Gap Daddy

The birth of my daughter is less than two weeks away and I’m making the final push to have everything in order.  Not just diapers, baby blankets, and car seats…but being prepared as a Father, Husband, and in this case here, a Climber.  With my first-born, I found that life didn’t stop with kids.  In fact, it sped up.  However time for personal endeavors, such as climbing, is less and it’s not because I have to be with my family as much as I’d rather be with my family more than anything else.  But I can’t help be driven by instinct to seek adventures and challenges.  If I don’t express myself through outlets like rock climbing every now and then, I feel like a big part of who I am as a person is being suppressed.  Nothing is as satiating or satisfying as walking through my front door, after an exhausting day of rock climbing, to be greeted by my wife and son.  I can rest easy in their company, feeling not only accomplished but grateful.  

I had an opportunity to climb on Saturday and decided that I would visit the Delaware Water Gap since it’s a shorter drive than The Gunks (in case my wife unexpectedly went into labor) and happens to be only a few miles from my best friend’s house.  Unfortunately, my best friend isn’t a rock climber.  Fortunately, however, my friend Dustin is.  Dustin was my partner at The Narrows earlier this year and expressed a genuine interest in climbing at The Gap.  There are two mountains at The Gap – Tammany on the NJ side and Minsi on the PA side.  Although I’ve climbed several times on Tammany, I can’t say that I’m a big fan.  The cliff is right over the highway so noise is an issue, and it receives full sun in the summer making it unbearably hot.  In the cooler months, and on quieter travel days, it’s not that bad to visit.  In contrast, Minsi is definitely the better side in my opinion.  The road beneath it is a relatively quiet country road and the sun does not shine on the cliff directly all day.  There is a seasonal falcon closure on Minsi but it was lifted a few weeks ago and the cliff reopened for climbing. 

Dustin and I agreed to meet at 830am.  I managed to get a decent night of sleep (sometimes before climbing I can be up for hours, restless) and arrived at the cliff a few minutes early, not long before Dustin.  The forecast for the day was a high of 82 and overcast skies.  Rain wasn’t predicted, and the humidity was only slight. Couldn’t ask for better weather in the middle of July!

The short but rugged approach trail up the mountain ends at the base of the Practice Face, which is commonly used as a top-rope site.  Right around the corner is a short section known as the Cat Wall.  My friend Larry has climbed and recommended the route Pussytoes (5.5+, PG), and we decided on this for our first climb.  The route goes about 70 feet until a ledge with a bolted anchor.  Up until a short section below that ledge, the climbing was straightforward and the gear decent.  Just before the ledge I ran into a crux, slightly overhanging rock with a wide crack and some awkward holds.  I had to rest on the rope and make a few attempts before finally figuring out the moves.  The holds were there, it was more of a matter of finding the right body position and balance in order to reach them.

 

Looking up Pussytoes.

On the belay ledge of Pussytoes.

 We continued along the cliff towards the section known as Land of the Giants to climb a route called Crackpot (5.4+. G).  I climbed this route about two years ago with my friend John.  Crackpot is partially bolted – there are two bolts at the start, a gear placement, and then a third bolt.  From there, a short section of gear-protected rock until the fourth bolt which happens to be in a great spot.  After the fourth bolt, the rock is a gorgeous marble-white color and the route ends just before a roof system with a two-bolt anchor.  I’m going to submit this route as an area classic.  The climbing is easy fun. The route is well protected.  And the views are incredible in this area.  This is a definite must do!

Crackpot.

The final moves before topping out.

Straight-up chillin' on top of Crackpot.

 

While at the base of Crackpot belaying Dustin, there was another party of climbers up and around the corner from us.  I made small talk with the other climber as he belayed his partner.  They were looking for Surprise (5.4, PG) but were on either Crickety Crack or Crackley Corner, (both 5.5, G).  They described the route as being vegetated (common at The Gap this time of year) but seemed like they got their money’s worth out of it.  When Dustin and I finished Crackpot we continued on to Surprise, which is a few hundred feet further along the cliff.  From a belay ledge at the end of the first pitch of Surprise I took this picture of the climbers at the top of whatever route they had been on.  This is a great shot, and really shows not only the height of these routes but the vastness of the area.

zoom in to see the two climbers at the top of this corner route.

 

Surprise is another classic and probably the most popular route on Mount Minsi.  The climbing and protection is solid, and again, the views from this area are incredible.  The crux of this climb is a sort of an overhanging corner just beneath the ledge where I took the previous photo.  It’s worth noting that you can belay from this ledge using a gear anchor, but if you traverse left there is a bolted anchor where the old belay tree (not recommended) sits.  And even though the second pitch isn’t very long, this route is best done in two pitches to allow sight and communication. The rappel tree up top has a solid wire hanger, wrapped in a rubber hose, with two large links that was placed by Larry a few years ago and should be good for several more years.  As always, please inspect not only the rap station but the tree itself before anchoring or rappelling.

the ledge on Suprise were I took the previous photo.

