Otto's Route, Colorado National Monument, CO | 5.8+ - 4 pitches
First multi-pitch of 2025! Took a weekend trip out to Fruita with my family and seized the opportunity to climb Independence Monument in Colorado National Monument. I learned about the difference between national monuments and national parks. Colorado National Monument was established by President William Howard Taft in 1911 to preserve its “extraordinary examples of weathering and erosion”. John Otto was the monument’s first superintendent and encouraged the establishment of the monument. He lived in the monument, solely built trails to encourage visitors, and even got married at the base of Independence Monument.
The approach was a short 4km, 240m hike (a leisurely ~50 min approach) along the Monument Canyon trail. The hike starts by following a tall fence along a fancy neighborhood. As we hiked up, we reported a fire to WatchDuty - possibly a controlled burn?
It was so lovely to be hot and in the desert for the first time in the year. The approach was gradual – we saw a desert in bloom and several mountain goats!
It really is a shame to see writing on the walls of the monuments. Surprisingly, there was text scratched in the whole way up, even at the summit. Disappointing!
For this climb, Summit Post had more details than Mountain Project (as of spring 2025).
The first pitch was a 5.4/5.5 depending on which source you use. Some say 4th class but that feels a bit sandbagged to me. The rock was quite sandy and loose - chalk is optional. The pitch ends at a triple bolt anchor on what looks like a chipped ledge.
The second pitch is a 5.8 and I think this is the crux pitch despite the last pitch technically being harder. There is a flaring chimney where a large cam was quite handy. The toughest part is squeezing in and then climbing sandy holds to another bolted anchor.
My mom ran up and took some photos of us on P2 from the bottom. Hi mom!
The next sudo “pitch” is called the Time Tunnel. It is a 3rd class loose scramble through an unexposed slot. Some blog posts say they traversed unroped but we stayed roped just for ease. It is just a short hike though!
Pitch 3 is a partially bolted, chipped hold jug haul (thanks, Otto!). The first bolt is quite high and there’s little to no gear before it. This pitch is ~5.7.
Pitch 4 (5.8+) is the reward! We climbed out into the pleasant spring sunshine and walked up Otto’s chipped steps (note, no gear) to the summit cap. There are a few bolts on the summit overhang that is the only gym move you’ll make on the whole climb (great hands, slippery feet).
This pitch ends right below the summit plateau. Mantle to the top for a view! Downclimbing is necessary as there is no fixed gear from the summit.
We brought a second rope so we could double rap and make it down in 2 rappels. Note the grooves on the wall at the top of P2 from rap ropes!
We walked down the Wedding Canyon trail to complete the small hiking loop, caught a nice side profile of the climbing route, and of course, saw some more goats!
