Crag features

The Monastery. Once the scene of some of the most bucolic climbing in the Front Range, The Monastery looks now more like the Tora Bora. The crags at The Monastery lie between the Galuchie and Bobcat gulches just adjacent to the Hyatt Mine, and therefore were the scene of terrific devastation by the Bobcat fire in June of 2000. The whole area comprised of Spruce Mountain, Cedar Park, and Bobcat Gulch burned in one of the worst fires of recent memory, consuming over 5,000 acres of pristine meadow and forest. However, the fires left most of the crags untouched, and restoration of the access trail is largely complete. Climbing at The Monastery is on igneous schist and gneiss. It is steep and edgy or slabby and on great friction. Alligator skin is common on the steeper walls. Many of the dozen or so crags have excellent South faces that remain dry for a large part of the year, however, they are located at 8,000+ feet and can get cold on a cloudy day, or snowed in in mid-winter. As probably everyone in Colorado knows, most the routes were established by Mike and Tommy Caldwell, so you can expect some hard climbing. Don't be put off by the bulk of difficult routes; plenty of excellent bolt-protected 5.9s and 5.10s exist.

The routes here are documented in Bernard Gillett's Estes Park Valley guidebook.