Monthly Archives: October 2013

Oct31

Exploring & scouting the Ledges

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Sunday, 13-Oct-2013

Sunday was a bit of a gross day…  Not fully rain, but neither Daniel nor myself wanted to aim for any large ascents, for fear of the sky opening up on top of us.

So instead, we grabbed our gear from the cars and walked up to the Ledges out behind the Loj, to set up at the old rappel point.  It hadn’t seen use in years, but we knew that a single 70m rope would get down to the bottom… so we set it up and started our exploration.

You see, the idea of cleaning up the ledges and turning them into a full climbing area has long been a goal of Daniel and myself.  Some other NUHOCers have talked about it, but no one ever really makes a move to do it… Today was going to be our recon day.  See if there was enough interesting rock to make a go of it.  See if the area was even worth the effort to clean up.

As we lowered ourselves off the cliff face, and down onto the side, we had our answer.

The rock was disgusting, covered in dirt and lichen and small growth.

But underneath that… just below the surface… the granite was solid.  Rough, but with clean cracks running through it.  Cracks just big enough to get fingers and hands into.  It’s a perfect cliff, just waiting for someone to clean it off and set up a few good routes.

So we kept exploring – checking out the boulder field below the cliff, and even trying out a few routes.  None of the climbing was too exciting or solid, though we did finish out a few smaller lines that we’ll probably clean up over the winter.  From there, we kept exploring… doing a bit of photography, and tried to find a solid trail that would take us back to the top of the ledges.

As we walked, we started working up names for the cliff faces, and even came up with a few route names as well… all names that will remain secret until we actually start setting the routes, however.

Oct30

Climbing at Cathedral, NUComers 2013

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Saturday, 12-Oct-2013

So on Saturday, Daniel and I left the Loj late.

This isn’t that strange for us, and it was a quite nice way to start the day… a day that wasn’t looking particularly pleasant, if we’re being honest.  See, the whole weekend was blanketed in clouds and a low hanging fog that just coated everything in a thin mist of water.  Not a bad thing for hiking, but for climbing?  Yeah.  Not so ideal.

But we headed to the cars regardless, jumped in the Mustang, and headed toward North Conway to meet up with Cathedral, a cliff face that I’ve grown to know and love.

Our target was a climb called Funhouse, which would be two pitches to what’s called the “Refuse Ledge”, which would then lead to two pitches of climbing called Upper Refuse, after which we’d summit out on a short 45ft climb.  Sounds fun, and we stuck with it nearly exactly… with a few minor exceptions.

  • Pitch 1 = Funhouse – 5.7, 150ft – Daniel took the first lead, and it was quite fun.  I had more trouble than I’d like to admit though… Today was definitely a “high gravity day”, meaning that every move felt harder than it should.  My lack of sleep may have been it, but I’m kind of convinced that it was the thin mist cloying around the cliff.
  • Pitch 2 = Pooh – 5.8, 170ft – I took the lead here, and I regretted it.  We were going to do pitch 2 of Funhouse, but this was simpler to get to, and the line was quite obvious.  And it was very fun, but much harder than I thought it would be.  I went up assuming that my guidebook was right with a 5.7… but I learned recently that it’s since been re-graded as a 5.8.  Oops.  Still.  I finished, and enjoyed myself once I got into the flow of it.
  • Pitch 3 = Upper Refuse – 5.3, 100ft??? – Daniel took the lead on this strange setup… it’s a three pitch route, but Daniel and I only did it in two.  Because three pitches to do 200’ would be silly.  So ratings… not so sure about it.  Either way – seconding was quite fun, and this was a very enjoyable hand-crack system going nearly straight upward.  Well… except for the terrifyingly exposed face / slab move.  Which was done in the mist.  So friction wouldn’t work.  Yeah.  I’m glad Daniel led.
  • Pitch 4 = Upper Refuse – 5.5, 100ft??? – I took the final leg here, and again slightly regretted it.  This time there were a few different options on routes to take, and I ended up floundering between the two for nearly 20min before I finally just sacked up and made the moves.  From there it was nice and easy… until the last slab move of course.  Notice a pattern here?
  • Summit pitch = ??? – 5.2, 45ft – Daniel led this last mini-pitch, and it was a fun and simple way to get to the observation area of Cathedral.

