The Gunks

This was our last climbing trip before leaving Boston forever, and the weather forecast was looking good in spite of the torrential downpours we drove through on the way to New Paltz. Alli and I got up early and were hiking down the carriage road by 8:00 with a game plan laid out. Jean was our first goal-neither of us wanted to start off with a Gunks 5.10. With this short warm-up roof dispatched, we walked over to Stirrup Trouble, which I led shakily but with no falls. Alli followed in better style, and we hiked over to Scene of the Climb for a look. Alli didn't like the scene there (too many people), so we had a bite to eat and decided to tackle Erect Direction.

The first pitch was beautiful 5.8 face climbing with some jamming in a nice hand crack. From the GT ledge, Alli led up to the crux, pulled a small roof, and then took a short fall before committing to the crab-crawl underneath a huge roof. Several more attempts convinced her to hand the lead to me, which I accepted with some trepidation. I awkwardly pulled through the moves under the roof, placed two Aliens (with no extension slings), and climbed around the edge of the roof to layback up to the belay under tremendous rope drag. The real crux for me turned out to be taking in the rope as Alli seconded the pitch-the rope was almost completely jammed in a crack. By the time Alli reached the hanging belay she was completely unhappy and wanted to go down. In my tunnel vision I was determined to finish the route, and selfishly led the final pitch. Alli was not pleased, to say the least.

Dinner at the excellent Main Course in New Paltz and a good night's sleep had our spirits up by the next day, and we got another early start. We hiked all the way down to the end of the Trapps for Wegetables, only to find another party just starting up. We amused ourselves by climbing Dick's Prick, a short easy climb up a "pinnacle" nearby. The two guys on Wegetables eventually finished the climb, and Alli was able to lead in perfect style as they gaped, snapped pictures, and expressed admiration for her climbing ability. I led the pitch as well, and thoroughly enjoyed the jugtastic holds on the famous three-tiered roofs.

We had left our rappel rope on the Dick's Prick Pinnacle, and it conveniently allowed us to toprope a beautiful but obscure 5.11, which we both flashed. A couple of old guys came along looking for Dick's Prick. "What are you on?" they asked. We couldn't recall the name of the climb. "Circumcisor? Penis Colada? Foreign Lesion?" they inquired. No, that wasn't it. One of the old guys mumbled something about the ridiculous route names in this part of the Trapps.

I longingly gazed at 10,000 Restless Virgins, a climb that's now near the top of my "to-do" list, then we hiked back toward the Uberfall and did Groovy in a couple of minutes, and wandered to the 4 seasons area for The Spring. After Alli's lead we set up a TR on The Summer, but neither of us had enough left to climb it well. We were beat, but we felt good. Back for some ice cream, and the long drive to Boston. I love the Gunks.