Apr 03, 2019 — This is another great route in Red Rocks up to the limestone crest overlooking the sandstone wonderland. From the Oak Creek Trailhead, follow the Oak Creek Canyon Trail to the mouth of the canyon and boulder-hop in typical Red Rocks fashion. A bit into the canyon, I reached a junction. Going left (south fork) heads up the standard Mt. Wilson via Oak Creek route, and to the right (north fork) leads to Rainbow Mountain. My route up to Oak Peak follows the north fork, since I'll later be descending from the Rainbow Mountain saddle. I continued up the gorgeous canyon, wrangling boulders for a while, and then sections of slickrock and waterfalls materialized. One waterfall required some steep and slippery Class 3 slab scrambling, and shortly after, a second major watefall marked the spot where I would leave Oak Creek Canyon to head up to Oak Peak. I cut southeast along the steep slab, traversing above Oak Creek Canyon until cairns led me south up a wide, shallow gully and the exposure diminished. A particularly steep slab waved at me, but I ignored it. Class 4/5 slab isn't my cup of tea. Instead, I kept to the right side of the slab where a very sustained Class 3+ break allowed for steady scrambling for a good 40-50 feet. It started feeling pretty exposed as I got higher and the dropoff into Oak Creek Canyon became more visible. I would almost call this section Class 4, really, but the climbing is easy. Once above the slab, I could likely have continued up the gully and worked south to Oak Peak, but cairns led me around the north side of Oak Peak, where I got some great views of Mount Wilson and got a sense for the incredible height of the sandstone towers around me. I continued up a Class 2 shallow gully to the saddle just west of Oak Peak, summitted, and then headed back along the west ridge toward the limestone crest. Sandstone gave way to limestone, and a few Class 2+ obstacles made the route up to Oak Creek Overlook Peak slow-moving. A single Class 3 move gains the summit cliff band just below Oak Creek Overlook Peak, which you could likely avoid by taking a detour south to the saddle of the peak and come up the southern slope.
From the summit of Oak Creek Overlook Peak, I decided to work north and loop back down into the standard Rainbow Mountain route, rather than go back the way I came. The limestone ridge has some nice views, and not a lot of brush to avoid. I made it to the sub-peak just west of Rainbow Mountain and decided the cliffs to the east were too sketchy to downclimb. I worked around the north side of the ridge and circled back to the ridge before descending down to the saddle with Rainbow Mountain. The standard route took me back into Oak Creek Canyon and to my car.
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