How the west was climbed: Journey to Ithaca

When you start on your journey to Ithaca, then pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge. ~C.P. Cavafy

Ithaca is the name of a route on Arrowhead in RMNP I have been wanting to climb for the past few years now. I always knew it would be "full of adventure" as I found out over the weekend.

The journey started about 3pm Friday when Steven arrived at my house. We sorted gear and loaded up, then drove over to Estes Park. After a brief stop at the backcountry office to pick up our bivy permit, we were at the trailhead about 5pm. The weather was great for the hike in but unusually hot though. We arrived at Black lake in about an hour and a half and took a quick break. I was feeling kinda whooped from the heat and was hoping it would cool down soon. We still had about an hour to go and the final push was steep and relentless. When I arrived at the talus field below Arrowhead I was definetly not feeling well. I must have not drank enough water on the way in and it had caught up with me. We found our bivy site just as it was getting dark and settled in for the night. Unfortunelty, I had no appetite from the dehydration issue and went to bed hungry. The thought of food made me want to vomit.

We awoke to blue skies and very warm temps about 7am the next morning. I had been up in this very same area 3 weeks prior and it was quite cold in the morning. We could have been in shorts and been fine though. We discussed the route, called Ithaca which goes at 12a and decided Steven would lead the crux pitch since I felt he was in better climbing shape than me. Steven has been living on the road the past 6 months and been climbing non-stop.

Steven takes the first pitch which is a completely run-out slab for about 130 ft. The guide calls it 5.8 but we both felt it was easier. There were great holds the entire way up. This was good because a fall from it would be nasty. I take the second pitch which goes about 11a. It's a left facing corner and kinda tricky to protect. It ends below the looming ceiling above which is the crux. It's now time for "meat and potatoes" of the route and Steven is up. The guide says there is a "fixed nut" that protects the run-out traverse, but we can't seem to locate it. It's gone.... Steven plugs in a couple decent cams at the start and conjures up his psyche and starts out the strenuous traverse. It looks really awkward and you have to keep your feet really high just so they'll stay on the smooth rock. Halfway out, he thinks about trying to place another cam but realizes it's useless and continues on to easier ground. After about 15 ft, he reaches good holds and places a bomber #2 camalot. Whew! It's over and he onsighted the crux in style! He says, "that ain't 12a dude", more like 11c. After I followed it, I must agree that it's not 12a. I would just say 11+. We were both expecting it to be much harder.

I took the lead and linked pitches 4&5 together for a spectacular 5.11 link-up. Steven took the final pitch which had some spicy 5.10 and fun climbing on jugs to the top. We topped out shortly after lunch and started the long walk back out to the car. Maybe I'll do something on the Diamond next trip before it gets too cold.