0 Degrees & Sunny

In March, 0 degrees & sunny can be a pretty good outlook for a day of rock. Probably not so much in October... but this weekend it sounded doable myself, and quite a few other climbers.

So Saturday Angela and I made it in to Cedar Pt. in Millidgeville. This place is a solar oven. As long as the wind is calm it will be dry and pleasantly warm on any winter day with sun. So while I'm sure it was 0 degrees elsewhere... the microclimate in the quarry was probably +7-8 and the rock pleasant to the touch.

I went in with a bolt kit intent on giving a last look at a line I'd put rap anchors on a year ago at the 2nd quarry. If another worthwhile line or two was in there I'd equip it with lead bolts. Arriving there I was less than impressed to find my rap hangers gone and two stripped bolts remaining. They were placed such to be easily accessible from the cliff top (perhaps too much so). I doubt that they were taken by kids/hikers since you'd have certainly needed a wrench to get them loose. That leaves the possibility of a landowner (the property has been on the market recently) but none of the other anchors were tampered with and the bolts were not damaged. It could have been a climber... but I'd really like to think it wasn't. Not cool if it was.

Between this, unsuitable quality rock for bolting in the final 25 feet of the line, and the low-angle nature of the rest of the area, it will remain a top-rope. Unfortunately a climber will have to bring a huge cordelette to set the anchor since I won't be replacing the missing rings. I expect it will be seldom climbed.

We did return to the main quarry to find Laurent and Miles rapping in. We joined them and climbed a few of the nice pitches for the few hours we had in the sun. I got a few images of Laurent leading Poop Deck... a great 5.9 that demands attention to foot work.

Sunday Jill and I hiked in to Sunnyside with the dog to meet a big crew of people. H-Bomb, Marcelle, Dom, Pete, Matt, Greg, & Steve. Although the snow was falling when we got there the rock was still climbable if not cold. I got up a 5.9 in my new ice boots and fired off a few others. A good day but unfortunately no pics. I've got a few projects to start on in there this year!