Mountainside View

Sunshine this morning, but with a last-minute lack of a partner, I set about some necessary chores around the house. It would all have been fine except every time I passed a certain spot in my yard work, I had a grand view of the mountain in sunshine. By 10:30a, I was fit to be tied.
Those chores could wait. Better late than never…
I packed in a flurry and drove to the parking lot, jotted a hasty note in the trail register and began trudging uphill. Quite a load in the old pack, today, and no one to share it.
In an hour, I rappelled the Firecamp Wall and began systematically sending lines.
The face is slashed by several diagonal cracks running from lower right to upper left. Bruce M. had noticed a particularly tasty-looking one last year while we prepped for SAdkRF, and on inspection yesterday I had noted that each would be worth trying.
I began at the uppermost, shortest line. It’s lower end hidden among small trees, this offered a burly start and rather tame climbing thereafter, perhaps 5.5 tops. I didn’t bother pulling out gear or shoes for this short line – though the exposure increases almost instantly: there’s potential to fall 70’+ on this 30’ route.
Stepping down to the next crack, I looked the start over and began climbing as before, easing up onto the main face from a hand-jam start. The exposure was quickly palpable, and at the second cruxy spot, I placed a couple pieces, gingerly changed shoes, and spider-soloed through another jammy bulge. After that, it was a quick romp up easing angled rock to top out ten feet right of Thank You, Cindy’s “regular” belay. Once again, this probably goes at 5.5.
Back down, this time heading for a real daunting-looking line. The lowest diagonal crack turns and drops vertically the last 10’, landing right and slightly higher than Carl’s Climb’s base. The gear came out for this one, and there was no question, climbing shoes for this puppy. Jamie M. had tried soloing this last year for a photo-shoot, and had backed down; I would do no better without employing a rope.
The crack is little more than a seam at the start, running inside a gaping open “V”, but good holds got me up high enough to reach good crack. Very awkward position, tucked in this narrow, flaring corner; I fiddle with the rack, pull a green Camalot and plug it in at head-height. Ahhhh, clip!
Another funky move getting out of that corner; I end up above it to its right, the diagonal crack lies across the gap on its left. Hmmm. It’s a flaring, shallow thing nearby, but it might take something a bit farther along, if I can lean across to it. That is funky, but I manage the trick, despite having to coax a blue Camalot into a perfect pocket for it. Glancing up, there’s no doubt I’ll miss that piece later on, but the cussed crack flares again and holds no promises for another eight feet; going back won’t be easy.
I dance across and upward, it’s awhile before I get a stance where pro might go. The red Camalot barely clings to the narrowest portion of the crack at this point. The yellow one won’t fit – wassup with that? BD really needs to make half-sizes; in the meantime, I’ll have to settle for not falling. A quick step up and I sling a questionable knob, reach down and lift the red cam out by its lobes with a finger and thumb: yeah, that was solid. Fortunately, it fits much nicer another step up.
The crack gets quite wide and the face gets steep; my blue cam lies 40’ below me now. I sneak the yellow #2 in a narrow constriction and its time to suck it up and run smooth. Scary stuff, stepping out left onto a steep face, but it’s riddled with lovely holds, sure beats off-fist jamming! I’m guessing 5.7 for this one.
This one puts me just barely right of Thank You, Cindy’s top-out, so roping a tree and rapping gear will be easy. I settle down at the top of the cliff to enjoy the view and get some lunch before rapping to pull gear, ending up on the bottom, my rope single-stranded and tied at the top now, as well as the bottom. After freeing the bottom end, I’ll have to thrash my way up the thicketed gully on the right to get back up again.
Or will I? Looking at the right edge of the face, I see a line of discontinuous seams and cracks plotting a possible line back to the top. May as well give it a try. I’m back in trail shoes, but the going looks pretty clear after a move or two, there are several good stances along the way, and my feet hurt. It really isn’t that bad at all, a few delicate moves between bomber crack holds and I’m quickly standing above the crux moves of the day’s first route. I could finish via it, but so far so good. The steep wall bordering the crack has its own gaping, wide cracks, all merging at its lip. Throw the right foot up there, grab a good hold here, and I just have to reach up there to finish. It’s scary, I have to rehearse it a couple times mentally, but then it goes pretty easily. Clean, it would probably be 5…5, once more.
There’s a lot more to be done, a lot more, up there on the summit cliffs. You oughta see it all…

Snow flurries, rain squalls, forty degree temps, blustery April weather.
Between a few of these unpleasant items, I snuck out to the Measles Wall once again. That place is perfect for slipping in a little climbing on bad weather days. Short routes, so hands don’t get cold. A few climbs that dry quickly, and a few that can be climed wet. Enough variety to be interesting, ratings from 5.0 to 5.10; only a fifteen minute walk from the parking lot.
I started on Run for Rabies, downclimbed Cracklosis, wandered to the Upper Measles Wall and climbed Hydrophobia, wandered down to the UnderWall and played on Social Disease, and finally sucked it up and tackled H1N1.
Living close to Crane Mountain makes all but the worst days climbable. I would highly recommend it, but that would make it crowded here!

Well, well. Time rushes on. A week since returning from vacation, and nothing new posted. It has been eventful, so there’s plenty to write about, just not a lot of time to write about it.
After spending a couple days here on the mountain, including a great Sunday afternoon with Jamie, Alyssa, Bruce, and Brian at the Black Arches Wall, I motored down to the Gunks to meet the bulk of other Eastern Mtn. Sports climbing guides, spend a day in training with them, and then work an additional day before returning home.
Back here, winter is striving to regain some lost ground to the onslaught of spring. Yesterday, I worked in GF, hoping to get home in time to beat the rain and chills, without success (should’ve used that time for writing, eh?). Today, amidst snow flurries and cold sprinkles, I hiked the “loop” from the Boulderwoods past the Measles Walls to the BAW, then down to and along Parallel Ridge and out the Waterfall Wall path. All the cliffs were soaked, so climbing was out of the question, but with the leaves still not out, I got good views of the Slanting Cracks Wall (I do miss that crag!), exchanged querulous greetings with a pair of peregrine falcons, and admired the Waterfall awhile.
That wasn’t enough to keep me for the day, and when the sun weakly poked through the cloud cover late in the afternoon, I headed out again, this time driving to the trailhead to hike up to the Viewpoint Cliff. I managed to climb Puzzle between snow flurries, then hiked down and did a couple easy boulder problems on Frankenstein and Splitting Headache boulders; all in all enough to count the day for climbing.
So April is looking like its usual self now, but thankfully, I’m still able to get some climbing in. I’m finding that the possibility of climbing is as much a matter of attitude as opportunity. There are, certainly, days when the weather just denies any enjoyment from the sport. But a day like today, cold, chilly, messy, can still hold some decent, fun climbing.

Yesterday, Ra and I were sweltering in near-90 degree temps as we wound our way north from our eclectic vacation tour. We finished the excursion at Little Falls this afternoon, freezing our digits on Jeff Loves Eileen as the wind sucked every calorie of heat from our bodies. It was cold!
It’s late, we’ve a lot of stuff to unpack and organize; but hopefully I’ll get something up tomorrow regarding our vacation.

I’ll be touring around in the Catskills over the next few days; maybe have some interesting stories to tell when I get back. We won’t be “connected” for most/all of the time we’re away.