 

We continued past Surprise and for me, this was venturing into the unknown.  Surprise is in an area known as Land of the Giants, which leads into the Morning Wall, High Wall, and then the Playground.  The Playground is described as being a single-pitch section, but unfortunately this area has about 30 feet of vegetated 4^th and 5^th class scrambling before reaching the base of the routes.  I did spy a clean inside corner climb but most of the rock was obscured from view.  I’m interested in this wall, but it will have to wait for the dryer colder seasons to be uncovered.

Further along the cliff we spotted the enormous roof system of the Screaming Eagle Area, which is named for the mega classic route Screaming Eagle (5.12d, R/X).  Just to the left of Screaming Eagle, Dustin found a very interesting line called Full Tilt (5.5, G). Full Tilt follows an oddly angled traverse on a protruding chunk of rock and then turns a corner up a face until reaching the safety of trees to rappel from.  The base of this route, and the Screaming Eagle area, is about 40 feet above the ground on a large ledge. I decided not to climb Full Tilt because I felt very uncomfortable climbing out into the open air – the traverse that seemed to walk out into the sky, and then there was the rather severe drop below. Despite being a rock climber, I’ve experienced a lot of physical discomfort with open-air climbs that lead to vertigo and, very frankly, debilitating fear. Dustin was very understanding of my desire to not want to experience any anxiety, and sent the route himself. He really enjoyed the climbing on the traverse, and noted that after turning the corner and climbing on the face he reached a belay tree with slings but that it’s best to continue past it to better trees up above.  

 

Dustin, leading on Full Tilt.



An interesting note about Full Tilt, and this section, is for climbers to be very wary of the fall potential from the ledge above.  My shoes ended up rolling down behind me, stopping inches before the drop.  I took a few steps down, and realized that it’s not worth risking my life and decided to wait until Dustin finished his rappel and use the rope.  As I stood, looking towards the ground below, I noticed a large rotted rock that looked like it could break off and crash through the undercliff trail below.  I yelled out “ROCK!” gave the rock a good kick which easily broke it, and heard it crash and tumble for a very, very long time.  It would have been easy for a belayer to accidently step on this rock, possibly injuring themselves or other climbers.  If you do climb this area, please consider tying into a tree.  Again, the belay ledge is very spacious, but the drop is extremely severe.  Not only that, there’s always the risk that the leader could blow a piece of gear and due to the open-air nature of the traverse, end up pitching off of the cliff and taking their belayer with them.





My shoes, just before a drop. Despite being a spacious ledge, use caution!

 

Despite being spooked by Full Tilt, I still wanted to climb. Dustin and I headed back the way we came and eventually reached the Practice Face and then continued “climber’s right” along the cliff, past Intimidation Wall and on to the Teardrop Buttress.  We climbed Tears are Falling (5.4, PG), which is another classic for its views of Tammany across the river as well as the appropriately named Intimidation Wall.  I felt very much in the groove again on this route and despite its height and exposure, I took my time on rests and good footing to look around and take in the scenery.  I focused on feeling safe, feeling solid, and being able to look out beyond the rock in front of me or at my feet (normally, my eyes stay focused on where I’m moving my limbs to) and appreciate where I was and what I was doing.  I did this while on rappel too, and it seemed to relieve me of the negative feelings I had from before.

 

Dustin and I hanging out on the top of Tears are Falling.



The last time I climbed with Dustin, he helped me with belaying and lowering with the ATC in guidemode.  We decided to go over and practice some rescue methods which included how to transfer a load off of the ATC (while in guidemode) to the anchor in the event that the seconding climber below was hurt or incapacitated.  And we went over how to do this while belaying from the ground and the leader was hurt or incapacitated.  The latter is much easier than the former, and I’ll need to revisit my Self-Rescue book in order to work through the finer details, but doing this in safe training environment to prepare for the real thing is definitely an important practice.

A short while later, we were off the cliff and said our goodbyes and made plans for the fall/winter to meet up again, climb, and geek-out on technical climbing tricks.  I met my best friend and his girlfriend for a quick bite to eat at Kelly’s, a seasonal roadside burger and ice cream spot that is a must-do for anyone visiting the area.  Riding home to see my family with a sore body, full belly and sense of accomplishment made my quiet Sunday and anticipation of the arrival of my second child, all the more sweet.

