The Milton Boulder, the West Ridge, & Redgarden Wall. Eldorado Springs Canyon, Colorado, 2014
Eldorado Canyon: A climber’s mecca…Ivy Baldwin’s playground (see the amazing video below)…and a photographer’s treasure box. It is also home of one small rock (the Milton Boulder), one medium sized crag (the West Ridge) and one huge crag of many hues (Redgarden Wall).
Of the Milton Boulder, Pat Ament’s Eldorado climbing guide, published in 1975, says this:
“THE MILTON BOULDER – This is an interesting boulder on the south side of the river and north side of the road, approximately three or four blocks west of the Bastille. There are countless friction possibilities which ascend the east slab, even ‘no hand’ routes. The west side has several short, steep problems. The direct South Face is decorated with the letters ‘M-I-L-T-O-N’ and has a difficult route (B1) done in 1968 by Pat Ament. This route ascends a line just left of the ‘M’ to a narrow cloping ledge.”
The letters are no longer there–probably cleaned up when the Canyon became a State Park–but you can faintly see where they might have been.
A boulder problem of this difficulty in 1968 was a pioneering feat (what shoes did he use???) and, to this day, many a visiting climber will try and fail on Ament’s short test piece.
Who was Milton, anyway?
Here is a very short video of how it’s done:
And here is the even more amazing 1948 footage of 82-year old Ivy Baldwin crossing from the Wind Tower to the Bastille on his high wire:
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