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Gmburns2000
Jul 23, 2008, 2:43 PM
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losbill wrote: In reply to: likely a bit controversial Greg --- I don't do controversy well! Could you provide a NC-rated (non-controversial) version? Have enjoyed the write ups. Would love to get out there someday! BTW Ed and I have decided to hit Acadia on a Thursday on our way to Katahdin. Blackwoods is closed out. Any recommendations regarding camping? --- Thanks Bill
Sorry Bill, no NC-rated from me. It'll be straight from the heart.
As for campgrounds, well, there's always Seawall on the backside of the island (just outside of Southwest Harbor). That's the only other public campground. Other than that, you're talking about fairly expensive camping ($25 at the very cheapest to $100 for a tent site, seriously, with most probably in the $30-$50 per night range).
Narrows and Narrows II are both fairly popular and OK.
Hadley's Point isn't bad either. My sister stayed there recently and had a positive experience, but she's not a camper as you would be.
There's also a really nice one, though I kind of forget it's name, that overlooks Somes Sound (actually it's a fjord, the only fjord on the east coast, to be exact). That campground is probably the nicest on the island. It's off 198, which runs between Northeast Harbor and Somesville (otherwise known as Sound Dr), and is just off the intersection with the Eagle Lake Road (rt 233). It may be the Mt Desert Campground (Mt Desert being the actual name of Northeast Harbor, though I get the feeling this campground is actually in Somesville, which is technically a part of Southwest Harbor), but I'm not sure. If that is the place, then it's got great views and should be fairly quiet.
The AMC has the Echo Lake camp, but I'm not sure of what it has to offer.
Anyway, to climb at Otter for free, you'll want to be closer to Rt 3, as there is a road going from Rt 3 to the Park Loop road that cuts off the pay area of Sand Beach and Thunder Hole. To get to Champlain (Precipice) and Great Head, you'll want to be closer to Bar Harbor by a few minutes, as that section is one-way (actually, there's another two-way road not in the park that by-passes Precipice and heads straight to Great Head called Schooner Point Rd). Blackwoods is the only one that is close to these roads. All other campgrounds are going to require that you drive through or toward either downtown Bar Harbor, Seal Harbor, or Southwest Harbor / Somesville.
Hope that helps. PM me with any specific questions you may have. Otherwise, have fun!
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olderic
Jul 23, 2008, 3:47 PM
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A couple of elaborations on what Greg said. the Mt Desert (Somes Sound view) IS really nice (and $$$). In the past they have always required a minimum 3 nights stay - business may be down this year and they may have relaxed that. The National Park CG's - Blackwoods and Seawall - require you to buy a entry pass into the park (new glitch this year) - that's another $20 for a week's pass. All and all you are goinmg to be better off gong to some cheap motel (Robbins for example) vs. trying to camp.
Like Greg said you really can get anywhere you want to go with out going through the one entry gate. Otter Cliffs Road off of Rt 3 to the picnic area for Otter Cliffs, on the loop road at Sieur de Mont and off just before the entrance (back to town on Schooner Head Rd) for the Precipice and the back side of Sand Beach (via Schooner Head) for Great Head. The entrance really only "guards" the Thunder Hole area and the front side of Sand Beach. There is some decent bouldering near Thunder Hole and an obscure old Webster route ("Appealing Ceiling" - old school 10+) along that stretch - but it's not worth $20 when you can walk to it. My $0.02
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Gmburns2000
Jul 23, 2008, 3:51 PM
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olderic wrote: All and all you are goinmg to be better off gong to some cheap motel (Robbins for example) vs. trying to camp.
Agreed. There are a lot of small motels / motor inns / cabins in Salisbury Cove and Hulls Cove on the main road into Bar Harbor that are likely cheap options as much as any of the remaining campgrounds are going to be. The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce will definitely be able to point you in the direction of a few places to stay around the Pirate's Cove area, for example (which is on the main road into town).
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blueeyedclimber
Jul 23, 2008, 4:45 PM
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In case anyone missed us, TIff and I are back from our trip to Squamish. We climbed 8 of 9 days. It was fantastic!
