• Awesome wall. Some long pitches, and a few multi-pitches at the left end.
• Everything is bolted; splitter cracks and all. I’m holding no judgement; just saying
• Quick approach with ribbons to mark it
• Bolted anchors everywhere.

This is just a quick note to give my impressions on the 2 climbs we did today. Both climbs are on the right side of Grand Canyon.

Le Retour des Loups-Garous (5.8-)

This is a sport route that has 6 bolts up the double bolt anchors. You’ll have to rappel off this one. A 60m rope will get you back to the ground.

• Crux if off the ground, so if 5.8 is your limit, you’ll probably want a stick-clip.
• There are two or three delicate friction moves at the very top, but not very high above the bolt.

Full view of the section where Retour des Loups-Garous is

Mid way up Le Retour des Loups-Garous

Just about the hit the couple of slab moves at the top

Chute Libre (5.8)

Trad route with a bolt just before a unprotectable slab. Finishes at a double bolt anchor. A 60m rope will get you back to the ground.

• The route is superbly well protectable. I didn’t use anything above a C4 #2. Medium gear was pluggable a plenty. A couple bomber nuts along the way.
• Nice foot jams for about 15 or 20 feet. We’re not used to them around here.
• The crux is definitely at the top when hitting the slab. Luckily, it’s protected with a very well placed bolt. 
• A GREAT line! Do not miss.

A view of Chute Libre

Another view of Chute Libre. The obvious crack in the middle

At 9:00 AM I was off from the Round Pond trailhead. The trail is somewhat flat and un-inspiring until you hit the slide. Of course, this lack of  enthusiasm for the trail may be directly related to the fact that there were no views to speak of given that the cloud cover was low.

The fun started at the base of the slide; I chose to follow the north side slide up to the top; this was impromptu as I just couldn’t resist following it once I was at it’s base. There were very tricky sections (given that it was raining) as well as some ice, but all in all, a nice slide climb. Unfortunately, the route I took didn’t bring me to the very top; this meant a nasty, nasty, dense and painful bushwhack to summit.

The descent was done through the normal route.

The first thing you’ll notice when you pull into the first parking lot (from Rumney) is that the rock looks horrible. It literally looks like you’ll be climbing choss and lichen … But worry not; this place is filled with quality climbs, especially for moderate mediocre climbers (like myself).

Greeting at the first parking lot

Day 1

Empty parking lot early Friday morning.

The Meadows

We wanted to get a feeling for the grades, so something well within our comfort range was what we were looking for. Just a couple of minutes from the parking lot is the Meadows which hosts a LOT of beautiful and fun moderates.

Mom’s Pancake (5.4)

Our first climb of the weekend and not terribly fun at that. There is a small run-out at the center which is easily avoided by clipping the bong in the horizontal mid way up. William and I both did the face only version, but I’ve read of others stemming the corner as an alternative. Either way, it was easy little climb to settle back into leading on rock.

Mom's Pankake (5.4) goes up the wall in the front.

Rose Garden (5.7)

We then moved left just a few feet to the obvious Rose Garden. The line follows the top of an overhang making the prospect of a fall not cool at all. This climb made us happy to have whipped up a stick clip with a trekking pole just before leaving; without it, I doubt I would have had the kahoonas to head out on it (as with many other climbs during the weekend — those first bolts can be sometime high for the mediocre climber like me). All in all, an ok climb, with no obvious crux or scary runouts.

Our rope on Rose Garden

The Parking Lot Wall

Looking down at the parking lot from ... The Parking Lot Wall

Percolator (5.5 – 5.5/7?)

After lunch, we headed up to see what was to the left of The Parking Lot Wall. While waiting for the cool 5.6 chimney to free up, we headed up Percolator. William took the first lead and he hesitated for a long time at the top; after doing the lead myself, I understood why. You expect it to be a 5.5 move, but I would have to say that the last move is beyond that by a grade or two. I found this climb to somewhat suck and would not recommend it to a new leader.

