Duration, time, mileage: 21 hours 40 minutes/4:20 a.m. Saturday-2:00 a.m. Sunday/ 19+ miles.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFj6K1XqD7o
Photos: http://ift.tt/2bLumq8
Mtn pro: http://ift.tt/2c2iltg
Wildlife: bear, toads, salamander, new, garter snake, several angry boreal chickadees
There are no words that can describe the diversity, beauty or utter brutality of this trip. Many outings over the years have tested me, but never to this degree over such duration. It was equal parts mentally and physically demanding. It was truly a perfect storm of adventure. Highlights included helping hikers chase a bear from their breakfast, navigating the talus down to the center of the Gorge, adding a new 600’ line on Marcy’s East Face, leading a nearly vertical face climb with no protection, getting benighted below Grand Central slide, bushwhacking back out through ¼ mile of the aforementioned talus in the dark and watching a bat fly along the Panther Den Wall in lamp light.
My partners “in climb” were Nolan Huther and Loren Swears. Both are familiar with the Gorge and this would be Loren’s first technical climbing route in the gorge and Nolan’s fourth (including 2 ice). The target was a line I’ve been eyeballing since Anthony Seidita and I tried it and got rained off the lower slab start in 2014. I wanted a change from the northern cliffs to something seemingly easier. I was in for a surprise —a revelation of sorts—regarding the grade.
Nolan crashed at my house the night before and Loren met us at Rooster Comb parking lot at 4:00 a.m. Humid weather created a sweaty start, but the temperature was fair. The first rays of sun cracked the ridge after Bushnell Falls. To my surprise and dismay, the trail seemed wetter than I expected. It had rained more than I realized so I began to ponder whether the face would be dry? There’s no place to inspect the East Face except in the Gorge.
The excitement of the day started after Basin Brook. Nolan had been dealing with bear encounters near Chapel Pond/Beer Walls during the week—four times! I spotted fresh bear scat about a mile from Slant Rock and prints a few hundred yards farther along. I suggested we were close to a bear and Nolan balked; he was tired of dealing with them—the novelty had worn thin. ...then we arrived at Slant Rock to a couple who asked if we were “feeling strong.” I had a hunch what was going on.
“There’s a bear,” they stated. We asked where to which they responded, “Eating our breakfast over there (at the rock).” We chased it away—it growled and disappeared into the spruce as we charged it. A few minutes later two men were screaming, “Hey bear, hey bear...!!!” It had taken their pack and disappeared in the direction of Point Balk. It soon circled back to Slant Rock, however. By then we’d filtered water and moved on as the campers continued to deal with the issue. It’s sad when there are so many habituated bears...
We set a strong comfortable pace and arrived at the Marcy/Haystack col at around 8:00 a.m. Our bushwhack would take us much farther than “usual”. Even the deepest of the northern Marcy Walls fall over ¼ mile short of the East Face. To get to the face we had two realistic choices: hug the cliffs including the broken crags all the way to Grand Central Slide or take a more direct line through the talus and skirt the bottom to the slide drainage stream. I opted for the latter option in hopes of finding an accommodating corridor through the forest on more even terrain than the cliff glades offered—I’m always searching for the “best” way to this or that.
We arrived at the loosely knit forest after about twenty minutes of slip-sliding and crawling down the talus. We replenished our water at Grand Central Slide’s base and traversed the East Face in a comical series of trips and falls. The ferns were almost 5’ high and the underlying grass was slippery. I’d watch Nolan slip and disappear just as Loren fell while I laughed...before falling...rinse and repeat for a few hundred yards. Less amusing was what I saw regarding the face...it was seeping heavily in some places. I couldn’t bear the thought of walking this far only to be defeated by water. None-the-less, I was getting excited. We arrived at our quarry at 10:30 a.m.—a 6 hour 30 minute approach. Thank God, it appeared dry from below.
Slippery glades.
For climbers, it’s worth noting that the East Face is foreshortened from below—it appears shorter than it really is. I was home once again and we were about to attempt a route I originally tried in June of 2014 before a thunderstorm chased us off.
I said a quick prayer for a safe climb and began. The first pitch began all too easily on low angled slab leading to a grassy crack. I didn’t bother placing gear since I was basically slide climbing. Instead I waited until it got steeper at a series of overlaps with a hand crack underneath. The climbing was fun and easy though I wondered how the traverse to a giant arrowhead shaped flake would pan out. Nolan called out 150’ all too soon as I neared the end of the protection.