The Nears

Since my last post I’ve only managed to climb one day - a short, but physical day of climbing at the local crag with partners August and Kyle.  Time is a big issue.  Whether it be having the time to climb, having to be back in time, or timing with partners.  And time isn’t on my side with my wife only a few weeks away from giving birth to our second child.  And after that, there will be less time for time spent climbing. Time is fleeting.  Time is the ultimate commodity. 

I feel a strong urgency to climb while I still can.  But not wanting a pedestrian sort of day at repeatedly climbed nearby cliffs with partners of limited skill and ability (no offence to either) I decided to bite the bullet and enlist the help of a professional in order to scale some big walls.  I’ve climbed nothing but ice with Alpine Endeavors Guide Alan Kline.  We’ve discussed climbing in the Gunks, which he insists is one of the best places to climb in the country (and he’s a well-traveled climber) but like me, he prefers the quieter secluded cliffs.  He’s more likely to tell you about his favorite climbs in the Gunks that aren’t found in The Trapps.  Having already climbed a handful of classics in The Trapps, and knowing that weekends in The Trapps are as crowded as a movie theatre on a rainy weekend, I messaged Alan about going off the beaten path.  We met on a warm blue-sky morning at the intersection of 299 - 44/55, and after admiring my new truck he raised an eyebrow and said “Nears”?

The Near Trapps, or Nears, is the second-most popular cliff after The Trapps in the Gunks.  While not as remote or adventurous as Millbrook, or as secretive as some of the other crags which I won’t mention by name, it’s certainly far less traveled.  Fourth of July weekend is one of the busiest times for the Gunks, as well as the Hudson Valley Region (which I later discovered while sitting in traffic).  Parking lots were near capacity when we arrived just before 9am.  But The Nears were relatively quiet.  I saw several parties of climbers, including a very nice group of Canadians who retrieved and left behind for us a stuck stopper.  But it wasn’t crowded by any stretch of the word.  We were all comfortably dispersed.  The only wait we had was a brief moment of convenience and actually a chance to rest and leisurely rack gear and flake out a rope while a climber rapped off of a route we were looking to climb.  Unlike the busier Trapps, were you can easily find yourself on a weekend waiting in a line for a route, The Nears is usually a safer bet for climbers looking to keep busy.

The first route we climbed was Gelsa, 5.4.  We did this route in 3 pitches with the first two being short due to the traversing.  Pitch 1 was very easy.  Pitch 2 was slabby and thin, with very few options for gear placement. I wouldn’t say this section is sandbagged, but it’s definitely not a pitch of climbing I recommend a new leader to onsight without any beta on gear placements.  Pitch 3 was the money pitch.  From a roofed corner, the climb traverses a short distance to the right and follows a blocky but overhanging corner system.  I was a bit surprised by how steep and exposed the rock was as I climbed with my back fully arched, but the amount of bomber jugs and large holds kept the route well within 5.4 difficulty.

Slab on Pitch 2

View from Pitch 2 Belay

Jug-fest on Pitch 3



 

After Gelsa, we hiked for some time down the cliff to a short wall densely packed with interesting routes.  King of P, a 5.3 splitter crack.  Miss Mantle, a 5.9 with an infamous mantle move that immediately puts you on a slopping face, requiring quick action and poise to prevent from skidding off.  Whatever, a 5.10a that starts with a tricky boulder problem and finishes with a blank section of sandpaper-featured rock that demands dug-in toes and Yogi-like balance to ascend through.  And Across from the Fruitstand, a fun 5.4.

Looking up King of P.

Looking up Whatever. Alan, to the left, attempts to clean some of the organic matter. Route ends on ledge just past the bright sun glare.

View of Hudson Valley from ledge above. Despite the wall being short, we're already at elevation and can see out to the horizon.



 

After completing that series of routes, we hiked back to where we started to climb a long 5.6 route called Grease Gun Groove.  The route starts with a serious boulder problem and follows thin splitter cracks to an inside corner and then edges and ledges before reaching a rappel tree. I really enjoyed this route and would definitely like to repeat it.  Alan put in extra work and climbed the route a second time only to move left instead of right to a 5.8 roof variation which he explosively and acrobatically shot through.

This is me, Top-Roping Grease Gun Groove. Route ends at large tree.



 

I decided to end the day there and head back on home.  On my way back I stopped at Rock and Snow to pick up the Dick Williams guidebook for the Nears and Millbrook.  Alan and I discussed meeting up in the fall for either Millbrook or an undocumented crag that contains mostly 1 pitch routes.  Between now and then, I’m hoping for at least one more day of climbing before my next child, a daughter, is born.