Lone Eagle Peak North Face, 5.7 Grade III
East & North Face of Lone Eagle Peak standing proud above Mirror Lake
Lone Eagle Peak is a fully bonafide alpine classic obscured amongst the more popular Front Range climbing destinations. If you’ve ever seen the Roach’s Indian Peaks guidebook, it is the stunning pinnacle shaped summit gracing the cover. It has piqued my interest for years but I myself was guilty of writing it off due to the long approach (relative to similar climbs in nearby RMNP) and lack of hype as it tops out at a mere 11,900’. That all changed last weekend when my partner and I were looking for a fun, yet moderate, climb that would give us an excuse to spend a night or two in the alpine.
We packed bigger-than usual packs and hit the road up to the Monarch Lake trailhead, outside of Granby, CO. It’s a beautiful two hour drive from Golden up through Winter Park and into the high-alpine plains of the Northern Front Range. The larger packs were due to this trip being a birthday celebration complete with wine, a portable raclette grill, birthday brownies, and a few other luxury items that don’t normally make it into the alpine climbing kit.
Stunning rock and untapped climbing potential throughout the Lone Eagle Cirque and the West side of Apache Peak
After a scenic drive along the shores of Arapahoe Lake, we set off just after 11:00 on the long but casual approach along the Cascade Trail to Crater Lake, deep within the Indian Peaks wilderness. The approach follows a well maintained trail along Monarch Lake then turns up the Cascade Creek valley to the Lone Eagle Cirque. We reached Crater Lake and found a nice campsite with a lake view by 15:00. While not popular with climbers, Crater Lake is a popular spot for backpackers and reserving a campsite is a good idea. We spent the afternoon lounging on lakeside boulders, swimming in the pristine alpine waters, and admiring the next day’s objective over wine and raclette. Aside from the occasional bivy, most alpine climbing in the Front Range is best done with a single-day push. Climbing in the Lone Eagle cirque is more reminiscent of a trip into Wyoming’s Wind River Range. As such, it makes for a great 2-3 day staycation for the Front Range local.
Crater Lake offers an excellent chance to refresh and cool off after the long approach
Luxury, lakeside camping
While the weather was better than the forecast during the day, we ended up getting quite a bit of heavy rain overnight. As such, we delayed our planned 06:00 start a few hours to let the rock dry out. The start of the climb is a short twenty five minute hike from the camps at Crater Lake. As soon as the lower East Face got its first sun we set out and were on route by 09:15.
Exposed, but easy and broken climbing on the first few pitches.
The first four pitches go quickly. We short pitched and moved together up to and across the angling ramp that is mostly 4th class terrain. Once at the end of the ramp, we started up the more sustained 5th class climbing for a few pitches through a broad weakness leading to a fun chimney pitch (P5-6 in the guidebook). The guidebook describes P5 as a gully, though it’s more of a moderately angled section of face climbing. The terrain funnels into the P6 chimney which tops out on a large grassy, sloping ledge. The 5.6 chimney pitch is the second best pitch on the route, though I highly recommend trailing your pack. Once on the ledge system above the chimney, you will want to build your anchor all the way back on the next headwall as it is the only competent rock to be found. Some enticing cracks can be found closer, but they are part of exfoliating flakes that upon close inspection are not attached to much of the mountain. From a belay at the start of the chimney, a 60m rope was just barely enough rope to reach the headwall above and extend the belay back down toward the exit of the chimney.
From the top of the chimney pitch it did look like you could continue up a grassy, gully feature to the climber’s left that would be more direct though likely full of loose rock and less-than-inspiring inspiring rock climbing. We opted for a few short pitches following broken ledges leading up to the climber’s right and then traversing back left toward the top of the ‘cleft’. There are many options from here, but you can generally follow the path of least resistance through 4th and low 5th class terrain until you reach a short, shady headwall that caps the cleft/gully system. Either way, you are aiming for a notch-like feature where the lower north buttress meets the summit headwalls. Once at the notch/saddle below the summit headwalls, continue up and right (to the West) until you are directly below the NW facing headwall. There is an obvious twin, diagonal crack system leading up and right immediately above that are off-route but serve as a helpful landmark. To reach the crux pitch of the classic Stettner North Face route, you will scramble down approximately thirty feet to the West. There is a small step over a subtle gully feature that puts you onto a system of cracks and flakes. Climb this system of cracks and flakes, with generally solid rock and ample protection up to a belay on a big ledge that wraps back around to the East Face. I found this to be one of the nicest 5.7 pitches of alpine rock climbing I have climbed! Spectacular exposure, great movement, and sound rock.
Starting up the crux 5.7 pitch. Even better than it looks in the photo!
Move your belay around to the East and choose the path of least resistance for a final pitch of low 5th class up to the summit. We traversed around about 100’ and again there are several options here. We trended up and left following slabby cracks and flakes, 5.4 with a couple of tricky moves but good protection. The climb should take an experienced party 4-5 hours to complete. The descent route follows the Solo Flight route is likely the trickiest part of the outing. Solo Flight is a 4th class, but very exposed scramble that follows a 3rd class climber’s trail up from Triangle Lake and then up to the notch at the Southern end of the Lone Eagle summit ridge. A system of ledges traverses 4th class terrain about 50’ below the knife edge on the East side. A couple of notches need to be crossed where Lone Eagle meets Limbo peak and continues on up to Iroquois Peak. Be sure to study the Solo Flight route in advance so you are familiar with the descent.
Pondering the descent route. Exit Notch indicated by blue arrow. 4th class ledge system is out of view, but down to the left.
From the end of the 5th class climbing on Lone Eagle North Face route, you should be able to see the first notch. Scramble down and climber’s left (East) about 50’. The ledge system will be visible from the top of the climb. If you’re on route, you’ll pass plenty of cairns. About half way across, look for a weakness trending back up toward the top of the ridge. If you find yourself on 5th class terrain, you’re off route. Once at the obvious notch, you’ll cross through, take a sharp left and cross over a second notch and from there you’ll be following a climber’s trail down toward Triangle Lake. Well above the lake, you will eventually work back left down the valley toward Crater Lake. As you traverse below the East face of Lone Eagle, work to stay as close to the cliffs as possible for the easiest travel. Eventually you will end up back at the start of the route. Plan on about 2.5 hours for the descent back to Crater Lake.
Lone Eagle Peak soaring above camp at Crater Lake
