Two Days At Seneca
Doyle Tarwater
forecast, Bob and I met in Uniontown at 6 PM Thursday night. He
transferred his packs to my jeep, and we set off on the beautiful
drive down there, through the riotous greens of Spring, arriving just
before dusk. We were able to see the full moon just peeking over the
south peak. A auspicious sign!
Friday morning was to be only in the low 30s, and climb only to the
50s all day. So by design, I snoozed until 8:30, and we were on the
trail by 10:30. It was pretty cold, but climbing up the 壮tairmaster'
soon took care of that. At the junction we turned right, and left our
packs at the south end of Luncheon Ledge. What a sight. Seneca is
unlike any rock I've even seen, in any part of the world. It's more
like an enormous castle, with turrets, walls and towers!
Then we went through the slot, down climbed onto Broadway, and began
traversing the east side. This was new to me. The first chimney was
no biggie, but the second one had a lot of air beneath it. Bob asked
if I wanted a rope, but I said no. Only later did I learn an ECP
member fell to her death there! The holds were good and I soon was at
the base of Soler, scene of last October's debacle.
However, we were headed to Conn's East, 双nly' a 5.5. The route
climbs up and right across the entire east face of the south peak,
heading for the summit. A lot of moves up slots, flakes and even a
very un-5.5 bulge on small holds for a crux.
The first belay was at two cold shuts on a small stance over some
impressive air. This allowed a lot of chemicals to serge through me,
activating my discomfort, and allowing me to work on using rational
means to calm down. (This is: my harness is buckled, my rope is tied
in properly through it, I'm solidly anchored, I trust the rope, I can
climb this crap)
The crux was right at the start of the second pitch, and the other
belays were much less scary. The fourth pitch begins just below the
far north end of the south peak summit, so you step right, around the
corner, pull a 180 and climb onto the summit ridge. For those
unfamiliar with the south peak summit, it's a six foot wide fin of
rock with hundreds of feet of air on either side. The wind was
howling as we left the shelter of the east side. It wasn't a day to
hang out at the summit.
We down climbed to the 奏raffic jam' rappel. With only a 50 meter
rope, it took 3 raps down to Luncheon Ledge. We walked down to our
packs, and since we were in the sun, it almost felt balmy. We decided
to do a climb on Humphrey's Head. Cold blasts of air soon got the
wind gear out. The climbing was on plentiful holds, but like all
Seneca climbs, was a bit more adventure then you would imagine. There
was a rap anchor on top, and it could be top roped with a 50 meter
rope with no problem.
The day was waning, so we gratefully changed shoes and went down the
stairclimber, down past The Burn (on my wish list) and Ecstasy. The
creek was running high with all the rain, so the crossing was even a
bit adventurous.
My great friend Patrick joined us at dinner, and we planned for
Saturday. Camping at Seneca Shadows can be wonderful. Hot showers,
quiet (in April anyway) and peace. I slept warm both nights with a
fleece sleeping bag liner I picked up online this winter inside an old
3 season bag. Lovely.
We got up a lot earlier, 7:30 as planned, ate at 4U, and this time
hiked up the tourist trail, past the lookout and down onto the east
side of the north peak, where I'd never been.
Bob recommended a 1 pitch, 5.4, Long Leggedy Beaties, for Patrick to
lead. Only at the belay did he confess he's never led it the right
way from the ground! 5.4 my ass! The crux move is an incredible lean
out left for a foot hold. Even on top rope I was astonished at how
tiny the holds for that left lean are, or how far it is. Dangerous
lead, and no 5.4.
From there we moved down to Promiscuity, 1 pitch, 5.4. Again I
acknowledge that it's a lot harder that any 5.4 I've even seen, and a
tremendous lead. A really fun climb. The holds are delicious.
Patrick wanted to lead Rox Salt, 5.7, a diagonal crack. It was
easier than either 5.4, and reminded me of why I've always loved
cracks, from long ago. It was so much fun, and so solid. But how can
a climb 3 grades harder feel so much easier. Does sandbag mean
anything?
We continued down and climbed up to the east end of Broadway. The
壮cramble' up to the Gunsight is supposed to be 5.0, but we must have
taken another way. It was tremendously exposed. A slid would be
fatal. I balked, so Patrick led it, then we rapped to the base of
Debbie, 5.6, did the very commiting (and prone to run out climb), then
just made it to the base of Banana in one rap. We were all tired
enough to call it a day. As I had to split, we returned to the
campsite, I pulled down my tent, thankfully dry, as rain had been in
the forecast all day. We set down for a snack and the rain began.
It rained all 3 hours 10 minutes home, and violent thunderstorms
raked our area on Sunday. This made it at least 4 rainy sundays in a
row.
Who cares what the grade is when you're feeling a golden glow of
contentment.
Thank for the Creator who made such a wonderful cathedral as Seneca
Rocks! Thanks to all my friends who climb there with me. Tony Barnes
book list 413 named climbs. I have a lifetime of gleeful climbing
there!
Doyle Tarwater
GorgeMonkey
Ahhhh, Seneca! Thanks for the read, I love that place!