First Trip to the Gunks

My most awesome climbing trip to date began with a long and frustrating evening of helping Dave get moved into his new apartment on Newbury Street. I had to pack everything I needed for the trip after work, then meet him at his old apartment to load up the car. After two trips, we had almost everything, but still needed to stop by EMS so he could pick up a Thermarest and Gunks guide. Then it was back to pick up one more load of stuff, then a trip to Star Market, then back to his new apartment to unload, then we could hit the road. By this time it was eleven o'clock at night, and we were both already tired with all four hours of driving ahead of us. Not entirely daunted, we cheered ourselves up with thoughts of the legendary climbing that awaited us.

Right on schedule, we turned off at the pullout at the stroke of 4 AM. A seemingly endless line of climbers looked up bleary-eyed from their sleeping bags on the ground next to their cars as we drove past. We soon joined them. I awoke after a fitful sleep to John and Jay (who were supposed to meet us here) saying something about leaving a note at the Uber Fall.

By 7:30, we were on the road again for the one-and-a-half minute drive to the parking area, where we ate breakfast and tried to peer through the mist that completely hid the cliffs from view. Then, we started up the carriage trail. This place is simply made for climbers! The first routes that we passed were short and mostly easier, just perfect for warming up, which we did on Laurel (5.7). A nice crack, but too easy and too many pitons. Dave and I each led it and cleaned on our rap down.

At the Uber Fall, we filled our water bottles and checked the bulletin board. "To High E," said John and Jay's note. The legendary High Exposure is one of the Gunks' all-time classics, even (or especially) though it's rated at only 5.6. This being Memorial Day weekend and all, we never did get on that one because of the crowds.

Instead, we hiked over to one of the nearby quality routes, Drunkard's Delight (5.8-). Dave led this one, belaying after the first pitch below a short but prominent roof. Getting past the roof on the next pitch proved to be no problem, and we rapped from the top of the second pitch. This rock is great! When you need a good jug, it's there. I was beginning to have fun.

Dave was feeling good, and decided to go for MF, a hard 5.9 overhanging route. He started up, moving slowly yet confidently toward the foreboding roof looming above. Straining, he clipped a wad of slings that protected the crux (apparent crux, anyway) and powered over the lip. The route didn't really let up here much at all, and then he discovered the true crux, another overhanging section on small holds. He worked his way straight up and had to downclimb twice, then went for it and skittered down onto the rope. Not really much of a fall, but he lost the redpoint and wasn't too happy about it. A neighboring climber called up, "Go left, it's easier," and Dave took the advice. The direct variation he had been attempting was .10+. I followed, cleaning the pro and becoming more cautious as I approached the roof. Pausing to rest a minute, I pulled through-pumpy but definitely doable. A thin face section, then I was at the real crux. I worked out most of the sequence, but the great hold I was eyeballing was still a good two feet out of reach. "I'm going for it," I warned Dave, but he said, "Dude, there's usually a better way to do it than dyno-ing." Thinking better of it, I studied the problem further and discovered a small foothold that had escaped my attention. This allowed the sought-after hold to come within my grasp. Psyched, I joined Dave at the belay ledge. That was a way-cool route. We rapped and looked for something for me to lead.

Snooky's Return (5.8) looked promising. The first pitch was a fun thin crack. The pro was good, and I felt totally solid. The route went straight up to a great belay ledge. After that, the route became a bit harder to follow. I climbed a left-facing corner to an overhang and traversed left, as directed by the guidebook. However, at this point I forgot to step back right after the steep section. I wandered up the lichen-covered face on worsening pro and longer runouts, thinking that this second pitch kind of sucked. I ran out the final twenty feet or so to the GT ledge. From the belay, I noticed a nice clean face directly below me, and realized I had been way off route. Oh well. Dave had an interesting time trying to traverse back through a dirty, mossy lichen garden, but did get on route for the final ten feet. This one is worth doing again just to do the second pitch right. After rappelling, I was left itching for something a little harder. Leading 5.9 at the Gunks was looking very doable, but I was still playing it conservatively.

