Flatirons Scramble, Front Porch/Regency/Royal Arch/Anomaly/Buckets, via NCAR TH, Boulder, CO

A link-up of some fun scrambling routes in the Boulder Flatirons starting from NCAR trailhead. We first followed Mallory Cave Trail for about 1 mile, then split off onto a climber access trail to the base of Front Porch. We chose the East Face Center route which is rated as 5.0 and about 400’ long. After enjoying the summit a bit we down climbed the back side which is also rated as 5.0. The rocks there were a bit loose which made the down climb somewhat awkward and challenging. We then headed back and took the Mesa Trail north for about 1 mile, then followed a climber access trail to the base of Regency. We took the El Camino Royale route (class 4-5) up to the summit of Regency, then descended on the west side to the base of Royal Arch East Face. Once there we scrambled up to the top of Royal Arch, which is rated as class 4 but with plenty of exposure. From Royal Arch we headed south along a social trail to the base of Anomaly. Its east face is about 200’ long and rated as class 4, but we found it to be a bit challenging due to small holds and mossy surface. The top of Anomaly connects directly to the base of a much more popular formation called Amoeboid, where the east face route aka “Buckets” is rated as class 4 with lots of bucket-like holds, which makes for a fun and relaxing climb up the 300’ face. Our total stats for the day: 5.9miles with 2100’ elevation gain Music: Longing, What is and what could be, Space Flight, and Standing in the Sun, by Punch Deck Effervescence, by Scott Buckley 0:00 Front Porch 07:04 Regency - El Camino Royale 10:11 Royal Arch 11:54 Anomaly 12:39 Amoeboid - Buckets