Friday, December 26, 2014

Casparis Cliff (Rock Climbing Part 8)

... came across another few old maps while searching the "archives" - the immediate 'Casparis Cliff' area and surrounding boulders - might as well post 'em up - doin' no good settin' in a file drawer...

... series of three individual maps - all done long ago with hand compass - not "brilliant" - but not bad either - no route names nor difficulty ratings...

... south of the second left hand curve as you climb the hill...

... further east and the end of the long cliffband...

... here's the three maps roughly matched together for clarity... the road doesn't match on the first two maps - they should, but weren't drawn that way anyway - digitally adjusted the creek and extended the road, though, on the second two - the cliff band should be fine...

... here's the general vicinity added to a previous shaded relief map...

... don't have many photos for all the time spent there over the years - here's the main overlook near Route #39 on the maps - very young 'buddy Matt' and his Mom...

... facing the cliff and routes #51 thru #55...

... boulder #24...

... a very young 'buddy Matt' - not identified, but is the easy face opposite and east of route #5 on the map...

... Route #57 - bolted at the time (late 80's) - they've long since been removed (as well as the remaining routes on this wall)...

... personally fabricated a bunch of (carbon) steel-angle bolt hangers back in the day when short, bolted "sport routes" were becoming popular (and very unpopular as well) - here's a few needing some final filing - eventually replaced most with stainless steel - those left remaining (for scientific purposes) all rusted and pretty much disintegrated after about ten years... fastened them originally with 1/4" 'nail-in' bolts - switched to the 3/8" 'Rawl Spikes' (pictured), then subsequently 3/8" 'Rawl Expansion Bolts' - those 'Spikes' were "bombpoof", though - couldn't even pull 'em out when we decided to remove them - had to chisel 'em off... eventually, a few "Pittsburgh guys" bolted quite a few more routes further down the cliff (which were great) but which "pissed off" a local or two who in-turn removed them all - then someone stole all the stainless steel hangers off the routes I bolted - so eventually said "f*k it"... would use 'button-head spikes' if we had to do it all again - those would be a real bitch to remove... used to carry a few of those slung 'machine nuts' (pictured) for retreating from longer routes if it required leaving any gear - a lot cheaper than leaving actual climbing gear behind - only ever had to use 'em once, however - used one to back-up a sketchy sapling we rapped off of on some cliff in the New York 'Adirondak Mountains' called 'Moxham Dome'...

... note... worked for a testing laboratory back in the day which "proof-tested" and certified a lot of bolts for 'Rawl' - had access to many free boxes... we also tested a lot of '3M Brand Adhesive' - received many cans of various 'two part epoxy' and rolls of 'double-sided tape adhesive'... we all had lots of fun in the office with the latter excess - taping everyones phones, calculators, notebooks and such to their desktop... snuck in the girls "restroom" once and lined the toilet seat - never heard a direct complaint but received some "cold shoulder" and "dirty looks" from our (good looking) secretary 'Margaret' for a few days thereafter... they tape together those aluminum trailers ya' see delivering products such Pepsi, bottled water.. etc.. to the stores with it... is pretty strong stuff...

[... Edit 12/31... we mainly tested the strength of construction materials and components such as concrete, steel, plastic, aluminum etc... used this 3M Brand adhesive - 'Structure Bond 1838 Two Part Epoxy' -  to bond various jigs and attachments we'd "invent" for fastening to the various materials for the purpose of pulling them apart - was some very strong stuff... had access to a lot of excess of the epoxy... so... built a pretty cool climbing wall in the old homestead garage back in the day using gathered small flagstone rocks that we'd "glue" to the concrete block walls...

... searched the "archives" - found this old photo of young 'buddy Matt' bouldering it out - was a pretty nice traverse around the three interior walls - hard too - kept it to small single-digit "crimpers" and "pinches" for the handholds and small "slopers" for the feet - was somewhat "technical" 'ta boot - at least "solid 5.11" on the difficulty scale - not bad and good training...

