9.2.2012 Huckleberry Mountain

After a summer of zero climbing (but plenty of slacklining) in Washington, D.C., it was time to get back on some rock.  Cam, Charles and I decided to check out Huckleberry Mountain because there were plenty of easier routes in the guidebook that wouldn't be too challenging for the first trip of the season, but there were also lots of harder routes.

I had been to the Crane Mountain trailhead twice before with Cam, so we both had a good idea of how to get to the cliffs on Huckleberry.  After a two hour steep hike up towards the summit of Crane, following an ATV trail on private property and walking on abandoned roads from the old paint mines, we finally reached the cliff of interest.  We put our bags down at Hard Guy Wall and racked up before taking the short hike down to the Great Dihedral Area,

 

The first climb of the day was Aunt Polly (5.6 PG 275' ***).  Cam started off leading the first pitch and then I took the second.  This area is obviously not climbed very often, as the cracks had lots of vegetation that needed to be cleaned to place protection.

View of the dirty crack leading up to a slab section for P1

 

 

P2 started off at the end of the slab section of P1 and then went around the overhang via a right-facing corner.  Coming around the corner was the only sketchy (relatively) part of the climb, but there was plenty of good protection so no real worries.

After one 25m rappel and then down climbing the rest of the way, we went over to right and climbed Jealous Dogs (5.7 G 150').  The guidebook says that "the initial chimney is easier and better than it looks"; however, there was still plenty of groaning climbing through it.  Cam took the lead on the route.

Long legs make it tough to fit in the chimney.  Luckily, I didn't have that problem.

The guidebook shows that there is a lone pine tree to belay and rappel from, but that tree was broken.  Cam belayed me off of an anchor that he built and I lead out on a traverse to the middle of Aunt Polly and repeated the previous down climb from there.

To the left of Hard Guy Wall, we set off to climb I'd Rather be in Iowa (5.7+ G 60' ***), which is noted to be one of the few sport climbing routes of this grade in the Adirondacks.  It felt a bit sandbagged, but so did the rest of the climbs put up by Dave Furman ( FA July 1994).  The anchor at the end of the climb looked to be in rough condition, so Cam replaced one of the original carabiners and chain links with one of the extras from our rack.  Upon further inspection, it probably would have been fine to use the old carabiner, but better safe than sorry.

Unfortunately, we did not get any photos of the next route, Darmok (5.7+ G 100' ***).  We spotted this handcrack walking to some of the other routes and decided to come back to climb it.  There was a fixed anchor after the crack (25), which is the only clean part of the route, so I lead up to it and placed a backup hex before being lowered off of the anchor.  The anchor didn't blow out, which is what I was worried about because of the old and weathered nylon webbing that was around the tree.  Cam followed and then I lowered him off of the tree trunk.

The last route of the day was Barney Is the Antichrist (5.10c G 80' ****).  This was by no means an easy climb, as Hobey Walker (FA July 25, 1993) notes that there are "some real moves".  Cam took the lead and was able to climb between bolts, hang for a bit, climb some more, and repeat until around the fifth bolt, where he placed the old carabiner replaced on I'd Rather be in Iowa and left it as a bail biner.  I "followed" to retrieve the rest of the quickdraws and then called it a day.

After packing up we headed back down toward the mining road, then up the ATV trail and eventually back at the same trail that we took back to the parking lot last time we climbed at Crane Mountain.  Overall, it was a successful first trip of the season and I'm looking forward to heading back out in the coming weekends.

5.30.2012 Broughton Bluff

I went to Broughton Bluff for an afternoon of trad climbing with quite the character from Troutdale. Dennis, as he introduced himself, is one of the original climbers from the area, who along with John Opdyke established the majority of the first route on Beacon Rock, the preeminent climbing destination of the area in the 1980s. We met in the parking lot and hiked up to the base of Gandalf's Grip, a three pitch crag classic. The line follows the center and highest portion of the north face of the bluff, overlooking the Columbia River and downtown Troutdale.

The scenic view overlooking the Sandy River. New construction on I-84 is in the foreground, then Troutdale airport, the Columbia River, and Prune Hill (WA) in the distance. The main street on the left of the photo is the main street of downtown Troutdale. Lewix and Clark are purported to have stayed at the location of the park at the bottom, center of the photo.