The longest climb we did out there was 6 pitches. Towards the end of our stay I start to want to do something longer and someone suggested Angels Crest, 5.10c, 14 pitches. I convinced TIff to go for it and we got everything ready for an early start. Well, it was Friday night and that means the weekend crowd was now in. A very rowdy and loud group kept us up all night and we just couldn't get ourselves out of bed the next morning. Well, we bailed and went cragging. The next morning was our last day climbing and we were feeling the soreness and exhaustion of 5 straight days of climbing. We bailed yet again and decided to save it for our next trip.
On another note, I am planning on doing VMC direct direct on Friday. Anyone have any info that you think I might want to know?
Josh
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olderic
Jul 23, 2008, 6:01 PM
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blueeyedclimber wrote: On another note, I am planning on doing VMC direct direct on Friday. Anyone have any info that you think I might want to know? Josh
You doing the who thing - upper 4 pitches of the VMC - or just the DD itself? The upper part is a real adventure - the 1st 4 are prerty straight forward though. Traverse on the second pitch wil be seeping under the overlap I bet.
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blueeyedclimber
Jul 23, 2008, 6:29 PM
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olderic wrote: blueeyedclimber wrote: On another note, I am planning on doing VMC direct direct on Friday. Anyone have any info that you think I might want to know? Josh You doing the who thing - upper 4 pitches of the VMC - or just the DD itself? The upper part is a real adventure - the 1st 4 are prerty straight forward though. Traverse on the second pitch wil be seeping under the overlap I bet.
We were planning the whole thing. I heard it would be wet a couple days after a rain, however, and THursday does not look good. THis true?
Josh
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olderic
Jul 23, 2008, 6:35 PM
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blueeyedclimber wrote: We were planning the whole thing. I heard it would be wet a couple days after a rain, however, and THursday does not look good. THis true? Josh
The friction-y traverse under the overlap would be problematic (for me anyway) if it's wet. Higher up the Cow's Mouth pitch (pitch #8 the way I do it) could also be wet right at the crucial spot - that one is easy to bypass though. I think if you go with the attitude of doing it "as free as possible" and are prepared to pull through/french free/aid any spots that are too wet - then you will be fine. If it has to be all free or not at all then things might be tough.
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losbill
Jul 23, 2008, 7:12 PM
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Thanks for the info guys. We are all set. Especially appreciate the info on avoiding the gate. My erstwhile partner has a current pass but I'm sure the info will come in useful in the future.
While we were mucking about on Google maps planning the climbing we spotted the Beehive. Nothing in the route db or butterfield's. Anything there? Anything special we should know about Great Head?
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olderic
Jul 23, 2008, 7:22 PM
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losbill wrote: While we were mucking about on Google maps planning the climbing we spotted the Beehive. Nothing in the route db or butterfield's. Anything there? Anything special we should know about Great Head?
I'm sure the locals knw of some short good stuff on the Beehive. I have never really explored it off of the hiking trail which is one of the most popular on the Island. Sort of a poor man's via ferreta - many rungs. You could make a challenge out of doing the tails and avoiding the rungs.
Challenge # 1 at Great Head is determining what the tide schedule is and how high the sea are runing and plan accordingly. You probably don't want to go to any of the rap down areas if things are too high or wild. If you do decide to go to one of the rap in areas then finding the rap anchors is challenge #2.
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wonderwoman
Jul 23, 2008, 8:01 PM
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olderic wrote: If you do decide to go to one of the rap in areas then finding the rap anchors is challenge #2.
The anchors are right next to the poison ivy! Just look for leaves of three!
Anyone else hear about the rock fall at otter cliffs? Apparently black crack and razor crack are no more.
http://mdislander.com/...=6673&Itemid=135
(This post was edited by wonderwoman on Jul 23, 2008, 8:06 PM)
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jakedatc
Jul 27, 2008, 9:40 PM
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Well kate and i got brave and decided to head to rumney after all friday morning. Got on rock by 2.. both were feeling pretty sluggish from the ride and struggled on most stuff. However we did get on milk toast.. i one hung it in that weird stemmy low section then fired the top no problem. kate cleaned it with a few falls but had fun since she is trying to work on steeper routes. Tested out the camping abilities of the Element.. tinted windows definitely helped make things darker than the Sooby.