Once we were at the summit we chatted with a few tourists (who of course thought we were the bee’s knees and/or insane), and relaxed with the semi-interesting view of the clouds coming down past the presidential range.  It was nice, and relaxing, and a good reward for the climbing we’d just busted out.

From here we walked down to the access road and started the weary trudge back to where we’d left our gear at the base of the cliff.  On the walk we ran into two cars though – one minivan where the father asked us to explain our gear to his sons, and one tiny accord who offered us a ride back down to our car.  We took them both up on their offers, and the walk down was made nearly as enjoyable as the climb up.

 

Ohh!  And Daniel found a small pink shovel.  That is important to note.

Oct29

NUComers weekend, 2013

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Thursday through Monday, 10-Oct-13 through 14-Oct-13

Every year, throngs of Freshmen descend upon the Loj.

It’s almost an annual migration, if we looked at it from that standpoint.  Each fall, vanloads of city kids drive the four or five hours North, leaving their cozy homes in Boston to brave the cold mountains of New Hampshire.  They make their temporary home at the end of a short trail, go on hikes, eat, and meet new people.

It’s fun to watch, and even more exciting to talk with people who’ve never been out into the real mountains like this.  People who came to Northeastern from Mexico, Europe, or simply just other states.  They all have an interesting story to tell, if you’re willing to listen.

And so, I drove up.  Not on Friday though – I met up with two friends, John and Kelly, on Thursday night so that we could take full advantage of the long weekend.  Four days of living at the Loj, hiding away from city life and work.

Thursday, 10-Oct-13

  • Leave work, head to Loj with John and Kelly
  • We grab dinner at Chilis – nothing special, but for some reason this has become somewhat of a tradition for me.  It seems that every time I drive up to the loj, I stop in at this specific Chili’s for dinner.  I don’t mind this.
  • And as we drive up… I get my first Speeding ticket in the new Mustang.  It was right in Concord, as I was merging onto the highway.  I got a bit energetic with my acceleration, and went from the ramp up to 85 mph in less than 10s… more than fast enough for the cop to notice me.  Though I didn’t notice him until after he pulled out from his little hidey hole.
  • The rest of the drive was simple and clean – and we made it up to the Loj by 11:30 at night.  From there we relaxed, made some tea, and hit the hay without any special theatrics.

Friday, 11-Oct-13

  • The only day we had without throngs of people started slowly.  I got up late, after Kelly and John had already started getting things done around the Loj grounds. We hung out, had a slow breakfast, and generally relaxed and enjoyed being away from the city.
  • After a bit, I headed out for a hike, with the secondary goal of trying to find a new campsite for the weekend.  Most of my old sites had been encroached upon, so this year I wanted something isolated, yet roomy enough for not only myself, but Kelly, Terese, and Daniel.
  • I hiked down one of the main trails toward the near mountains, and found a small site.  A good bit of the morning was spent clearing it out and making it hospitable to our tents / hammock.  Time well spent, however.
  • Food?  Lunch.  Quesadillas!
  • The rest of the day was simple, and spent relaxing and reading on the back porch.  Nothing special, except for the standard sense of serenity that the Loj brings on.
  • Terese had taken a half day of work, so she was able to make it up to the Loj right around 4:30 in the afternoon – perfect time for us to take a bit of time and relax, hike around a bit, and for me to give a full tour of the Loj.
  • A second lunch was consumed, as well as a light dinner made.  Simple.
  • While waiting for everyone to show up, Kelly, John and myself started up a game of Lord of the Rings Risk.  It was excellent, though ended in the expected way of John completely curb-stomping both of us.
  • We all hang out on the back porch for a bit, just relaxing and enjoying the Loj.  Terese and I take a walk around so that I can give her the full tour, but it’s honestly a rather nice and laid back evening.
  • People start showing up, and we start a nice cheery fire for all the new kids to come up to.  While people keep it going, Daniel finally shows up so we all head down and set up camp while the nights partying really gets going.
  • Hang out with people, shoot the breeze, and relax.  Good start to the weekend…