Cafe Au Lait (5.6)

Finally, a great climb! Up to now, the results were so-so, but that was just bad luck I guess. From the bottom, the chimney looks chossy and dirty, but once you hit it, the rock is beautiful. Fun stemming throughout the chimney section. Too bad it’s so short though …

William on the delightful Cafe Au Lait (5.6)

Easily Amused (5.6)

Another short and somewhat fun climb. Sort of run-out, but it’s relatively easy, so no worries. 3 bolts to the anchors.

Glory Jean’s (5.7)

Highlight of the day! What a stellar climb this is; there is a bit of everything on this climb. The traverse at the top is spicy, but oh so fun … I’d recommend that below the anchors (towards the end of the climb) you move left, then back right to the anchors. A direct finish seems improbable, especially at my level. Don’t miss this one!

Cooking diner on Friday

Day 2

The 5.8 Crag

Snake Skin Slab (5.8)

The second day started with a cool climb at the limit of my head space. It was a rough and spooky start of day 2, but I got through it with no hangs, no pump and no falls. A few tricky moves with a safe run-out at the top.

The Terrace (5.8)

A complete bomb of a climb … I disliked it like none other I did over the weekend. It was both unsafe and unfun with all that ledge fall potential. Not recommended!

Crowded 5.8 Crag Saturday morning

Another look at 5.8 Crag

After that, 5.8 Crag had nothing left to offer to the moderate climbers we are. So we headed further up the mountain to Upper Darth Vader which seemed to hold a few nice moderates. This turned out to be the best section for us with 4 great climbs within our range.

Upper Darth Vader

Pee Wee’s Playhouse (5.4 and 5.6)

Great little bolted crack line which if done on the left of the bolts is 5.4 and if done on the right following the crack is 5.6. We did it both ways and found it fun both times. Recommended.

Frosted Flakes (5.7)

William and I waited almost 1 hour for this climb to free up and it was well worth the wait. This one felt a lot more like a Gunks climb than a Rumney climb. Don’t miss this one; a few mention that it is pumpy, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all. Fun moves with nice big holds most of the way.

Blustery Day (5.6)

Another fun moderate. This one is soft of under the radar, but it shouldn’t be missed. Even though it’s short there is a great variety of moves.

Rumney trails are super clear. No bushwhacking here.

Upper Darth Vader Wall.

Jimmy Cliff

We then headed up to Jimmy Cliff to do a few of the great moderates supposed to be up there, but the crag was so crowded that there was no chance at all of us even getting close to them. We did end up going to the left side of the cliff to do a couple easy multi-pitch climbs though. The next time we head out to Rumney, Jimmy Cliff will be our first top to get all those nice moderates ticked.

Lady and the Tramp (5.4)

A cool 2 pitch climb that parallels Clip-a-dee-doh-dah to its right. William lead both pitches in his sneakers and within about 30 minutes, we were done. When we have 2 bolt anchors to work with, we move fast; and with no gear to place, it’s even faster. Recommended!

Standard Route (5.3)

I hadn’t placed any gear all weekend, so I figured we’d also romp back up the slabs through Standard Route. Another route which I wouldn’t really recommend, but it was still somewhat fun nonetheless (at least I was placing gear). I did it with my sneakers and I ran it out placing 3 or 4 pieces per pitch.

William setting up the anchors after a lead in his running shoes

Setting off on P2 of Lady and the Tramp

Topout of Lady and the Tramp

Day 3

Our last day in Rumney turned out to be cold; so much so that a couple of times Sunday morning, we were climbing in light snow flakes. That couldn’t deter us from that last half-day of climbing though. The day started early (again, one of the first cars at the lot) at Orange Crush crag.