... have long since remodeled/reclaimed the garage removing a few of the holds and abandoning the remaining in the process - a few of the "footholds" located below the exterior ground level have since delaminated as well after years of moisture saturating the block wall... walked out back this evening and snapped a few "scale" photos (above) of what's remaining - lower bottom row and far right was the largest hold on the wall - installed that one purposely to (torque) test the adhesive - put a full-strength downward pull on it tonight - was still solid!...]

... a young 'buddy Matt' "rapping" the previous short wall... harness of 1" tubular webbing...

 
... some nice evening twilight illuminating the fall foliage atop the cliff...

... as well as this difficult tall boulder (#12) - Tim Anderson on 'Robbery'...

... Tim again on a difficult arete next to route #5 on the map - can't tell from the "full frontal" photo but it overhangs a good bit...

... strongmen Rob Goodman (climbing) and Matt on a steep boulder (route #72) - a few years before "crash pads"...

... this steep boulder is located further up the road beyond the mapping - don't recollect who that is climbing...

... snake country - 'Vipers' included - here's a large 'Blacksnake'...

... the cascading 'Laurel Run - saw this small creek "raging" on several occasions over the years after some heavy rainstorms - pulled into the 'Gun Club' one evening to find the creek sweeping over the small entrance bridge - only ever saw that once before - two young guys from Morgantown WV were loading kayaks on to their car rooftop - said that they had just run the creek from put-in high on the ridge (!!! - pretty impressive - personally would have considered it impossible knowing the drops and obstacles involved combined with a "raging torrent") - on top of that they had run nearby 'Possum Run' - including the large waterfall (!!! - equally impressive) earlier that day - said that two other guys with them (who were retrieving another vehicle from the put-in) videotaped it all as part of a video they were making highlighting all the small, obscure creeks and waterfalls within a few hours drive of Morgantown - that was probably around 2002 - don't know how they ever made out with the film - never saw it available for viewing anywhere...

... this is 'Possum Run Falls' at normal water level - coincidentally, our buddy 'Howie' mentioned to me once that he was talkin' to two guys once who were pulled off along the road and were taking turns just running the falls while videotaping the action for a similar project they had goin' - was probably the same guys...

... anyway... the whole area is on privately-owned property (and now co-opted with the 'PA Game Commission') - the landowner tolerates visitors and rock climbing to a certain extent - respect his land and privacy if out and about...

Sunday, December 21, 2014

The Druid Stones

... took an MTB trip yesterday with two of the boys... wound up here...

... the 'Druid Stones' (posted an obscure photo or two of this place recently)... hadn't been up there in probably twenty years...

... but first - encountered many "critter tracks" on the way... 'Wild Turkey'...

... followed these 'cat tracks' the whole way up... at least three miles... they followed all the way up the road and right up to the rocks!... great time of year to be in the woods... saw some large coyote tracks
as well but didn't grab a photo...

... back to the 'Druids'...

... thought that these may interest a few of the young bouldering "bro's" (and "bro'ettes") we been encountering of late... especially the guys who we ran into a few weeks back and were full of questions... 

... first stumbled upon this place about thirty years ago, coincidentally, on the exact day of 'Winter Solstice'... while hikin' around came upon this old "ruin" that included what appeared to be an 'Eightfold Sun Wheel' constructed of small boulders and located directly in that opening ya' see in the photo... ???... it's long since disapperaed... was pretty creepy at first - had the feeling that someone was watchin' the whole time there... hikin' out that day (alone) and gettin' dark... every cold breeze "caressing" the back of the neck definitely quickened the pace... 

(internet photo)
... Ha! - watched some pretty creepy movie on TV a while back called 'The Village' that reminded me of that day... set in the PA woods as well - didn't see one of these guys, though...

... anyway, always called them the 'Druid Stones' since...  not a bad area - had nothin' to use for scale this day (the boys stayed back at the bikes) - but those are all some pretty large blocks... is basically a continuation of the 'Ridge' boulders (see map) but concentrated to a smaller area (sort of like the 'Sandy Flats Boulders')... used to be able to drive to within a hundred feet of the rocks (did it lots of times driving a 1980 Subaru DL Hatchback) - nearest parking is now about 1/2 mile away with an equal distance walk in... would recommend 4WD equipped vehicle or at least some decent ground clearance...