I looked to the right and spotted a few nubs of stone that I could connect and delicately worked my way to the “money pitch” of the lower face. Until now, I’d only guessed about how this giant flake would be to climb. A 4” crack rose upward at a 75 or 80 degree angle to a tiny tree island. Small ledges for my feet and hand holds along the edge of the flake created a fun climb. I set up an anchor above the shrubs after about 190’. It was time for Nolan and Loren to get a taste of the East Face.
Off the deck about 90' at the overlaps of pitch 1.
Nolan before the traverse to the arrowhead.
Great views!
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFj6K1XqD7o
Photos: http://ift.tt/2bLumq8
Mtn pro: http://ift.tt/2c2iltg
Wildlife: bear, toads, salamander, new, garter snake, several angry boreal chickadees
- Prior Trips:
- Grand Central Slide (w/Mark Lowell)
- Grand Central Slide Descent, up the Margin Slide & Skylight Bushwhack (w/Greg Kadlecik)
- Marcy to Haystack Bushwhack with Great Range Traverse-Great DeRanged Traverse(w/Greg Kadlecik)
- Marcy East Face Circumnavigation (w/Ranger Scott van Laer)-2013 Aug 24
- Marcy (East Face) Ranger on the Rock-East Face Slab (w/Anthony Seidita)-2013 Sep 6
- Haystack Slides and Haycrack Route-Day 3 of 4 days in the gorge (w/Anthony Seidita)-2014 May 1
- Haystack (V Wall) All Things Holy (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Jul 12
- Marcy (Agharta Wall) & Haystack (Free-Standing Pillar) Wreck of the Lichen Fitzgerald & For Whom the Lichen Tolls (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Aug 16
- Marcy (Agharta Wall) CrazyDog’s Halo & Watery Grave (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Sep 27
- A Snowy Panther Gorge Bushwhack (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Dec
- Marcy: A New Ice Route – Pi Day (w/Adam Crofoot & Anthony Seidita)-2015 Mar 14
- Haystack: 3 New Routes in a New Area (the Ramp Wall) (w/Allison Rooney and Adam Crofoot)-2015 May 30
- Marcy (Panther Den) Cat on a Wet Tin Roof (w/Bill Schneider)-2015 Jun 14
- Rumours of War: Opening a New Area—the Huge Scoop (w/Hunter Lombardi)-2015 Jul 11
- Marcy (Feline Wall) Kitten's Got Claws (w/Justin Thalheimer)-2015 Aug 1
- Not Every Trip to the Gorge is Perfect –No Route, but a Good Day (w/Bill Schneider)-2015 Aug 16
- Marcy (Huge Scoop) The Pride (w/Bill Schneider and Adam Crofoot)-2015 Aug 30
- Marcy (Feline Wall) Promised Land (w/Dan Plumley)-2015 Sept 19
- Tour de Gorge (w/Adam Crofoot & Allison Rooney)-2015 Nov 21
- Marcy (Panther Den) Ice Route: By Tooth and Claw (WI4) (w/Bill Schneider & Devin Farkas)-2016 Jan 30
- Haystack Ice Climbs-Orson's Tower (WI3+) and Fly By (WI3) (w/Nolan Huther)-2016 March 5
- Marcy (Agharta & Panther Den Walls)-Pioneer Anomaly & Belshazzar's Fate (w/Adam Crofoot & Alan Wechsler)-2016 May 28
- Marcy (Huge Scoop)-Predatory Instincts (w/Bill Schneider & Nolan Huther)-2016 June 4
- Marcy (Feline Wall)-Galaxy of Tears (w/Dustin Ulrich)-2016 June 17
- Marcy (Panther Den)-One for the Boys (w/Bill Schneider, Adam Crofoot & Allison Rooney) 2016 June 25
- Marcy (Agharta Wall)-Tail of Redemption (w/Bill Schneider & John Pikus) 2016 July 30
- Marcy (Panther Den Wall)-Climb After Slime & You Moss Be Kidding Me! (w/Alan Wechsler) 2016 August 6
There are no words that can describe the diversity, beauty or utter brutality of this trip. Many outings over the years have tested me, but never to this degree over such duration. It was equal parts mentally and physically demanding. It was truly a perfect storm of adventure. Highlights included helping hikers chase a bear from their breakfast, navigating the talus down to the center of the Gorge, adding a new 600’ line on Marcy’s East Face, leading a nearly vertical face climb with no protection, getting benighted below Grand Central slide, bushwhacking back out through ¼ mile of the aforementioned talus in the dark and watching a bat fly along the Panther Den Wall in lamp light.
