Rain at the Gunks

Well, I had planned on camping and climbing at the Gunks Wednesday threw Friday But it seems mother nature had other plans. Wednesday night was perfect sitting by the fire with a couple beers some cheese and crackers and relaxing with a good book. It was warm, the bugs stayed away and other campers in the park weren't obnoxious or loud. I was very much at peace. Now it did rain a little over night, approx. three to five in the morning, but most things seemed dry by ten o'clock. The sky was blue the sun was out and Jeff was pulling into the West Trapps parking lot to meet up with me. I though for sure we had threaded the proverbial needle.

Now Jeff had never been to the Gunks and the first climb we approached that struck my fancy was "Horseman." I started clipping gear to my harness when Jeff asked if he could take the lead on this one. I told him to have at it and I'm kind of glad he did, because the traverse around the block was a little heady even on top rope. Next on my to-do list was Middle Earth, because I still haven't lead the first pitch, but of course another group was on it. So we decided to do "Minty," a nice little 5.3. I figured it would be an easy onsight and kill some time until M.E. was available. Well, it turns out that Minty also intersects with another climb, "Tipsy Trees" that is also a 5.3. To make a long story short, we climbed the first pitch of minty, kind of, and the second and third pitch on "Tipsy Trees." It doesn't really matter because it was a fun climb either way, and thats all that matters in my book.
So, back to "Middle Earth" we go. So as I'm climbing I feel a little sprinkling of rain. I don't think anything of it because most of the day at one point or another it sprinkled a little bit. So I keep climbing and the sky just opens up and lets loose. In the words of Jeff, "the wrath of God." I've never been caught in a flash flood, but I imagine this was pretty close. Now at this point I had about four pieces of gear in and was about thirty feet of the ground. I made the decision to traverse to a near by tree and have Jeff lower me down instead of continue up the route. Jeff then cleaned the route and rappelled from the tree. We quickly packed up our gear and headed back to the parking lot. As if the rain didn't piss me off enough, the sun started to come out as we got back to the parking lot. At that point everything was soaked and we had already made the decision to leave. There is something about the first pitch of "Middle Earth." I swear there is a force that is constantly preventing me from leading it. The last time I was at the Gunks it was another group doing mock leads, and today it was another group plus the flash flood. Next time I visit the Gunks it WILL be lead, come hell or high water.