... we did quite a few routes... mentioned the place to a few other guys - don't think that any of 'em went there - never ran into anyone...

... cousin to 'Superman Syrup' over at the 'Ridge' - same size as well...

... this is possibly the other half of the previous block... 

... is right next to it...

... a few decent steep faces...

... here's a large block...

... pretty decent tall face on the side of it...

... viewing "full-frontal"...

... more big stuff...

... more stuff on the hillside facing the 'Yough River Gorge'...

... surprised a small 'Black Bear' here once (we surprised each other, actually) - guess he was usin' this small shelter for a den - was standing on the rock ledge above and heard some rustling below - looked down to see the bear lookin' back up - he beat it fast down thru the woods... (cautiously) poked my head in today for a look - nuthin' there...

... is a decent size wall up there as well - you can lead on good gear left to right across the long horizontal crack mid-height - rig a 'hanging belay' at the flake - switch leads and climb up and follow the upper crack below the roof back left to step off onto a small ledge - about 100ft of climbing in all - not bad and good practice... never tried anything else with regard to the roof...

... posted this photo a while back - archive shot of 'Rob Goodman' leadin' back below the roof back in the day - gives a good idea of the scale of the wall as well...

... large sloping and pocketed face to the left if facing the wall - pretty easy but a little interesting un-roped...

... most of the stones have good landings...

... adjacent face of the previous...

... opposite side of the previous - those numerous pockets are pretty typical of area rock...

... didn't spend a whole lotta' time there, but not a bad little area - pretty easy access if ya' don't mind a short walk thru' the woods... you can definitely stay busy for an entire day... you can't miss the rocks to the right when walking in along the old 'skid road'...

Saturday, December 13, 2014

"Four out'a Four"

... haven't "thrown" in a while - got out the old "tools" today - but definitely "rusty" (performance wise)...

... totally sucked, really... months off + thirty degree temperatures + steel tools + frozen hands didn't help much...

... better days pictured here with much practice... not braggin' - but ("stick") accuracy probably 75% with the (6") knives (pictured) and 90% with the axe (when throwin' the 'Gil Hibben Custom' - not pictured) and when "on" (and throwin' at least an hour per day four days per week) at sixteen feet (+/-) fixed distance...

... will never top this, however...


... Ha! - Kirk Douglas and the 'Vikings' again...

... BRILLIANT!!...

... (you'll have to watch the movie to see what happened to his eye)...

Saturday, November 29, 2014

King of Pain ('The Power Line' - MTB Part 9)

... vacation/holiday all this past week - had a lot of fun "physically firin' up the Way Back Machine"...

... decided to check out the old 'Power Line' trail today - an old personal favorite....

... strongman Howie on the approach - bit of snow on the ground today...

... link-up - short, steep hill climb - bit technical and tough today with the snow...

... beginning the 'Power Line'... this trail became a bit controversial back in the day.. used to be easily accessed by 4WD vehicle... rode it for years until some XXX!!!(s) dumped a load of old "kitchen appliances" consisting of an electric range, refrigerator and "accessories" up there ...'Wheel of Fortune' Dunbar Mountain-style... pissed off the landowner... he quickly sat about removing all trash - human and otherwise.... subsequently... all access was blocked with dropped timber... didn't blame him... hadn't ridden it (much) since then... 

... was a wildlife park up there today with animal tracks galore.... a bit confounded by these... big... suspect a Bobcat, even for their size ... plus no claws (a bit melted out - could account for that) ... but don't look "feline"... look "canine"... could be a Coyote or large Fox...

... anyway... gotta' go with the Bobcat or Fox (which is a cross between in our opinion) considering the agility crossing this log...

... the Wild Turkeys had the place scratched dry...

... last photo sad to say... we basically rode (scantily for the most part) but otherwise bushwacked or carried over much deadfall for the remaining mile or so... pretty much impassable now...

... trail topo...

... shaded relief...

... profile... this used to be the best forty-five minute (at best - when "in shape") ride on the planet...

... "... that's my soul up there..."...