After Snooky's, we walked further along the base of the cliff until we happened to run into John and Jay on a 5.7 on the Madame G's buttress that looked interesting. Dave and I scrambled up some fourth class stuff to get to the first belay ledge, and we decided to follow them on this route. Jay and Dave went up, then I tied into John's old 9 mm, which spooked me just a bit (this thing looked like it had come from the golden age of climbing) and followed. The climb was steep, but the holds were big. I was feeling pretty weighed down with all the shoes and other paraphernalia I had to carry, which made the crux overhang a little too hard. I reached the top, and noticed that the tree we were about to rappel off of was coming straight out of the side of the cliff, and looked none too sturdy. "Don't think about it. Just do it," was Dave's advice. OK, well, plenty of others had obviously rappelled off this same tree before, so why not us? We set up a double-rope rappel and slid straight down for a full rope length before touching rock again. It was a nice way to end the day.

The four of us went into New Palz for dinner, etc. and ate at a little Mexican place. Afterwards, at the bakery, the counter girl gave me a free loaf of bread, which prompted the others to hypothesize as to why I had received her special favors. I'm innocent, I tell you! She just offered me some free bread and I took it. End of story.

The next morning John and Jay beat us to the rock once again, and Dave and I went in search of a quality climb. This is not a difficult task at the Gunks. We thought we would see if High E or Modern Times was free, so headed in that direction. Unfortunately, a couple of parties were already setting up at the base of both. Dave and I went on a quick foray and discovered Ant's Line (5.9) was totally vacant. Dave had been on this one several times before, but had never led it. Actually, he had led it once with preplaced pro, but that doesn't quite count. He got himself prepared mentally, and started up. The crux moves were clearing the first triangular ceiling. Dave put in a solid #2 Camalot, and cranked through. He was completely psyched after this, saying it was his hardest move on lead yet. The rest of the short climb was pumpy, but not too hard, and he rapped down to belay me from the ground. I followed without much difficulty, and lowered happily.

Ent's Line (5.11-) is a variation on the left-hand face that can be toproped from the same anchor, and Dave wanted to try it. He had also been on this one before, but had never finished it. I was having serious doubts that I would be able to do it myself, but I was certainly willing to give it a try. The wall is not only overhanging, but slants down and right, making it particularly difficult to stay on. Getting the correct sequence is required but not obvious, and you need to swing into a layback at just the right place to achieve success. Dave finished it with a little hangdogging along the way, but was nonetheless satisfied with his performance. I tied in and completed the first ten feet or so before encountering a painful fingerlock that seemed insecure. It was a tough move to get psyched to do, but once the mental block was over, the move was done. I ran into a few problems getting above the small ledge in the middle of the face, and swung out into space once or twice, pulling myself back in with the help of a big oak tree. I finally figured out the layback, and proceeded non-stop from then on. I could feel my strength ebbing, and did one dynamic move after another, surprising myself with success each time. It felt awfully good to have reached the top of that route!

Bonnie's Roof (5.9), a three-star route, was calling out to us after this, and Dave and I answered its challenge. Once again, Dave led, surmounting the various overhangs along the way in a cool and collected manner. While belaying him, I looked straight up far above as a party went through the 5.10- roof variation directly over me. A whistling sound followed by a loud "whump!" signified a Friend they dropped just a little too close to me. These guys would later nearly hit the others below with their rope when setting up the rappel. And they never yelled "Rock" or "Rope" or anything! Meanwhile, fearing rope drag, Dave set up a hanging belay below the large middle overhang, and I joined him in short order.

Another short pitch, and we were at a beautiful long ledge below a monstrous roof. The views were tremendous, and the exposure incredible. We gasped in amazement and anticipation as we saw where the route went next. A fifteen foot unprotected traverse straight out to an awesome arete greeted us. This was supposed to be my lead, but Dave begged for it, and I reluctantly agreed. Inching his way outward to a piton, he slowly reached down for a quickdraw. Slowly he reached back up to clip the pin. Slowly he reached down and grabbed the rope. At last, it was clipped. We were both relieved, and Dave led up the beautiful arete. I reminded myself to bring my camera next time. After following the short pitch, we rapped down the overhanging face. This was far and away the most awesome climb I have ever done.

We hiked back to the Uberfall to eat lunch and meet John and Jay. By the time they showed up, the first raindrops were beginning to fall. They were heading back to Boston, and although Dave and I both wanted to stay and climb all day Monday, the weather forecast was not cooperating with our plans. We set up a silly toprope on a short face near the Uberfall in a last-ditch attempt to do a little more climbing, but it was disappointing, and the rain grew heavier. We decided to leave, satisfied at least with the amazing climbing we had experienced, and knowing that we would return soon.