The base of the route starts with an aesthetic 5.8 hand crack, easily protected with nuts and cams. As the crack trends left, you encounter more difficult face climbing and a few bolts. The final overhang pull almost comes as a surprise, the "pitch" is so short. Since I saw no reason to not continue climbing, I ventured on up a picturesque, steep 5.8 dihedral, finally ending at the bolts at the top of pitch two (30m total).

The 5.8 dihedral.

The final fifteen feet to the top of the cliff were very peasant with bomber hand jams and fist jams. Though technically considered and OW, it was easy and protected with a #2 and #4. Great views from the top. A single rack from #0.3 to #3 and a set of nuts was sufficient for the first two pitches.

The view from halfway up the last pitch, above the OW.

After walking off and retrieving the gear we had stowed at the base, we walked around on I tried From Something to Nothing a thin , steep, but short 5.10d which, on the final bulge, required a finger pocket pull up. Unable to do it, I abandoned a biner on the 5th bolt. The climbing here was classic basalt columns. Definitely worth an afternoon.

4.29.2012 Rumney, NH

Instead of making the usual trip to the Adirondacks, we decided to head to New Hampshire and climb at Rumney.  The group this time was a little larger than normal.  Charles, Eloise, Cam, and Joe all came along for the trip.  This is a pretty popular place, so we expected  to see a few more people than we normally do in the Daks.  Overall, it was another successful day, ten routes completed.

Area: Jimmy Cliff

Routes:Lonesome Dove

           Junco

           The Nuthatch

           Hammond Organ

Area: Bonsai

Routes:Masterpiece

           Kamikazee

           Centerpiece

Area: 5.8 Crag

Routes:The 5.8 Crack by the Road

           Snake Skin Slab

           Bolt and Run

I had a long day of meetings for my fraternity, so we had to leave Troy at around 6pm.  The drive to Rumney was a little over three hours.  We arrived at the parking lot near telephone pole #27, put some money in the drop box to get a parking pass for the next day, and then set up camp.  Charles and Eloise slept in the bed of his truck, Cam and I slept in the tent next to the truck in a tent, and Joe slept on the ground next to the tent.  

While we were waiting for water to boil before tossing in a few bricks of Ramen, we all messed around on a couple boulders surrounding the parking area.  After dinner it was time to get a good nights rest.

The first stop of the day was Jimmy Cliff .  Getting here was pretty simple, just walk along the road until pole #37 and then follow the marked trails.  There was plenty of signage to direct climbers to all the different areas.  The first climb of the day was Lonesome Dove, which Cam lead before setting up the other rope on Junco .  After TRing on these for a little while, I led The Nuthatch.  Afterwards, Cam led Hammond Organ and then Eloise and I climbed it.

Cam on Lonesome Dove

Belaying Cam on Lonesome Dove

Joe following The Nuthatch, Eloise on Hammond Organ

Cam leading Junco on the left, Eloise cleaning Lonesome Dove on the right

One of the other groups climbing here said that it would be good to check out  Bonsai, as there are plenty of high quality climbs between 5.8 and 5.11 there.  The first tick here was on Masterpiece, which Cam lead and I followed.  This crag was plenty overhanging, even though the photos do not really show it.  I wanted to get a lead in here also, so we walked to the right side of the cliff to Kamikazee.  Once again, we cycled through on this climb before heading to Centerpiece.  Cam had a solid lead here, and I followed.

Cleaning Masterpiece

Ropes were set up on nearly every route

Cam leading Centerpiece

Cam up on Centerpiece

Starting up to clean Centerpiece

Cleaning Centerpiece

Nice and juggy, but plenty overhanging

The crowds were gathering at Bonsai, so instead of waiting to get on more routes we headed down to the 5.8 Crag to check out what it had to offer.  It was a worthwhile trip, as there were some pretty good climbs.  I started off leading Snake Skin Slab, graded at 5.8, but Cam and I both agreed that it seemed a little sandbagged.  Oh well, still a great climb, great feet and delicate hands throughout the upper half.  Cam took the lead on Bolt and Run, which Eloise and I followed.  Afterwards we broke out the minimal trad rack that we took along for Cam to lead The 5.8 Crack by the Road.  The route name is a little peculiar because it is actually a 5.7 climb.  I followed to pull the protection and Eloise finished off the day rappelling down off the route because there were no quicklink anchors.

Charles attempting Snake Skin Slab

Joe attempting Snake Skin Slab

Eloise working her way up the climb

Cam leading Bolt and Run

Seconding on Bolt and Run

Big thanks to Clif Bar for supplying us with the energy we needed to climb all day long without much of a break.