Orange Crush and New Wave Wall

Sign from the overflow parking lot

Orange Sunshine (5.5)

When you look up at this climb from the bottom, it looks horrible; wet and full of lichen. But don’t be fooled. This is one of the nicer climbs we did all weekend and luckily for us, a couple guys were just finishing with it and recommended it. If it hadn’t been for them, we would probably have walked off. Don’t miss this one! Great rock with very spice last moves before the anchor.

Couch Potato (5.9)

My hardest lead of the week, and unfortunately, I took a single hang at the last bolt to figure out the top off. This lead taught me something though; that I can definitely get onto those pumpy overhanging 5.10′s which I will be doing on my next visit. A fun, short climb with a lot of jugs to hang off of.

Sixth Sense (5.6)

Not much to say about this one; it’s a climb. It’s moderate. It’s mediocre. But it’s still a climb and I had fun doing it!

Back to The Meadows

Bolt Line (5.8)

Just before heading back home, we decided on a last climb; and what a last climb it was. I found this climb to be absolutely awesome. The movement on it is sooooo precise; technique (for me) was everything! You are always standing on tiny nubs holding on to tiny crimps; but it’s always there it and it always holds. There is a scary runout at the end of the climb, a very scary one for someone getting into the grade. But once it was all said and done, I was a proud little guy! Vigorously recommended!

As a side note, I’d like to congratulate and thank everyone involved in making Rumney what it is. I was shocked at how well everything is setup and how well all the routes are equipped. For a place which is absolutely to climb at, this was surprising to say the least.

Day 1 – The walk in

On Friday, I set out at about 1PM from work to park at the LOJ for a walk up to the Uphill lean-to. The attendant mentioned that the brook was too high to pass on foot and that I should park at South Meadows instead. Obviously, on a weekend planned for over 30 miles of hiking, the extra couple miles didn’t bother me.

I started the hike at about 4:30. My body wasn’t feeling strong because of a very bad flu I had been going through the preceding days. Nonetheless, I was at the Uphill lean-to about 4 hours later, taking the route through Lake Arnold to get there. On the way up, a couple of gentlemen mentioned that Opalescent was impassable. With my tent on me, I figured I’d just stop there and re-assess the next morning if need be. They were right; but I had read the Allen instruction book for winter 2012 and had 2 large plastic bags to cover my legs with. 15 minutes later, I was across. Dry.

The lean-to was already occupied by a group of 3. I rudely setup shop between a couple of them and got to bed early.

Day 2 – Gray, Redfield, Cliff

At 8:30, I was out of bed and ready to hike. Gray was the first target of the day, and I needed to be back at Uphill for 11AM to meet up with a group of hikers joining me to do Redfield and Cliff.

All in all, Gray was done quickly. I was the first one up there in a while so the herd path were mostly covered. I obviously got off track a few times, but in the end, I got to the top at about 9:45. The views were awesome with Marcy and Skylight in full view. After a few minutes at the top taking advantage of the sun, I was off for a quick descent to meet with my group.

At 11:00 precisely, they showed up at Uphill and we were off for Redfield and Cliff; both these were done extremely quickly as well, so much so that at 3:00 we were done. The views on both summits were surprisingly good (I hadn’t heard anything good about these 2 summits).

Day 3 – Marshall

After another shitty night (this time, we were 6 at the lean-to with at least 3 snorers), I set out for Marshall. My legs weren’t as strong as the day before and the ascent towards Marshall was slow to say the least. Nonetheless, I got it done and by 5:00 PM, I was back at my car, totally spent.

The Stats

Gray Peak stands at 4826 feet, Redfield at 4606, Cliff Mountain at 3944 and finally Marshall tops out at 4380 feet. The 3 days combined had me walk about 50 km (30 miles) going up about 7500 feet of elevation gain.

The GPS log data can be seen here (day 1), here (day 2) and here (day 3).

The Photos

I’d heard that the range was difficult and possibly nightmarish in bad conditions. But yesterday, with a beautiful day, broken out trails, early start and a great team with me, the 18 miles were done quickly and with no snags.