My partners “in climb” were Nolan Huther and Loren Swears. Both are familiar with the Gorge and this would be Loren’s first technical climbing route in the gorge and Nolan’s fourth (including 2 ice). The target was a line I’ve been eyeballing since Anthony Seidita and I tried it and got rained off the lower slab start in 2014. I wanted a change from the northern cliffs to something seemingly easier. I was in for a surprise —a revelation of sorts—regarding the grade.
Nolan crashed at my house the night before and Loren met us at Rooster Comb parking lot at 4:00 a.m. Humid weather created a sweaty start, but the temperature was fair. The first rays of sun cracked the ridge after Bushnell Falls. To my surprise and dismay, the trail seemed wetter than I expected. It had rained more than I realized so I began to ponder whether the face would be dry? There’s no place to inspect the East Face except in the Gorge.
The excitement of the day started after Basin Brook. Nolan had been dealing with bear encounters near Chapel Pond/Beer Walls during the week—four times! I spotted fresh bear scat about a mile from Slant Rock and prints a few hundred yards farther along. I suggested we were close to a bear and Nolan balked; he was tired of dealing with them—the novelty had worn thin. ...then we arrived at Slant Rock to a couple who asked if we were “feeling strong.” I had a hunch what was going on.
“There’s a bear,” they stated. We asked where to which they responded, “Eating our breakfast over there (at the rock).” We chased it away—it growled and disappeared into the spruce as we charged it. A few minutes later two men were screaming, “Hey bear, hey bear...!!!” It had taken their pack and disappeared in the direction of Point Balk. It soon circled back to Slant Rock, however. By then we’d filtered water and moved on as the campers continued to deal with the issue. It’s sad when there are so many habituated bears...
We set a strong comfortable pace and arrived at the Marcy/Haystack col at around 8:00 a.m. Our bushwhack would take us much farther than “usual”. Even the deepest of the northern Marcy Walls fall over ¼ mile short of the East Face. To get to the face we had two realistic choices: hug the cliffs including the broken crags all the way to Grand Central Slide or take a more direct line through the talus and skirt the bottom to the slide drainage stream. I opted for the latter option in hopes of finding an accommodating corridor through the forest on more even terrain than the cliff glades offered—I’m always searching for the “best” way to this or that.
We arrived at the loosely knit forest after about twenty minutes of slip-sliding and crawling down the talus. We replenished our water at Grand Central Slide’s base and traversed the East Face in a comical series of trips and falls. The ferns were almost 5’ high and the underlying grass was slippery. I’d watch Nolan slip and disappear just as Loren fell while I laughed...before falling...rinse and repeat for a few hundred yards. Less amusing was what I saw regarding the face...it was seeping heavily in some places. I couldn’t bear the thought of walking this far only to be defeated by water. None-the-less, I was getting excited. We arrived at our quarry at 10:30 a.m.—a 6 hour 30 minute approach. Thank God, it appeared dry from below.
Slippery glades.
For climbers, it’s worth noting that the East Face is foreshortened from below—it appears shorter than it really is. I was home once again and we were about to attempt a route I originally tried in June of 2014 before a thunderstorm chased us off.
I said a quick prayer for a safe climb and began. The first pitch began all too easily on low angled slab leading to a grassy crack. I didn’t bother placing gear since I was basically slide climbing. Instead I waited until it got steeper at a series of overlaps with a hand crack underneath. The climbing was fun and easy though I wondered how the traverse to a giant arrowhead shaped flake would pan out. Nolan called out 150’ all too soon as I neared the end of the protection.
I looked to the right and spotted a few nubs of stone that I could connect and delicately worked my way to the “money pitch” of the lower face. Until now, I’d only guessed about how this giant flake would be to climb. A 4” crack rose upward at a 75 or 80 degree angle to a tiny tree island. Small ledges for my feet and hand holds along the edge of the flake created a fun climb. I set up an anchor above the shrubs after about 190’. It was time for Nolan and Loren to get a taste of the East Face.
Off the deck about 90' at the overlaps of pitch 1.
Nolan before the traverse to the arrowhead.
Great views!
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