2020 Labor Day Weekend Climbing

Part of the Main wall at Redrocks, Gloucester

 

It was a fun and chill Labor Day weekend of climbing! Enjoy some candid shots of our day!

Met up with Jen & Ben, and Spider on Saturday to climb at Rumney Rocks, NH. 

Then climbed with Nuno on Monday at Redrocks in Gloucester, MA. Kailani was brought along to the crag by other climbers, but I had to get a photo of her, she's so cute!

Main Wall, Dorset Street Crag - Rock Climbing

From the top of the Dorset Street Crag 

The bolted anchors are just above the "Deception" route

Another adventure with Iskuhi! We finally got out to the Dorset Street Crag near Annisquam, MA. We decided to park off North Bennett Street so we could just hike to the top of the crag and drop top ropes. We found the parking along North Bennett street, but we couldn't find a trail from the street. However, further up the street, we did find a trail that went down to Dorset Drive. On Dorset Drive, we walked towards Washington Street and saw the crag on our left. If there was a trail to the crag from Washington Street we didn't find it. So we just bushwhacked in from Dorset Drive.

We passed this area on the trail from North Bennet Street to Dorset Drive

We set up a top rope for a couple of climbs on the left side of the Main Wall. It was so hot and humid, and the rock was super slick. But it sure was fun to get out for a couple of morning laps. It was pretty buggy there as well and although I used bug spray, I still got bit. Got sunburn as well and scraped up my right shin pretty good from jamming the crack of Deception, so next time I'll remember to wear long pants. The top of the crag is just 60 feet or so from North Bennett Street so we exited that way, then walked a bit up the road to our cars. We plan to come back in the fall when the temps are cooler - so I took coordinates of the top of the trail at the North Bennett Street using my iPhone's Compass app. Enjoy a few photos taken of our day at the Dorset Street Crag. 

Lots of natural pro for top rope anchors on this ledge

 The Corner (5.10+) in the Quarry area

Daedalus (5.6) in the Slabs area

Chip off the Old Block (5.7) in the Slabs area

Beginner's Route (5.5) on the Main Wall

Rope on Slippery When Wet (5.8+) on the Main Wall

Rope at the top of Deception (5.8+) & Mixed Up (5.8)

Note the broken tree to the left of the rope.

The Main Wall area

Black & White Rocks - Rock Climbing

Climbing Beginner's Class with Iskuhi on my belay

Nuno, Iskuhi, and I met up for some climbing at Middlesex Fells. We all live in Massachusetts and when we meet up to climb, we usually head north to places like Rumney, New Hampshire to climb. But with the pandemic, Rumney and many of our favorite climbing crags in New Hampshire are closed. So we met up to do some climbing at Pinnacle Rock, in the Black & White Rocks crag. In the parking lot, we didn't do any hugs, high-5's, or handshakes, but we never did anyways. We hiked to Crag 1 (Pinnacle Rock) maintaining social distancing and there was no one else on the trail. We purposely chose to climb on a weekday because it would be less crowded as the weekends here are mobbed by hikers and climbers.

I'm sure Nuno and Iskuhi came prepared, but in case they didn't, I had extra facemasks, hand wipes, and hand sanitizer - which I also carry in my truck, golf bag, and hiking backpack. 

At the crag, we were the only climbers, and the only other people we saw that day was a group of 6 hikers on the main trail. I bought my trad rack with the intention of doing some trad leading but decided not to because the rock felt really slick and I personally don't like the idea of leading in muggy weather - I have a fear of slipping off the rock in muggy weather. After two hours of climbing, we called it quits because it just got way too muggy. Enjoy some photos of our day of climbing.