... not much to do yesterday so we decided to grab a camera and take an afternoon hike - maybe do a bit of offroading ta' boot...
... opted to head up into the local 'Dunbar Mountains' and wander familiar 'Morgan Run' and surrounding hollow... first stopped at 'Buzzard Rocks' (aka: Kraylick/Krahlak rocks to Pittsburgh climbers - mention Buzzard Rocks and they have no idea where you're talking about)...
... the main climbing wall - probably 50ft to 60ft in height - around 100ft at a scenic overlook to the north - maybe 900ft to 1000ft total length - southwest facing so gets plenty of afternoon and evening sun... once the premiere climbing area for people visiting from the city, along with nearby 'Elk Rock' (aka: 'Colls Cove' to climbers) located about two miles due west as the crow flies... around the mid 2000's this area was supposedly purchased by an outside developer and posted as off limits to all visitors - nothin's happened since then but there's still old posted signs about - that's all we know about that...
... was a popular area for climbing instruction and a great place for beginning climbers to get introduced to steep rock and a bit of exposure...
... probably the best moderate route here (our opinion) ascends that ramping inside corner and crack to reach those roof overhangs - moving left several feet the route continues up another crack and through the overhangs to the top... used to be some big 'Wolf Spiders' nesting in those overhangs - they're supposed not to bite, but we got nailed good by one resulting in a welt the size of lemon on the inside of our bicep - wasn't really painful, but itched like crazy for about three weeks until it cleared up - our buddy Rob Goodman took a can of bug killer up there afterward and sprayed the area pretty good - probably two dozen spiders, several with leg spans of probably three inches, came falling out of the crack and into the leaves below, each with a thwack!!...
... viewing a bit further north along the wall...
... two views ground up below the first overlook...
... which forms an outside corner and north facing wall return - you couldn't find a better location for instructing beginners...
... that wide crack is a heck of a fun face climb and very easy - a great place to learn lead climbing on gear as well... we watched a climbing instructor spend nearly 45 minutes coaxing a gal, three quarters up that thing and completely frozen with terror, into releasing her death-grip on the rock and back onto weighting the rope so he could lower her back to the ground... with respect to her, we also had a big "muscle guy" friend of ours (we'll leave him nameless) become a bit gripped at that same spot after his foot popped - the first and last time we could get him out on the rocks... fun stuff...
... our first introduction to rock climbing was at this area as well - although, not as participants... a friend (who incidentally just passed away this past year - peace, brother) had just purchased a new '76 Ford F150 pickup (boy, that don't make 'em like that anymore) and we were out off roading, drinking beer, and testing it out late one evening... while ascending the dirt/gravel hill below the cliff a guy comes running out of the woods and into our headlights, arms flailing and screaming for us to stop... apparently he and a buddy had been rock climbing when his buddy took a hard ground fall - when we got over to 'em he was lying there in a bit of pain, sayin' his leg was busted (it didn't look good) - the three of us were able to get him out of the woods and over into the bed of the pickup - we drove 'em both back out to their car which was parked at the top of the hill - the guy wanted to get to the emergency room - they said they were from the city and not familiar with the area, so instead of trying to give 'em directions we left the guy in the bed and drove him there ourselves while his buddy followed, and got him situated in the ER - we left after that - no idea who they were, the guy who flagged us down said his name was Don (?) as we recall - the following Monday the local paper reported that a guy was admitted to the ER following a rock climbing accident in Dunbar...
... a couple decent harder face climbs on these short walls as the rock returns north...
... this is the cliff face viewing north from atop the first overlook - it gets a lot shorter in prominence from here and on over to the main overlook, which you can just make out beyond the trees...
... this is viewing west from atop the main overlook (referred to as the 'Prow') - about 100ft from ground level below the cliff and maybe another 100ft below that to the floor of the hollow...
... wonderful... more (and recent) graffiti... and apparent climbing vernacular ta' boot (reads 'SEND IT')... sad...
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... we used to do many long solo dayhikes through these ridges with the dogs - would always toss a pair of rock shoes in the pack as ya' would always come across a one off boulder or two that maybe had a decent route to try, but which you knew that you would never return to...
... though this surely isn't it, we can locate three boulder fields within the Yough River gorge that are as good or better as anything we've ever visited - unbelievably long and difficult access, however - that was what was nice about hiking with dogs - they never bitch and moan and will follow ya' forever... as long as ya' understand from the get go it's gonna' be f*k'd up, then your fine...
... hikin' down from the flanks of the hollow - vehicle pictured for a sense of scale to the landscape...
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... bottom of the hollow...
... 'Morgan Run'...
... an image from stream level...
... 'Blue Hole'... just one more image to add to the hundreds we've photographed over the years - some nice rocks and foliage for framing, though... this used to be a great place back in the day to skip school together and hang out with a gal - no one hardly ever came here and never during the weekday - always had the place all to yourselves... now plastered with posted signs at the trailhead parking...
... lookin' downstream from the falls... we've always wondered what the native trout population, if any, was like in that stream - we'd bet that a few fish make their way up from the Yough River - think we'll venture in there with the 'Tenkara' rod in the spring and see what's happenin' further downstream...
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... some off roading on the way out...
... took a familiar mile and better detour - was just as f*k'd up as we remembered - didn't bother with any photos as we were more preoccupied with navigating deep mud holes one after the other with no hankering to get stuck back in there with no help...
...made it back, obviously...
