Gunks Trip #3

It was Night of the Living Bugs on Friday night for Dave and I, and the heat and humidity made it worse because it was too hot to be inside your sleeping bag. We survived the night, though, and made it to the car in the morning just in time for a thunderstorm to hit. After breakfast the rain slowed and then stopped, and we decided to rack up and go. The rock was wet, but I figured I should still be able to lead Horseman. This is a really nice climb, and shouldn't be missed even if it is below your ability level. I led the route in one pitch.

While we were on Horseman a couple of guys next to us were setting up on Dirty Chimney (5.0) with a 300', ¾-inch nylon utility rope, search and rescue harnesses, a block-and-tackle pulley, and various other items they had picked up at the local hardware store. They were climbing in aqua socks instead of climbing shoes (well, they kinda' look the same!). After I rapped down I noticed one of them soloing halfway up the wall while holding on to the rope, and I asked them why he wasn't on belay. Apparently, when they set up the toprope they had gotten a knot in the middle, and decided that it was better to solo up to it than to climb back around and pull up the rope. I advised them against it but they continued in their foolishness. When Dave came down he was pretty pissed off at such blatant ignorance and disregard for safety. These guys had no clue whatsoever. It had never occurred to them that rock climbing was a sport that had actually been developed, that there were specialized techniques and equipment involved, and that safety was something that people actually took seriously. Dave and I advised them to go with somebody who really knew what they were doing, or at the very least to buy John Long's How to Rock Climb.

After this disturbing incident, Dave next led Apoplexy (5.9) and looked really good until he reached one of the bulges and had to hang for a few seconds. I was feeling strong and climbed it smoothly.

We then hiked over to Modern Times (5.8+), where I discovered that the "+" really means something at the Gunks. Dave led the first 5.7 pitch, which is pretty nice and goes all the way to the GT Ledge. From there, the route goes up blocky flakes under an enormous roof with a small horizontal pine clinging to its underside. I led up to the overhang and scoped it out for a little while. It looked pumpy, but short. I started hauling on the big holds and got up to the tree, where I soon discovered that I wasn't finished yet. I slung the tree, stubbornly refusing to even touch it, and continued up and right to more overhangs. There were no rests, and I had to place one or two more cams before I was done. At the final overhang, I was getting pretty pumped out, and my hands were sweaty and slipping off of everything. I would have lobbed if I hadn't found bomber hand jams in the horizontal crack. At this point I was way beyond looking pretty. I was only thinking about hanging on, and luckily it was almost over. I flopped onto the belay ledge and panted for a while in the hot sun. This may not have been my most stylish lead, but it was definitely my most desperate, if that counts for anything. I was beginning to wonder if I was ready to try leading 5.9's at the Gunks yet. Probably not.

By this time the heat was killing us and we were out of water, so we had to walk back to the Uberfall. We passed the first-aid box before we noticed that some guys had a toprope set up on the Trashcan Overhang. Dave was excited, I was apprehensive, and we both went over to watch. Neither of them had been successful so far, and when they had had enough, Dave asked if he could try. He tied in and went straight up, got the kneebar, reached up over the lip, heel-hooked, and pulled over the top. Well done! I went up three times, and even got the kneebar on the first and third tries, but couldn't get any further. I think I'll be able to get it next time.

With fully-stocked water bottles, we returned to the High E Buttress to do Directissima (5.9). I was to lead the first 5.8 pitch, Dave got the 5.9 lead, then I had the 5.6 arete, and Dave got the final pitch, which is the final pitch of High Exposure. The first pitch went well, and was high quality 5.8 climbing. I found the belay ledge and brought Dave up. An obvious hand traverse went out left for fifteen feet, then up a steep, thin crack to another ledge. The hand traverse was pumpy, but the thin crack afterward was even harder. Dave led it well, but I got completely pumped out following, and had to hang. It kind of bummed me out. Until then I had followed everything that Dave led without hanging once. The third pitch really put me back in a good mood, though, because it was awesome. Almost as good as the final pitch of High E. I had a great time at the triangular belay ledge: totally sacked out with the trail rope as a pillow. I would rate Directissima as probably one of the best routes at the Trapps...definitely better than High E.

