... 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...
