Looking Glass Rock, NC trip

I haven’t posted up anything in a while because I haven’t climbed very much.  I’ve been having some knee issues since the last time I climbed at the Cooper House so I’m thinking the steep stuff there caused me to pull something in my hamstring.  But I think it is better now and it hasn’t really affected my climbing; walking is just a little painful at times still.

So last weekend was the big NC climbing trip with climbing partner Ben.  We planned this about a month ago, and I’ve been so stoke since then (with the exception of my fear that I wouldn’t get to go due to the aforementioned knee issues.)  I first saw Looking Glass Rock a little while before I started climbing.  I was mountain biking in Pisgah with the fam and one of the trails we were on topped out to reveal a spectacular view of this amazing rock face.  ”I want to climb that!” is what went through my head.  It was about six months later that I really started getting into climbing at the gym and maybe a year later before I managed to get on real rock.  Throughout my time as a climber I’ve thought of how awesome Looking Glass looks and needless to say, getting to climb it was a dream of mine.  It worked out quite well that last summer I met Cliff and he taught me the ins and outs of trad climbing.  After having finally broken in the 5.8 range climbing trad here at my home crag the Red River Gorge, I decided that I was strong enough to tackle looking glass and suggested to Ben that we plan a trip.  

 

Ben racking up for Bloody Crack 5.8

 

 

DAY 1

The trip was AWESOME and climbing Looking Glass was every bit as spectacular as I expected it to be.  We started the day on a 5.8 called Bloody Crack.  Ben decided he would take the first pitch and other than a little trouble at the crux, he cruised it.  When he reached the belay ledge though, we learned that our plans were spoiled.  The second pitch was covered in water and did not look to be very fun to climb.  Luckily for us, the first pitch had a walk off so we hiked down, packed up our stuff and moved to a better, dryer part of the wall.  On the way in we had passed a super classic 5.7 called Second Coming and were hoping to get on it but of course there were people already there.  So, we opted to climb the 5.8 just left of it.  This was an equally classic line called Rat’s Ass.  The first pitch of Rat’s Ass was pretty scary for me.  The climbing was unlike anything I’ve climbed.  A super thin finger crack splitting a dihedral formed by two extremely smooth faces.  Luckily the rock was pretty low angle because the holds were practically non-existent.  The moves were a constant flowing sequence of high feet smearing followed by mantling opposition force moves.  The pro, though plentiful, was shoddy at best.  The small crack was irregular and flaring in places.  Small nuts seemed to give the best pro, but damn I wasn’t really confident in any of them.  At the top of P1 just before pulling the ledge the crack widened a little and I managed th emost bomber .75 placement which gave me a lot better feeling about this crack.  

 

Getting ready to lead the second pitch of Rat's Ass

 

 

After climbing the first pitch on TR Ben was really exhausted and asked me to take his pitch.  No big deal, just means I got to plug more gear which is always a good thing in my book.  I linked the second and third pitch to save time and made a quick run to the Gemini anchors.  All in all, Rat’s Ass was really fun route and totally worth climbing.

 

Second pitch of Rat's Ass

 

 

Next we got on Second Coming 5.7 just to the right of Rat’s Ass.  I took the first pitch again.  This route didn’t feel too much easier than Rat’s Ass.  The gear was better though because the crack was more hand-sized than finger tips meaning a little more stable gear and faster climbing.  Originally I was going to do the second pitch of this one too but as I was reorganizing the rack Ben decided he wanted it, and of course I was stoked to see him get another lead on.  He cruised the second pitch with no problem which leads me to believe he should have lead the second pitch of Rat’s Ass because it was easier than the one he did lead.  At the top we almost had an epic.  Clipping in to rap, I somehow managed to drop my belay device.  I watched in horror as it slid slowly down the slab, and let out a sigh of relief as it stopped 20 feet below me, teetering on a small nub of rock.  It turned out not to be a big deal since I just rapped down with Ben’s device to retrieve my own and then climbed back up to switch ‘em out.  

 

View from the top

 

 

Sadly, that was the end of Saturday.  We hadn’t been the fastest climbers on the rock and five pitches had taken most of the day.  We probably could have done another route, but we weren’t sure about doing these really tall committing routes that close to sunset and opted to get some food instead.

 

DAY 2

Day 2 turned out to be a bust.  The night after climbing Looking Glass we decided we wanted to go somewhere else while we were in the area and headed to Table Rock to camp.  When we woke up the next morning it was overcast but dry so we packed up and headed to the rock.  Table Rock is an amazingly impressive looking piece of rock.  It springs up from the surrounding landscape forming a giant rock monolith which can be seen from a few miles away.  Seeing it on the drive in was truly inspiring.  However, when we go to the rock the rain set in and things weren’t looking to great.  We hiked around trying to find something to get on, but the routes we came to were kind of chossy looking and started to seep.  Choosing safety over climbing we opted to hike back out to the car.  Table Rock is impressive looking from far away, but up close the rock doesn’t seem that great.  I haven’t climbed it so I will refrain from calling it choss, but damn it looked dirty and flaky.  Add to that the fact that the Quartzite feels like soap when it is wet and I wasn’t too keen on climbing there in the rain.  Instead we dropped the packs at the car and hiked the tourist trail to the summer for a spectacular view of Linville Gorge and the surrounding NC landscape.  At the top we met two older ladies who gave us cookies and brownies!

 

Ben on the only rock we climbed at Table Rock. Some big boulder on the way to the summit

 

 

All in all, the trip was awesome.  Climbing looking glass was something I’ve been looking forward to for longer than I’ve been climbing rock so it was a great experience for me.  Sadly we didn’t get on either of the most classic routes, The Nose or Sundial Crack, but that just leaves me with a reason to come back to this awesome rock!

 

A beautiful view of Linville Gorge to finish of a spectacular weekend