Saturday. warmed up at the parking lot.. moved up to Vadar.. ran into some folks i met at the Metro rock party with Josh and tiff and hung out with them for a while.. I led Yoda for the first time in 2 years.. then TR'd that .9 trad crack to the left Darth Vadar. definitely a fun route to TR after yoda. the bottom is easy but super fun. Then we headed up to Jimmy Cliff to get on my project. Curl up and Fly first burn i was kinda hesitant and scoped things out and fell at the dyno.. came down.. went up again and fell but hit the dyno the 2nd time so i was confident i could get it. 3rd time the charm.. got up there.. relaxed hit the dyno perfect.. rested on the next jug.. fired up the rest.. There was just one thing i forgot to do before the dyno  ... lets see if you can figure it out...
After that.. we went back down to Bonsai to climb with the metro folks again.. they were on Peer Pressure and someone else wanted to TR it so i said i'd lead it again. Didn't rest at the ledge was long as i usually do and felt a bit pumped still from before and it made the top pretty dicey. Finished off the day back at 5.8 crag to do bolt and run for more steepish rock training.
Decided that sundays forcast looked like shit and came home with a stop at Panera for dinner.
Spent today playing Wii :)
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orangekyak
Jul 28, 2008, 2:00 AM
Post #20912 of 22774
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Good TR Jake thanks for sharing.
Mine is simple, and I'll present it in a stream of consciousness ... gunks fun cory alex gabe allison allison othergoodpeeps happy birthday climbing otter slime not night climbing split rock cold pale ale matrix skeeterbites CCK bacchus RAIN wetjogtocar bistrobreakfast home
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epoch
Moderator
Jul 28, 2008, 3:04 AM
Post #20913 of 22774
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orangekyak wrote: Good TR Jake thanks for sharing. Mine is simple, and I'll present it in a stream of consciousness ... gunks fun cory alex gabe allison allison othergoodpeeps happy birthday climbing otter slime not night climbing split rock cold pale ale matrix skeeterbites CCK bacchus RAIN wetjogtocar bistrobreakfast home
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core
Jul 28, 2008, 11:31 AM
Post #20914 of 22774
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jakedatc
Jul 28, 2008, 7:13 PM
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Jer what route is that?? that looks like my kind of fun :)
Another of me from saturday.. gettin' horizontal on Peer pressure
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orangekyak
Jul 28, 2008, 7:33 PM
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Beetle brow bulge, Core's lead
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core
Jul 29, 2008, 2:51 AM
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olderic
Jul 29, 2008, 2:10 PM
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core wrote: Here's a unique picture of some guy onsighting an unknown route in NY: [image]http://lh4.ggpht.com/crbrett/SI0vVG0CZOI/AAAAAAAAD0A/vtIXNC478s0/IMG_3809.JPG?imgmax=800[/image] Never before seen
Crop the bottom - your CCK tilt is showing.
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orangekyak
Jul 29, 2008, 2:24 PM
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olderic wrote: core wrote: Here's a unique picture of some guy onsighting an unknown route in NY: [image]http://lh4.ggpht.com/crbrett/SI0vVG0CZOI/AAAAAAAAD0A/vtIXNC478s0/IMG_3809.JPG?imgmax=800[/image] Never before seen Crop the bottom - your CCK tilt is showing.
Hah! Eric, are you saying it's less steep than that?
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olderic
Jul 29, 2008, 2:35 PM
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orangekyak wrote: Hah! Eric, are you saying it's less steep than that?
Could be that the horizon actually tilts 20 degrees there - but I kind of doubt it....
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cracklover
Jul 29, 2008, 2:48 PM
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olderic wrote: orangekyak wrote: Hah! Eric, are you saying it's less steep than that? Could be that the horizon actually tilts 20 degrees there - but I kind of doubt it....
Actually, the nearby slope (that shows in that pic) is pretty steep, and even the horizon tilts up a bit. Here's a less misty day, where you can see the true horizon past the nearer slope.
So yes, CCK is that steep. Of course, it might still be good to crop some horizon out if it makes the pic *appear* tilted. I won't comment on that.
GO
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core
Jul 29, 2008, 3:44 PM
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Gmburns2000
Jul 30, 2008, 3:06 PM
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Had an interesting weekend - including my first Gunks 5.9 attempt that resulted in, well, you'll see. (Jen gets kudos for the catch and save)
Also, have two other posts that I hadn't mentioned before (partly due to RC.com crashing last Friday). One is another epic on Cannon for me (this is getting old, I tell you), and another is Jeremiah's recent post about heading out into the forests of Colorado so that he can be alone after the recent death of a good friend.
Enjoy.
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core
Jul 31, 2008, 12:03 PM
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