I arrived at the Multi-Use Area at the Shawangunks around 2pm on Friday. Jeremy and Liz had already arrived and had set up camp. Liz saw my Ontario license plate as I pulled through the parking lot, and she yelled out to me. Perfect timing! I hopped out of the car, set up my camp, and we decided to head to The Trapps for a few afternoon climbs.
We started out on Rhododendron. I was pretty excited to climb it since I didn't get to climb it last time I was at the Gunks, and it looked like fun. Jeremy led it, Liz followed, and I top-roped it. It felt good, and I wanted to learn to lead trad, so Jeremy let me mock lead it, tied off the belay to counterbalance me, and then reviewed my gear placements as I lowered off the climb. Some were good, some not so good... overall, not bad for my first attempt at placing any gear.
Liz's friend Dean joined us as we were wrapping up on Rhododendron, and we moved over to Laurel. I love this route... the first move or two is pretty awkward for some people (it's not uncommon to see some really strong climbers fumble through the opening of Laurel), but I really enjoy it. It's a fun climb.
We finished the afternoon climbing a variation of Red Cabbage, and head into town for some food and beer at The Gilded Otter. We were hoping to meet up with a few other people (@climbwithkids was at the Gunks too, but we missed her).
Saturday morning we got up early with the hope of getting on High Exposure. I was just about to break out my stove when Dean announced that he wanted to make a Starbucks run... We looked ridiculous walking in on the carriage road with our gear tucked away in our packs and Starbucks coffee in our hands.
By the time we finished the approach to High E, there was already a party on it, and another in line. We decided to have a go at CCK instead. I paired up with Dean and he led the first pitch. I seconded and met up with him on the massive belay ledge. We hung out there for a while (routefinding :P), while Liz took her turn leading the first pitch. When he was ready to go, I anchored to a tree and put Dean on belay to lead the second pitch of CCK. We weren't totally sure of the route, and Dean wandered a bit, putting three pieces in on the way. The crux stalled him out briefly but he figured it out and moved through it easily. Just above it, he struggled to find a placement... and couldn't. "Take!!!" he yelled, and I started pulling slack out of the rope. I wasn't sure how I could possibly take him where he was - above the crux, 5 feet above and 10 feet to the right of his last piece... Sure enough, Dean popped off and went for a wild swing. I caught the fall and was pulled up. Dean's gear held. I held him on belay. My tree anchor held. Dean came to rest about 6 feet above the belay ledge. He rested, suspended for a few minutes, and then I let him back down to the ledge to settle his nerves. We hung out on the ledge and waited for Liz and Jeremy to join us.
Having figured out CCK and knowing that the crux wasn't protectable, we opted to move left and get on the second pitch of Updraft to the next belay. We'd reassess the third pitch of CCK from there.
When everyone arrived at the second belay ledge, we all agreed that we'd just finish Updraft... there's a really cool chimney at the top of the third pitch. It looked like (and was) fun! Dean led again (and took a picture of all of us while on lead), I followed. Then Jeremy led it and Liz followed. We hung out at the top for a bit taking in the view, then rapped down and packed up to find something else to climb.
Liz put Jeremy on belay to work Low E. Nobody was on Horseman, so Dean and I hopped on that.
Dean was super fun to climb with. I found out later that he hadn't led that much trad (this day double his trad lead experience). He had all the gear (a TON of gear - like he could open his own store) and he knew how to use it all. He also chose to carry it all, and when I seconded Horseman if felt like he had placed everything he owned. He called down to me at one point that he was running out of draws (I think he had like 15 with him). The rest of Horseman was uneventful... it's a Gunks classic, and with good reason. It's a super fun climb. We rapped back down, packed up and headed into town for dinner (sushi... we weren't exactly roughing it this trip).
Early Sunday morning the rain came. It started a few minutes after we were all in our tents. This didn't bode well for Sunday climbing, but we were still hopeful... at least until we woke up and it was still pouring rain. There was no way we were going to be able climb today. So we packed up camp (except for Jeremy who was staying in the area for a couple more days for a course), and headed back into town to find a diner for breakfast.
After breakfast the rain let up, but we knew the rock was soaked so we sorted our gear, hung out at Rock and Snow for a bit, then said our goodbyes and started our drives home.
This was the first time I climbed with Jeremy, Liz and Dean, and true to Twitter climber form (except Dean, he's not on Twitter), they were awesome. Even with getting rained out on Sunday, it was a great trip. I'm very much looking forward to climbing with them again.