Yesterday was the 8th Winter Gathering where the organizers try to put someone on each one of the 46ers in the Adirondacks. I had asked to be on the Santanoni Range team.

Six of us started out at the trailhead at 6:30 after a night spent in Newcomb. But there were much more than 6 of us out there. In my last year of hiking, aside from Cascade, I had never seen as many people on the trails.

Roughly 3 1/2 hours after starting, we were atop Panther. The walk up to Herald Square was constant and in the packed snow, relatively easy. Snow shoes were donned somewhat early in the hike, something that I hadn’t done often this year.

Then commenced the walk down to Couchsachraga. At 11AM, we were at it’s summit and at just over noon, back at Time Square to have some lunch. Again, snow conditions were more than perfect.

Santanoni was then quickly dispatched and at 1:30 we were back on our way to Times Square. Some time was lost on Santanoni trying to find the express way back down, but we figured that the extra few miles weren’t worth the risk of having to bushwhack through spruce traps.

At 2:20, we were back at the Time square and at 4:45, back at the cars.

The Stats

My GPS died for a few minutes of the hike, so the track log isn’t necessary precise. Nonetheless, the tracklog can be viewed here.

Panther Peak stands at 4,442 feet; Couchsachraga at 3,783 feet and Santanoni at 4,606. The hike took us about 10.5 hours and had us walking close to 19 miles (30km). The elevation gain was in the vicinity of 5000 feet.

Current Conditions

As mentioned before, the conditions were perfect. No tricky sections worth mentioning and all water ways were frozen over.

The Pictures

The Tracklog

Exactly 1 year ago, day for day, I had failed to get to the top of Haystack having stopped at Little Haystack. A lack of proper equipment coupled with my courage shrivelling under the extreme winds had me going back to to the LOJ with my tail well tucked between my legs (what a horrible analogy).

Yesterday started pretty much the same way all my hikes begin: Leave home at 5:00AM, border crossing at 6:00, McDonalds and finally the trailhead at just before 8:00.

This time, I used the Garden trail going through JBL, Bushnell Falls and Slant Rock. The hike up to Slant Rock was easy and without anything to report. I had a few problems with my feet after this. First off, with my new boots, I could feel blisters forming on my heels. I quickly stopped and applied Duct Tape therapy to the affected region. 30 minutes later, I could feel my toes getting very cold so I stopped another time to put foot warmers in my boots. Both solutions took care of the problems and I was ok for the rest of the day.

At the bottom of Little Haystack I got ready for the 1.5km of exposition. The day was again very windy. Every step was deliberate and precise; a fall on the ice field that is now the Haystack ridge would have been unfortunate (and that’s under-representing the consequences of a fall). The descent from Little Haystack towards Haystack was nerve racking. My ice axe was useful for the first time.

The top of Haystack was reached at 1:00PM; getting back to the lodge from here was then easy and leisurely. At the JBL, I stopped about 30 minutes chatting with some nice gentlemen who were very curious about these extreme hikes we all do.

The Stats

A 30km (19 mile) hike with 4648 feet of elevation gain done in just under 10 hours. Haystack stands at 4960 feet. The Trimble Outdoors info is here.

Conditions

Snow pack is very hard on the trails. Micro-spikes up to Slant Rock, then full on crampons to the top of Haystack. I changed back into micro-spikes at the JBL. I wouldn’t recommend anything less than crampons on the Haystacks at this point in time.

The Pics

Of note: For different reasons, I’ve been exploring the possibility of changing to doubled plastic boots for my hikes. I rented a pair of Scarpa Inverno’s at the Mountaineer this morning to see how I would fare … I didn’t; the boots hurt my soles as well as the whole of my lower leg. I’ve read great things about the Inverno’s, so I’m thinking it’s just that my foot isn’t adapted to their boot.

Other note: I was sick for this hike; very sick. I knew I should have stayed home … but didn’t. I hadn’t checked the stats for this hike and thought it was an easy one. As it turns out, without being a very hard one, it’s definitely not an easy one (being the second longest I’ve hiked in a day).

