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Lazy Dogs Climb | |
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There is no epic adventure or great story (or even any pictures) from this climb, but it was just a very nice day out on Cannon Cliff. In case you don't know this climb or want to see pictures, check out this excellent route description from Chauvin guides.
With the forecast calling for temperatures well above 90F it seemed like Cannon would be the least sauna-like place around. The plan was for Katherine and I to leave Boston by 5am on Sunday morning and hope to be first on the route, finishing before it got really hot out. Fat chance. Amazingly we actually managed the first part (well, 5:07am), and this included taking the dogs out for a walk and feeding them a very early breakfast. Of course when we got to the parking lot around 7:15am there was already a party of three that had registered and had left for Whitney-Gilman at 6am. I figured with a 1:15 hr headstart they would be a pitch or two up by the time we got to the base. There were also two other parties in the parking lot, but they both looked relaxed and were clearly not racing up to join the crowds on the ridge.
We headed up and kept a steady but relaxed pace through the woods and up the talus field, but I was disappointed to not see anyone on the climb. When we finally approached the base we saw the party of three still on the ground, just now ready to climb. Bad news.. But this meant that we didn't need to be in any super rush, although we were taking the longer start to the left which adds an extra 5.7 pitch off the ground. In the meantime another party (Heather and Alan, as would we later learn) came up and got set up on the standard start. All the while Cannon cliff was living up to its reputation and it actually looked like it might rain and get nasty for a little while. The clouds and mist above obscured the top of the cliff and were rather dark and ominous looking. But I had faith in the forecast and in the Wild Things Wind Shirt that was stuffed in my day pack.
So we started climbing, and sure enough Heather and Alan had managed to squeeze in front of us. But as it turned out it didn't matter, since the party of three were taking their time and we just relaxed and settled in for a nice kick-back day on the route. We chatted on the spacious belay ledges and I had the opportunity to be creative in setting belays with two other groups already using all the obvious placements.
Around the second or third pitch the sun came out, but despite the expected high temperatures it really never got hot and I never broke a sweat. Crazy. I heard later about a friend who climbed Cathedral and had suffered miserably from the heat. In any case we climbed and did the right-side variation of the Pipe pitch, which includes a fantastic 5.8 hand-crack to a ledge that overlooks the Black Dike gully. [KA adds: With great effort and creativity the hand crack can be climbed without actually using the crack itself. I did the pitch with Tom yelling, "Use the crack! Use the crack! sigh. At least put your foot in the crack..."] From that ledge the next pitch goes up an exposed steep section with good holds until you pass "the pipe" and traverse left and get back onto slabs. That steep section was the loosest part of the climb and seemed to consist of many blocks just wedged in place. I put my foot on a 1'x2' block out left and it wobbled easily, giving me a severe case of the willys. After the easy 5th pitch I decided on pitch 6 to repeat the routefinding mistake I made the first time I climbed Whitney-Gilman with Darryl -- instead of breaking left at the steep section near the top, go straight up, clipping a few rusty pins and doing some nice 5.9-ish moves.
The only mini-epic part of the story occurred after finishing the climb, when Katherine got attacked by black flies while packing up. They seem to have a special affinity for her blood, which was evident in great quantities all over her face and ears from the bastard bites. The next day her right eye was nearly swollen shut and colored a fine shade of purple, while the left ear was unnaturally pushed out from the swelling behind. A trip to the doctor got her the prescription for steroids she's been wishing for. It was decided that her emergency kit would henceforth include a head net. Oh, did I mention that the smell of Deet makes her nauseous?