Third Wheel

This past Thursday, I joined my friend John and his wife Katie for a day of climbing at The Gunks in upstate New York.  John and I haven’t had the chance to climb together in quite some time, and it’s been a while since I’ve climbed with his wife as well.  It was nice to finally catch up with these two and we couldn’t have picked a better day to go.  The air temperature was a bit chilly when we arrived, especially in the shade.  But in the bright sun we were very comfortable and the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue and the air felt crisp and cool.  Absolutely perfect fall climbing weather. 

 



 

The first route we climbed was Three Pines, 5.3.  John lead pitches one and two.  I decided before we roped up that I would only climb one pitch, since sometimes I need a few burns on the rope in order to get myself warmed up for heights.  I was second to John, cleaning gear he placed, and was able to pull a stuck cam someone left behind (aka “booty”) which I gave to John.  After I climbed, John lowered me off and I passed his gear along to Katie and sat on a boulder watching other climbers and was just basking in the beauty of nature when a dog came over to join me.  It was a beautiful pitbull with an incredibly mellow and sweet demeanor who just wanted to sit beside me and be scratched.  We saw this dog on the under cliff trail with his owner before climbing, and he had assured us the dog was friendly and non-aggressive.  It’s very unfortunate that this breed of dog has a bad reputation, and even more unfortunate that they are often victims of bad owners.  I have two dogs myself and know just how loyal, obedient, and loving these creatures truly are.

 

Looking up P1 of Three Pines, which ends at the large tree.

Coming over to make friends.

 

The next route we climbed was Pitch 1 of Northern Pillar, 5.4, to access a ledge above a 50 foot rock face with several fun top-rope climbs.  John and I climbed Pitches 1 and 2 of Northern Pillar earlier this year and I had been interested in trying out the climbs beneath the ledge.  I followed John up and we set up a top-rope on Finger Locks or Cedar Box, 5.5.  This route follows a fist-sized crack to a small tree and then the crack continues to the top.  I teased Katie as she climbed “TREE IS OFF!” and then had to live-up to my smack talk and try to avoid this tree that sits right smack in the middle of the route.  A few feet over is a route called Hyjecks Horror, 5.8.  We decided to climb this next on top-rope, as it could be set up from the ledge above.  The line (and my interpretation of the guidebook) was off by a few feet and we were actually on a route called Twin Oaks, 5.3.  Despite its grading, it was actually challenging enough with its thin face holds.

 

Finger Locks or Cedar Box, 5.5

Katie, being silly.

 

We decided to end our day here, since we were out of options that didn’t include at least two pitches of John lead climbing, with two partners following, that would take at the very least an hour if not more.  John and I talked about going to Mocanaqua together in the coming weeks.  I’ve already reached out to Kyle about this, so I’m hoping that will be the next climbing trip.
 

Finger Locks or Cedar Box (crack under and above tree to left), Hyjecks Horror (a few feet to right, under small roof), Twin Oaks (face to the far right just before the broken rock at the bottom).