By this time the sun was pretty low and we were feeling grungy, so we decided to look for the swimming hole nearby. It was easy to find, and is an incredible formation: a huge slab of rock with a small canyon cut straight through the middle, with a pool at the far end. I waded into the pool, and, next thing I know, there's Dave stripped bare-ass naked jumping into the water with women and children all around.

"This is cold," said Dave.

"No it's not," said the seven-year-old girl next to him.

"Well, you've got a bathing suit on," Dave replied.

Surely I wasn't the only one who thought this was unusual behavior, but nobody else said anything!

We slept in tents that night after dinner at the Limelight Cafe and a few games of pool, and woke up in the morning feeling much better because of the bugless sleep. We planned our whole day even before breakfast. We were going to do four routes: Double Crack (5.8), Arrow (5.8), M.F. (5.9), and Pas de Deux (5.8). We were going to do them in order from furthest away to nearest the Uberfall. Never had we been more organized.

The far end of the Trapps seems wild and remote compared to the Uberfall. The rock is often yellow, the boulders beneath the cliffs are monstrous, and there are hardly any climbers around. We found Double Crack and Dave led the first pitch, protecting abundantly after his first two nuts came out. I followed, finding it to be quite strenuous, but good. The 5.7 second pitch was nice, but actually seemed a little harder than 5.7 in spots, possibly because of the wasp that stung me in the middle of my lead.

We had seen Airy Aria (5.8) on our way in, and couldn't resist climbing the beautiful face. I led the first pitch, an amazing layback crack on orange rock. Dave led the second pitch at 5.6(!), but it felt like quite a bit more than that to us. I finished on the final easier pitch and we rapped down.

We headed towards Arrow next, but found a party just starting up, so we moved over to Three Doves (5.8+) instead. I led the first pitch at around 5.7, and Dave led the next up a steep face to a roof. Interestingly, the crux was not at the roof, but on the face below. The moves were pretty cool, and I think it did deserve its two stars.

Arrow was free by the time we reached the ground again, so Dave racked up and tied in while the guy who had just finished the route gave us unsolicited beta on the "secret hold" at the second bolt. At least he didn't tell me exactly where it was. A young couple was doing Limelight (5.7) next to us, and the guy had already set up his belay on the GT ledge when Dave started leading. Dave quickly dispatched the first pitch of Arrow, and I started up the second almost immediately. The overhang above the belay is really nice, and the white face above offers pleasant climbing past two bolts (some of the only bolts I've ever seen at the Gunks). I reached the second bolt, and began examining the available holds. I thought I could do it without the "secret hold," but I wanted to find it anyway. After a couple minutes of looking, I finally discovered the hidden edge and finished the route. I had a good time watching Dave repeat my search without success. He finally just finished the crux his way, but I lowered him back down again and gave him a couple hints until he found the hold, just out of reach. To get even, he made me lower down to do the crux his way, without the "secret hold." It was a little bit harder, but not too bad. We rapped off a huge roof and discovered that the couple next to us was just finishing their rappel as well. We had completed an entire two pitch climb, with a full double rope rappel, in the time it took the woman to climb one pitch and both of them to rap down. We had climbed pretty quickly, but I think they were awfully slow as well.

The sun was almost down, and we had a four hour trip ahead of us, but we came to do M.F. and M.F. we would do. Dave got psyched and led the first pitch with complete confidence. I followed and felt really good, especially going over the roof. When I got to the second (real) crux, I remembered that, previously, I had worked my feet higher to reach the big jug just out of grasp. This time, with the light fading, I couldn't be bothered to search for minute edges down at my feet, so I just did a short dyno and the route was done. Well, the first pitch was done, but we decided to leave the second pitch for the next trip. M.F. has to be one of the best climbs at the Gunks. Somehow I appreciated it more this time.

By the time we had finished rapping we needed our headlamps to repack the gear. It was 9:30 by the time we finally hit the road. It was 2:00 in the morning when we got home. It was worth it.