Saturday, 12-Oct-13

  • Saturday?  Saturdays were designed to be slow and relaxed.  So when I hear the screams and bugle of the folks up at the Loj, I simply roll over and go back to sleep.
  • We finally get moving mid-morning, and head up to make some quick lunch before everything disappears.  Daniel and I cook up some extra breakfast, and then finish up planning our climbing for the day… the goal is Cathedral, and we leave the Loj to start it up sometime around 10:00.
  • Climbing with Daniel at Cathedral happens.  See the post specific to this.
  • When we get back, dinner is being finished up.  Nice timing!  As per NUComers standard, dinner Satursday night is Baked ziti, followed by relaxing on the back porch and sipping Gin & Tonic.  Well, the second part isn’t really standard, but it’s still awesome 🙂
  • From here, we kept up the standard – kicking on the back porch, alternating with hanging out by the fire and listening to people’s stories.  I think at some point we had a competition between people about how quickly they could start a fire?  Not 100% sure.  Was a good night, either way.

Sunday, 13-Oct-13

  • And as with Saturday, Sunday was started out slowly.  Even more slowly today though, sinec Terese was heading back to Boston before any adventures started out… so we didn’t really want to rush breakfast or anything.
  • After breakfast was done and people left, Daniel and I set about exploring the Ledges.  They’re huge cliffs (see the post specific to this) that could be perfect for climbing… if only someone were to set them up…
  • After finishing our leaders recon trip, Daniel packed up his gear and rolled out from the Loj.  That left me bored and alone… and what happens when you leave an Engineer bored and alone?  He finds other engineers.  And then they rebuild the sweat lodge, which is, at its core a huge steam sauna.  Nice.
  • Again as it traditional, Sunday night dinner was a nice and simple Chili – Delicious, especially when combined with corn bread and cheese.
    • My entertainment of dinner – I ate with a group of sophomores, three girls and a guy.  One of the ladies had her eye on this boy, whom she’d met on the hike earlier in the day.  So she was telling stories about working with troubled pre-teens… and had him act out what they’d do to her.  Specifically, biting and hair pulling.  Yeah.  That’s one way to flirt with a guy – have him pull your hair and bite your upper arm.  Classy.
    • Speaking of classy… the Sweat loj.  It was excellent, and we made full use of the massive bonfire that we started right next to it.  Tons of hot rocks were used, and gallons of water were poured onto them to make the steam for our comfort.  That’s all there is to say, really.
    • At one point I did have to play LC though – I was walking back up to the Loj to make myself another Gin & Tonic, when I ran into a group of three guys trying to help a single extremely drunk lady down the path.
      • I find out that she’d sprained her ankle earlier that day on a hike, but now wanted to go swimming to ease the pain.  Obviously a horrible idea, when you consider how treacherous the swimming hole is at night… not even taking into account how drunk she was.
      • So I sent two of the guys to find her friends to help out (and get the crowd a bit thinner), and then guided her back up to the Loj where I firmly plopped her into a chair, and then put a brace on her ankle.  Why no one had done that, I have no idea.
      • From there… well, she became her roommates problem.
      • More gin & tonic was followed by more sweat lodge, which was then followed by relaxing and stargazing before falling asleep.

Monday, 14-Oct-13

  • Slow and relaxing morning, but a bit less so than previously, since everything still needed to be packed up and such.
  • One of John’s roommates had come up, so they drove back to Boston together, which left Kelly and myself in charge of when we left… yeah.  No time soon.  Reading and sunbathing on the back porch definitely happened for a while, once the Loj was closed up.
  • We did hit Tilton Diner on the way back to Boston, but aside from that we took the straight-shot drive home.  No speeding tickets (thankfully), and nicely uneventful.
  • Home & relax