heaven — which climbs the left side of the main buttress of Rock of Ages — is perhaps the best route in the area, featuring clean splitter cracks from fingers to hands, with some wild 5.10 moves to access these cracks.

I led the first pitch, while Dow led pitches 2 and 3 as a single pitch, and Tristan enjoyed the opportunity to follow the route. The first few moves of Pitch 1 pulling over the bulge are rather committing, but on cool juggy features. Pitch 2 is a very technical pitch, involving some face climbing and hand traversing. Pitch 3 is the money pitch of the route, up an obvious vertical splitter to the top. The pitch ratings seemed a bit off to us. Pitch 3 (10d) is the supposed crux pitch of the route, but actually seemed to be the most straightforward climbing, with great jams and locks; to me, Pitch 3 felt easier than Pitch 1 (10a), which had some committing and more insecure moves. Pitch 2 (10c) was definitely the hardest pitch for us, as it felt significantly more technical and tricky than any other section of the route — specifically, the step left at the end of the hand traverse was the crux move of the route for each of us.

Even though only 200 feet long, Days of Heaven was a satisfying objective for the day (plus, it began to thunder and spit droplets of rain just as we topped out, a sign that it was time to head out). This page gives a route overlay and some photos from the climb.

In July 2020, I climbed Days of Heaven for a second time, this time via toprope solo. I had been on the upper cliff toprope soloing The Wasp. The top of Days of Heaven on the lower cliff is easy to access from the base of the upper cliff, so I decided to fix a rope on the tree above Days of Heaven and run a lap on Days of Heaven before hiking out. With a single 70 and a handful of directional placements, I was able to do the entire route as one long pitch from the ground. Because of the way the rope was hanging, I climbed the steep 11c/12a fingercrack of Pitch 2 of Celestial Gate which starts at the top of Pitch 1 of Days of Heaven and rejoins Days of Heaven halfway through Pitch 2. Fun!

For more excellent beta from this climb, see Dow's summitpost page for Days of Heaven.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: May 29, 2020 (Fri)  Partner: Will Starks
- Date: June 29, 2024 (Sat)  Partner: Nate Arganbright

When I climbed Days of Heaven in Summer 2018, it was during a road trip to Colorado that was supposed to be for one week and turned into a month when I discovered it difficult to leave. It was on that trip that I decided to move to Colorado. So when I finally returned to Rock of Ages in May 2020, it was a mere hour's drive from my doorstep in Boulder to the trailhead. As another interesting tie-in to my momentous 2018 trip, on this second trip to Rock of Ages, I climbed with Will Starks, who I had met and climbed with on my 2018 road trip and had now become one of my regular climbing partners.

Will and I climbed three routes. First we climbed Nameless Demons, which climbs the large, left facing dihedral just left of Days of Heaven. Super fun and punchy climbing on great rock. Next we moved rightward a couple of hundred feet to Center Dihedral, which climbs the obvious right-facing dihedral that splits the upper wall just right of Days of Heaven. This was a bit mungy, but I thought it was a good route with some engaging heads up climbing. Last, we toproped Heavenly Daze, since this steep and sustained edgy 12b had intrigued us every time we rapped down it on the rappel descent. After climbing this in the hot sun, we were satisfied with the day and hiked out.

The following gives photos for Nameless Demons.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: May 29, 2020 (Fri)  Partner: Will Starks
- Date: June 29, 2024 (Sat)  Partner: Nate Arganbright

When I climbed Days of Heaven in Summer 2018, it was during a road trip to Colorado that was supposed to be for one week and turned into a month when I discovered it difficult to leave. It was on that trip that I decided to move to Colorado. So when I finally returned to Rock of Ages in May 2020, it was a mere hour's drive from my doorstep in Boulder to the trailhead. As another interesting tie-in to my momentous 2018 trip, on this second trip to Rock of Ages, I climbed with Will Starks, who I had met and climbed with on my 2018 road trip and had now become one of my regular climbing partners.

Will and I climbed three routes. First we climbed Nameless Demons, which climbs the large, left facing dihedral just left of Days of Heaven. Super fun and punchy climbing on great rock. Next we moved rightward a couple of hundred feet to Center Dihedral, which climbs the obvious right-facing dihedral that splits the upper wall just right of Days of Heaven. This was a bit mungy, but I thought it was a good route with some engaging heads up climbing. Last, we toproped Heavenly Daze, since this steep and sustained edgy 12b had intrigued us every time we rapped down it on the rappel descent. After climbing this in the hot sun, we were satisfied with the day and hiked out.

The following gives photos for Center Dihedral.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: May 29, 2020 (Fri)  Partner: Will Starks
- Date: June 29, 2024 (Sat)  Partner: Nate Arganbright

When I climbed Days of Heaven in Summer 2018, it was during a road trip to Colorado that was supposed to be for one week and turned into a month when I discovered it difficult to leave. It was on that trip that I decided to move to Colorado. So when I finally returned to Rock of Ages in May 2020, it was a mere hour's drive from my doorstep in Boulder to the trailhead. As another interesting tie-in to my momentous 2018 trip, on this second trip to Rock of Ages, I climbed with Will Starks, who I had met and climbed with on my 2018 road trip and had now become one of my regular climbing partners.

Will and I climbed three routes. First we climbed Nameless Demons, which climbs the large, left facing dihedral just left of Days of Heaven. Super fun and punchy climbing on great rock. Next we moved rightward a couple of hundred feet to Center Dihedral, which climbs the obvious right-facing dihedral that splits the upper wall just right of Days of Heaven. This was a bit mungy, but I thought it was a good route with some engaging heads up climbing. Last, we toproped Heavenly Daze, since this steep and sustained edgy 12b had intrigued us every time we rapped down it on the rappel descent. After climbing this in the hot sun, we were satisfied with the day and hiked out.

The following gives photos for Heavenly Daze.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: June 29, 2024 (Sat)  Partner: Nate Arganbright

It was finally summer and time to start climbing in RMNP. Rock of Ages is a good early summer location. Nate and I spent the day here climbing four routes for a total of six quality pitches. Fun in the sun!

We climbed Center Dihedral (5.10c/d, 2p), Baptismal Font (5.11c, 1p), Nameless Demons (5.10b, 2p), Heavenly Daze (5.12b, 1p). Photos for Baptismal Font are given below, while photos from the other climbs are given in previous sections.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 15, 2020 (Wed)  Partner: Nate Arganbright
- Date: July 22, 2020 (Wed)  Partner: Nate Arganbright
- Date: July 23, 2020 (Thu)  Partner: Toprope solo

Nate and I had gotten into the pattern of 2-3 alpine days a week plus a couple of days of hard cragging between. The Wasp (once 13a and now downgraded to 12d) on the Upper Cliff of Rock of Ages was a perfect objective. The Wasp climbs a zig-zagging crack system up the steep face, and is a candidate for the best single-pitch route at its grade in the state. It is trad and takes pretty good gear, and would be a proud lead. We toproped The Wasp, each doing a few laps. We returned a week later in the early morning before work to do a couple of more laps. I returned the next day alone to do a few more laps via toprope solo. We plan to return again, since Nate plans to lead it soon and I am still working on getting the whole thing on toprope without hangs.

The following gives photos for The Wasp.

Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: July 15, 2020 (Wed)  Partner: Nate Arganbright

On the same day we were toproping The Wasp, Nate and I also toproped Greensleeves, a bolted face on the left side of the wall. It stats with an easy finger crack, and then launches into sustained crimping with no rests. Although rated 12b, it felt harder than The Wasp to me.

The following gives photos for Greensleeves.