TR: Daks: Beer Walls and some Southern Exploring
Steven Cherry
[I got some very nice feedback after my last trip report, both for being
about the Daks and moderate climbing, so here it goes again.]
Adirondaks High Peaks (Beer Walls)
July 4, 1997
Southern Adirondaks (Huckleberry Mtn)
July 5, 1997
Kerry and I will be back next week for a four-day private course, so even
though we had a 3-day weekend, we chose to only climb two and have a rare
weekend day at our respective homes. The plan therefore was to do some
hard (for us) climbing one day, and some lighter exploring the other.
Beer Walls
Looking for great access and moderate climbing, we thought about the
Creature Wall, which looked to me very nice when viewed from Chapel Pond
Slab last month. However, last summer we had top-roped and mock-led at the
Beer Walls, and couldn't resist the idea of leading those same climbs
now for real. I racked up for 3.2, (5.4, 40', e (equals G)), a wide,
right-to-left slanting crack. (As it turned out, the whole day ended up
being a crack-climbing seminar for us and this was a great little intro.)
The crack has several nice little steps along the way for feet. I cleaned
as Kerry lowered me from an anchor I set and she then led it too. She had
more trouble with placements than the actual climbing.
Seven Ounces has been uprated to .7 (was 5.6, 40', e) in the newest
guidebook -- I won't disagree but I found it hardly harder than 3.2 and
wonder how much of the upgrading is due to the name. It's more straight-on
than 3.2 and I think if you look carefully at where you're going to put
your feet and plan before moving, 5.6 wouldn't be off the mark. Kerry
struggled seconding though, so maybe the new rating is correct. Also,
there's one move that's a bit height-dependent, the 4+ inch difference
between us probably made a difference.
Both crack climbs are really good, if short, and I was pretty happy about
my first Daks 5.7.
We next wanted to toprope something harder and walked down to find Frosted
Mug (5.9). Along the way we passed a party on Standard (5.10), which
looked pretty hard, though there's several small vertical cracks at the
crux, so the pro is pretty good. As soon as we found our route a party of
three came along. I told them that we were looking to toprope Frosted Mug
but if they were here to lead it they should go ahead. Luckily they were
going to lead Labatt-Ami (say it fast) (5.7) then set up topropes for a
project in between it and Flying & Drinking and Drinking & Driving (5.10).
They described the project, which they had started last month, as "5.8
with one 10b/c move in it." We chose to hike around to set ourselves up
and in fact had left the static and one dynamic rope at the top of our
earlier routes.
Frosted Mug is a beautiful climb. It starts with some options, either
straight up a little corner and seam (there's a ramp to avoid this if you
want) to a traverse that includes a tricky undercling, or an almost
immediate unprotected and delicate but not hard hand traverse (mostly
involving one *very* broad stem move). All this just to get up to a ledge
where the real climb starts. The rest is a very nice finger crack in a
corner. You can lieback up the whole thing, very strenuous, or you can
stem the corner most of the time. I liebacked, taking a few stemming
rests. I fell off once each time I did it but I think if I toproped it a
couple more times I could actually lead it.
By the time we got to Lake Placid for dinner the rain, which had just been
sprinkling on and off all day, chose to downpour, so we didn't wait for
the July 4th fireworks and headed back to our campground (Sharp Bridge).
Even though the whole day wasn't very warm, and we were pretty worried
about not bringing any polypro clothes, the night wasn't too cold and
sleep was welcome.
Exploring
Kerry and I were determined to climb somewhere new, and after a day of
cracks some slab climbing sounded nice. So we headed off to Moxham Dome,
which looked to have some wonderful moderate (5.4-5.8) 300' routes with
decent protection. The day was clear and bright. We found the crag, and
the access dirt road, easily enough, but we also found a chain and a
posted sign. The guidebook doesn't indicate any problems. Though the risk
seemed low, we didn't want to jeopardize access, so we didn't even look
around to see what the bushwhack story to the cliff might be. We'll see
Don Mellor, the guidebook author, next week, but I might as well ask here,
Does anyone know anything about access to Moxham Dome?
Huckleberry Mountain was right nearby, so we headed for it, or thought we
did. I was reading the guidebook descriptions aloud and not looking at the
road, and Kerry missed a turn. An hour later we finally got to the parking
area. The initial unmarked trail is wide and unmistakeable, and we found
the "obscure tote road" with little problem. Deciding which is the "lone
boulder" was a problem until Kerry got the bright idea of dropping packs
and scouting for it. The "widely spaced red markers on trees" were
invisible to me except when Kerry pointed them out. Thank heaven she has
some skills I don't.
Huckleberry is a great area, though we never really figured out the cliff.
The guidebook descriptions seem to put everything left of everything else
and the one "easily recognised" wall was not recognised by us. Finally,
wanting to head home early, we looked at one nice little wall with
something that we thought we could do, and Kerry racked up for what seemed
like an easy slab pitch, saving a harder ceiling problem for my lead.
At least it had looked that way. Kerry's pitch started with a shallow
crack with grass growing out of it, leading to a slab section that was
utterly unprotectable. After her highest piece, about 50 feet up, she ran
out a 25-30 foot section that include several 5.6 moves. This is a woman
who backed off making a 5.5 mantle move, with pro 5 feet below her, in the
Gunks three weeks earlier. In fact, she's backed off a number of 5.5ish
things lately and it was truly wonderful to see her go for this and get
it. She finally seemed to find the boldness she'll need to move above her
pro and hit her next climbing level. On this, she achieved the ledge,
placed one piece, and then headed off to the trees on the left and
belayed.
Normally on this route I think one goes all the way back to the base of
the ceiling section and sets an anchor, but her way was fine and maybe
traded rope drag in the woods for the rope drag of the deep ledge. Fair
enough. The tree was the quicker choice, though it meant my lead had some
rope drag too.
The ceiling problem proved *much* easier than it looked, with good holds
everywhere. A notch in the ceiling with a crack, I would give it a 5.5,
easy 5.5 if you've done some roofs or are good at fist jams. Add something
for the poor stance before the commiting move, and you still have a pitch
that was much easier than Kerry's.
Looking in the book that night I'm pretty sure this was Aunt Polly, 5.6
275' s (same as PG). 5.6 for the first pitch and the second pitch easier.
Kerry's first 5.6 lead anywhere.
Across our last two trips, for four out of five days that we've spent in
the Daks we've had no guidebook information about something and just
looked at the rock and said, "we can climb that, and it looks nice."
There's something about the remoteness of the place, the quiet of the
walls, the wildness of the low mountains and steep trails that brings us
back to what climbing must have been like fifty years ago.
We've found we love a strenuous approach if the reward is having a cliff
to ourselves, having the guidebook able to tell us little more than there
are worthwhile climbs for those who seek them out, and having the beauty
of forests and sky and wilderness intermingled with the accomplishment of
getting high enough, all on our own, to see them at their best. Forever
wild, we can't wait to go back.
-steven-
--
<s...@panix.com> <s...@acm.org>
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Look, Mt Sill is a beautiful route. Don't expect Johnnie Muir's
mountains to be the same as the climbing gym at Nordstroms. Reluctance
to prepare "rap Stations" comes from what Lao Tzu called "paying one's
respect to the Mountain". Do it. <sho...@pacbell.net>