11.4.2012 Long Pond Cliffs

The bumpy 6.8 mile drive down a 4WD road brought us to the hunter occupied trailhead for Long Pond.  We did not expect to pass any cars on this road, but we had to pull over a handful of times to let a pickup truck squeeze through.  Snow started to fall as we parked the car away on the side of the road and out of the way of others.  Cam and Kyle came along on this trip, but we also had another climber with us.  Instead of climbing on the sandstone towers in his home country of the Czech Republic, Robert took a break from his studies to get a glimpse of Adirondack rock.

Stop at an outhouse along the drive.

We arrived at a very nice campsite after a three mile hike on the red-blazed foot trail.  This was the second site that we passed, the first one did not have a boat pulled up on shore.  After setting up the tent, cooking some food, and preparing packs for tomorrow's climb, we gathered wood and warmed up next to the fire.

Tent site lit up by headlamp.

Warming up by the fire.

Cam, Kyle, and I slept in the tent while Robert opted to sleep outside.  This ended up being much more comfortable in the tent compared to the last trip when four people slept in the tent.  I walked down to the shore with Cam to check out the boat condition and patch up any holes.  We pulled off a fair amount of Gorilla tape that someone had previously repaired the boat with and layered on some new tape.  In the morning we inspected the boat once more and made a few more patches.  

First view of the cliffs in the morning.

Duct tape patching the front end of the boat.

Armed with one small plastic paddle that was found near the boat, a shovel secured to part of a trekking pole with webbing, and a cooking pan used to bail water, we set off to paddle across the pond.  I paddled with the shovel in the front, Cam paddled in the back, Robert kept the packs dry, and Kyle bailed water out of the boat.  We made it to the other side of the pond without any major complications, but it was still bitter cold.

All ready to paddle across the pond.

After a 10 minute hike directly toward the cliffs, we reached the base of Way of the Peckerheads.  Cam led one rope team with Robert and I led with Kyle afterwards.  We didn't exactly follow the route in the book, but the line still ended at the top.  The guidebook shows that this route has two pitches, but we linked it to be one pitch about 55 meters long.

Cam racking up for the Way of the Peckerheads variation.

Kyle following on WotP.

 Cam and Robert waited at the top until Kyle and I finished the route so we could use both ropes to do a single rappel to the base.  At this point we could really see snow dumping on the nearby mountains.  Our hands and feet were all frozen and numb, not the best combination for climbing.  We debated whether or not to just head back to camp, warm up next to a fire, and head back to the car.  Since we already made the drive, hike, and paddle out the the cliffs, Cam decided to take the lead on Too Close for Comfort.  Meanwhile, Kyle and I shivered at the base and Robert struggled to stay warm at the belay.  Robert warmed up a bit when he followed until having difficulty on the hand crack at the top of the pitch.  There aren't many cracks on the sandstone towers, so the technique was difficult to master with freezing cold hands.

Throwing ropes for the rappel.

Bolted rappel anchors.

Body temperature began to rise during the hike back to the pond, especially after taking off climbing shoes and putting on hiking boots.  The boat hadn't floated away, which was a very good sign.  Swimming in the cold water with gear and heavy clothes would not have ended very well.  We started a fire and cooked all of the remaining food immediately after returning to the camp site.

Snow in the distance.

Kyle paddling across in the back.

Warming up back at the site.

Overall, this was still the typical adventurous Adirondack climbing trip; however, it would have been much better if it was about 15 degrees warmer and sunny.  The hike out went by quickly as we hurried back to make the very important stop at a general store for food and drink.  The cliffs at Long Pond definitely have a lot of new route potential and deserve at least one full day of climbing in good weather conditions.  

Hiking out on the wet trail.

USGS benchmark on a random rock along the trail.

Bridge across a beaver dam.

Hunting camps along the trail close to the end of the road.

