trad vacation, part two: seneca
After climbing Frogshead to retrieve the rope off the top of Maria at the Gunks, it was starting to get dark and ominous. Charley and I grabbed mexican food from a little orange shack and left New Paltz for West Virginia. We didn't make it to Seneca until Wednesday afternoon where a large thunderhead kept us on the ground for a while; we hiked around the base of the rock and checked out the routes.
Seneca is like the Gunks turned on its side and sticking out of the top of a hill. It is a large, skinny, tall fin, between three and six pitches high. The top of the fin is about five feet wide. The rock is similar to the Gunks in quality but has vertical instead of horizontal cracks.
We managed to sneak in a few single pitch routes that day-- P1 of Candy Corner, and topropes of Dropzone (an 11b which, since its trad, requires routefinding skills that I am currently lacking. sport climbing has made me lazy with its follow-the-chalk-and-bolts mentality.) and a TR of Ye Gods and Little Fishes (which was freaking AWESOME).
A few note about Seneca for any of you thinking of heading there--
1. It is in the middle of nowhere.
2. The state campground is fantastic! We camped on a peaceful grassy field (that we shared with bunny rabbits) with a view of the rocks and access to free hot showers.
3. Bring your own food!!! The restaurants there close early (before dark), open late (hours after the sun comes up!), and, while cheap (grilled cheese for $1.50), don't have a very diverse or fiber-laden menu.
3b. Bring your own coffee. The hot, brown liquid they serve at the general store leaves a lot to be desired. Its main purpose is to wash down the microwave breakfast sausage sandwich (which tasted the same after it was dropped on the ground... some current medical theories say that exposure to germs is good for my immune system and helps prevent allergies and autoimmune disorders)
4. The people working at the local climbing store (the Gendarme) are friendly and happy to recommend routes. They sell a fabulous selection of gear.
5. It was wonderfully quiet and peaceful mid-week.
6. We experienced mid-afternoon summer thunderstorms. If you're there in the summer, be sure to have an early start, bring rain gear, and be prepared to bail.
Here is a view of the south end of Seneca rocks.
Feeling rather smug after leading the first pitch of Ecstacy.
Like Romeo bringing a rose to Juliet, Charley climbs up with my beloved #9 stopper.
Mountain Laurels were growing out of the rock all over the route. I stopped while following P2 to take this photo. I got pretty pumped out in the process.
Near the top of P3, my feet and the treetops to give a sense of scale.
We topped out at the Luncheon Ledge and hiked up to the base of Prune, a four pitch classic that leads up to the skinny top of the fin. Our plan was to have Charley lead (and link) the first two pitches, I would lead the third, and he would do the last. We had some snacks and he started on his way. When he hit the finger-crack crux near the top of the second pitch, the skies opened up and without much warning, released a heavy downpour. The rain came down so hard I could barely see him while belaying. And the clouds were dark and grey and not-at-all small. So Charley bailed off of the route and we hiked off the cliff, saving Prune for another day, another trip.
On Thursday evening Charley and I packed up and reluctantly went to Washington DC where he had to work the next day. While he was all suited up and busy with business, I got some sleep and then headed off to explore to museums around the mall. I visited the Smithsonian American History Museum (which wasn't as cool as I remember from my last trip, when I was about 11 years old), the Lincoln Memorial and the Corcoran. My impression of the mall: joggers, people in nice suits, and middle school tour groups in matching tee-shirts whose dynamics were comical and insane.
On Saturday, before I caught the train back to Boston, Charley and I visited the sculpture garden and the National Gallery and then had some fantastic ethopian food with his friend Nancy. Yum yum!
Now it is back to my thesis. I have a few more weeks of writing before I get to goof off for real. If it ever stops raining, I want to do some more climbing around New England in the meantime. Cannon Mountain and Cathedral beckon, and there is always Centerpiece at Rumney!
Seneca is like the Gunks turned on its side and sticking out of the top of a hill. It is a large, skinny, tall fin, between three and six pitches high. The top of the fin is about five feet wide. The rock is similar to the Gunks in quality but has vertical instead of horizontal cracks.
We managed to sneak in a few single pitch routes that day-- P1 of Candy Corner, and topropes of Dropzone (an 11b which, since its trad, requires routefinding skills that I am currently lacking. sport climbing has made me lazy with its follow-the-chalk-and-bolts mentality.) and a TR of Ye Gods and Little Fishes (which was freaking AWESOME).
A few note about Seneca for any of you thinking of heading there--
1. It is in the middle of nowhere.
2. The state campground is fantastic! We camped on a peaceful grassy field (that we shared with bunny rabbits) with a view of the rocks and access to free hot showers.
3. Bring your own food!!! The restaurants there close early (before dark), open late (hours after the sun comes up!), and, while cheap (grilled cheese for $1.50), don't have a very diverse or fiber-laden menu.
3b. Bring your own coffee. The hot, brown liquid they serve at the general store leaves a lot to be desired. Its main purpose is to wash down the microwave breakfast sausage sandwich (which tasted the same after it was dropped on the ground... some current medical theories say that exposure to germs is good for my immune system and helps prevent allergies and autoimmune disorders)
4. The people working at the local climbing store (the Gendarme) are friendly and happy to recommend routes. They sell a fabulous selection of gear.
5. It was wonderfully quiet and peaceful mid-week.
6. We experienced mid-afternoon summer thunderstorms. If you're there in the summer, be sure to have an early start, bring rain gear, and be prepared to bail.
Here is a view of the south end of Seneca rocks.
Feeling rather smug after leading the first pitch of Ecstacy.
Like Romeo bringing a rose to Juliet, Charley climbs up with my beloved #9 stopper.
Mountain Laurels were growing out of the rock all over the route. I stopped while following P2 to take this photo. I got pretty pumped out in the process.
Near the top of P3, my feet and the treetops to give a sense of scale.
We topped out at the Luncheon Ledge and hiked up to the base of Prune, a four pitch classic that leads up to the skinny top of the fin. Our plan was to have Charley lead (and link) the first two pitches, I would lead the third, and he would do the last. We had some snacks and he started on his way. When he hit the finger-crack crux near the top of the second pitch, the skies opened up and without much warning, released a heavy downpour. The rain came down so hard I could barely see him while belaying. And the clouds were dark and grey and not-at-all small. So Charley bailed off of the route and we hiked off the cliff, saving Prune for another day, another trip.
On Thursday evening Charley and I packed up and reluctantly went to Washington DC where he had to work the next day. While he was all suited up and busy with business, I got some sleep and then headed off to explore to museums around the mall. I visited the Smithsonian American History Museum (which wasn't as cool as I remember from my last trip, when I was about 11 years old), the Lincoln Memorial and the Corcoran. My impression of the mall: joggers, people in nice suits, and middle school tour groups in matching tee-shirts whose dynamics were comical and insane.
On Saturday, before I caught the train back to Boston, Charley and I visited the sculpture garden and the National Gallery and then had some fantastic ethopian food with his friend Nancy. Yum yum!
Now it is back to my thesis. I have a few more weeks of writing before I get to goof off for real. If it ever stops raining, I want to do some more climbing around New England in the meantime. Cannon Mountain and Cathedral beckon, and there is always Centerpiece at Rumney!
posted by Michelle at 9:14 p.m.
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