Birdland and Olive Oil

LEMKE CLIMBS

Here was another trip Emily and I did to Red Rocks since we decided we love it so much! Two stellar routes we wanted to do, it was a somewhat stormy weekend as well, and when we topped out on Olive Oil we nearly got caught in a thunderstorm but luckily it just missed us. We were the final party on Birdland Saturday, and the last party going up Olive Oil Sunday (which we did get a little drizzle as I led up the last pitch!). Here's the photos from each climb.

Birdland - class 5.7 - april 2016

A short hike up the Pine Creek Trail brought us to the cliffs above the north side of the creek where Birdland sits. There was a coupe parties above us but no one at the base when we arrived so we tied up Emily's little pup to the tree at the bottom and I started up the first pitch. The entire route was straightforward but since we only had a 60 meter rope, we were going to struggle on the descent. Luckily the team ahead of us let us rappel with them making our descent much easier.

Birdland (going off to the right at top) and its nearby variations

Emily Rappeling down

View of Rose Tower from the approach

View from the route

Olive Oil - class 5.7 - april 2016

The next day we got a late start after camping up in the BLM lands to the west of Red Rocks and made the longer approach to Olive Oil. We had to start up Pine Creek, but then had to cross over left up the trail leading to Juniper Canyon and into a narrow gully. We found the start of the route amidst a cool, cloudy sky and I started up the first tricky pitch which required some thought on my part going up the runout 5.8 section, then up to a large ledge in a small cave. The second pitch was out and onto an exposed right facing corner, then the third pitch was long and exposed mostly easy face climbing. I passed by a fixed number 4 cam and thought to myself who could have possibly screwed that up!

As I belayed Emily up the long third pitch it began drizzling. I quickly ran up the forth pitch but went so fast I overshot the belay ledge and had to downclimb to reach it, then the fifth pitch was up the squeeze chimney which was actually really fun. At the top we were alone, and nearly struck by a passing storm making for some really scenic photos. The walk off was quick and painless and we reached the car just after dark.