11.9.11 New Buck

Both Cam and I did not have classes on Wednesdays, I did not have to go in to my internship, and the forecast was beautiful...so on Tuesday night we decided to go to Lake George to climb.  We left Troy at 5am, and arrived at the trail head shortly after 6.  The approach was about an hour long, but totally worth it.  We passed a guy hunting for deer shortly after we started the approach, but he was the only hunter we saw the entire day.  The guidebook said that we would end up walking along a dry river bed and then would reach a small cairn on the right, which we did, and the rock was in sight. 

The forest was very cool looking, and reminded me of a scene in The Blair Witch Project.  There were no other climbers here, but there appeared to be some new bolts so it must be a fairly popular spot.

I understand why climbers must love it here, pockets.  This was the first place that I climbed where some of the only good holds were pockets.  After doing some research I learned that there used to be a big mining industry in Lake George for the abrasives in these pockets that were later used to make sandpaper.  I was glad that I had bought some tricams the week prior to this trip because they ended up coming in handy to protect some routes.  Once again, it was difficult to get lots of pictures with only 2 people, but there are a few good shots below.

I forget which pictures correlate to the routes that we climbed, but here are the names of them anyways:

Thin Soles (5.10b, G, 30'): This was the highest quality climb, and the first climb, of the day.  Cam was just able to reach the last hold to finish the route, but it was just out of reach for me.  Still satisfied with the climbing though.

Coffee Break (5.1, G, 30'): I got my first feeling of leading on this one.  Not a difficult climb by any means, but a lot different with the mental game of placing gear and climbing above the gear.  I like getting scared and feeling my legs shake, so I will definitely do more leading to balance the mental and physical sides of the sport.

Pick Pocket (5.8+, PG, 50')

Wisecrack Wednesday (5.7, G, 80')

Ten Point Buck (5.6, G, 80')

Fawn Crack (5.7, G, 80')