10.27.2012 Barton High Cliffs

We had an opening of clear weather before Hurricane Sandy was supposed to strike NY, so the plan was to climb at Barton High Cliffs.  Cam, Joe, Kyle, and I all packed up after classes on Friday and drove up to Exit 25 on the Northway.  After about twenty more minutes of driving, we parked on the side of the road just like last time.  The guidebook shows a hike time of one hour; however, we were able to lower that to 45 minutes on the approach and just over 30 minutes on the way out.

Looking up at Final Frontier

We organized gear and set up the tent at the only flat spot around and only a twenty minute hike to the base of the cliffs.  It was tough to get to sleep with 4 guys side-to-side in a tent meant for two adults and two children, especially with sleeping bags meant for temps of 0-20F.  After a few solid hours of sleep it was time to get up, make "breakfast", which consisted of Bam-Os canned pasta and Ramen, and hike to the start of Final Frontier.  Cam and Joe shared one rope and Kyle and I shared the other.

Joe getting ready to clean P1.

The first pitch was dirty and a little damp, which did not make us too excited for the second pitch.  After Cam belayed up Joe, I started leading off to where Joe was belaying Cam on the second pitch. 

 

By the time I started belaying Kyle on P1, Cam was already climbing P2 and had just made the clip at the piton about 20 feet up the pitch.

Cam looking down at Joe and I from the piton clip.

Tricky climbing up to the piton, only able to place one small nut along the way.

Joe starting off on P2, view from the bottom...

...and the view from the top.

 I was pretty nervous about climbing the first part of the pitch, so Joe was nice enough to lower a piece of webbing he was carrying, let me attach my rope and a quickdraw to it, and clip the piton for me.  This was a huge mental relief for me, but I still got plenty scared leading the rest of the pitch.  The rock was completely dry when Cam and I first climbed here and the conditions this time around made it much more difficult.

 

Cam lowered himself off of this stopper, backed up by a nest of cams, and took some nice photos of me climbing...he also gave some mental support along the way.

Bomber nut placement.

No chance of this anchor failing.

With the use of a GriGri, Cam had a nice workout going down and up the pitch a few times when Kyle and I were climbing.  Even so, it looked much easier than the GriGri and two prusik method I was trying to use at Poke-O-Moonshine last time we went climbing.

 

Kyle working his way up P2.

Fog just starting to clear as we were at the top of P2.

Fog fading away.

Kyle working his way up P2.

Looking down from the top of P2.

Looking out as the fog starts to burn off.

 

Pitch three was looking very dirty and wet, so we all decided not to bother climbing it and just to rappel down and head over to a different area.  When Cam and I were here in April we put new webbing around the tree stump that serves as the rappel anchor but it ended up being torn apart when I reached the anchor, it looked like an animal decided to eat through it.  Joe brought enough webbing to replace the anchor, so I cut off the three old slings that were still around the tree and left a nice and strong anchor behind.

Looking down at Joe and Cam from the rappel anchor.

Hiking through the talus field over to Sunset Arete.

The "I can't believe we didn't pack more food" look on all of our faces.

Next on the list for the day was The Excellent Adventure, but it was looking very wet so we decided to keep on walking by and head over to Sunset Arete.  This was a pretty classic climb from last time, so Cam took the lead on it again. 

Cam leading up Sunset Arete

With Joe belaying Cam, I spotted a line that looked climbable and decided to give it a try.  The route ended up being Animal Logic, and by the look of the sling around the tree at the top of the first pitch, it had not been climbed in quite a while.  It was still a fun climb, so I set up a toprope so everyone else could give it a try.  Meanwhile, I belayed Kyle up Sunset Arete.

Kyle following on Sunset Arete.

With the same rope setup from Sunset Arete, Cam climbed the slab to the left of the arete and recommended that I do the same.  This route is not listed in Adirondack Rock, which is no surprise because it would not be protectable at all.

Climbing the unknown slab route.

After finishing off these routes, we packed up our bags and hiked back down to the tent site to make the rest of the food and hike back to the Car.

Kyle hiking back to the tent.

The view from our tent site.

 

Heading back home on 87-S.