The stats

Colvin stands at 4080 feet and is 39th in the list of 46. Blake, even if below 4000 feet still counts, and stands at 3970.

A 26km (16.2 mile) hike done in just over 8h30 mins. The total elevation gain was 1296 meters (4252 feet).

The GPS data can be seen here.

The pics

The tracklog

In bullet point form, here it is:

• I started from Deux-Montagnes at 5:00AM and was at the trailhead by 8:15. At that time the border crossing was a breeze.
• I missed the “Old Nye ski-trail” branch off (concentrating on some music I was listening) and didn’t realize it until I was 2.5km passed it. Add 5km to the normal Street/Nye hike because of this stupid mistake
• I was heading back down from summiting by 12:30 and was back down at the Loj just before 3:00 PM

The stats

• Street Mountain stands at 4150 feet and stands at #31 in the 46er list.
• Nye Mountain is actually below four thousand feet at 3895 feet. You can read about why here.
• The hike was about 20km and was done in just under 7 hours.

The photos

After a prematurely aborted attempt back in September, the timing seemed good for me to attempt a pemi-loop. A solo winter pemi-loop at that. I’d been watching trail conditions and weather reports for the last couple weeks and the stars were definitely aligned.  

Day 1 (Dec 29th) : The long one

The plan was to get to the Garfield campsite on day 1; roughly a 22km hike. A lofty goal considering that I was carrying a 45lbs pack and that I’d gotten a late 9:30AM start (with an early 5:00AM departure from home, it was difficult for me to get started earlier).

The real hiking starts here.

The day is beautiful.

The journey starts off well enough; on the way up to mount Flume, my first target, I’m feeling strong. The pack doesn’t feel all that heavy and my pace is good. Then comes Liberty which I dispatch relatively quickly as well. Things start to slow down on the way up to Lincoln. The un-abating wind which hits me non stop when I get above tree live takes a toll.

At the top of Mount Flume.

From the ridge, looking back at both Flume and Liberty which I hiked earlier in the day.

Looking at Lincoln from LIberty.

On the top of Lincoln, having trouble staying on my feet, I look towards Lafayette then back at the setting sun. I already know that I’ll be getting off the ridge in the dark. And it won’t be fun …

Looking towards Lafayette with the sun getting dangerously low

Un oh ... I'll be coming down Lafayette towards Garfield in the dark ...

Mighty Washington in the back

As I hit the summit of Lafayette, it’s almost dark. Most people start going down towards the hut at this point. Therefore most don’t know (including me) that the ridge continues for another kilometer or so above tree line. Just my luck, if I thought the winds were bad on Lincoln and Lafayette, tonight the winds are even harsher on the north end of the ridge. As I try to hurry towards the tree line, I feel the corners of my eyes, unprotected by goggles because it’s now dark, start to freeze severely. More than once, I’m thrown to the ground by the winds. Because of the darkness, I often lose track of the trail. Finally I hit tree line, mercifully, exactly on target.

Hiking in the dark

Cold and dark

Then begins the moderately steep descent towards Garfield Pond which sits roughly at 3800 feet. A cold night is in view; -25 celsius I’m told by hikers who also spent the night out. I’m exhausted; making it to the Garfield campsite, still 2 miles away won’t be possible. I’d still have to hike up Garfield which is definitely not in the cards for tonight. I setup my tent, boil some water, eat a cliff bar and try to get some sleep. The night will be short, shivering for most of it.

My setup for the cold first night out

Tally for the day: Over 10 hours of hiking, 4 summits (Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette), 20 km (12.64 miles), 5500 feet of elevation gain and 2800 feet of elevation loss.

Day 2 (Dec 30th): The exhausting one

I wake up feeling surprisingly well given the horrible night I just went through. My legs aren’t sore and my back feels fine. After breaking camp I set out for Garfield. Immediately, I realize that stopping where I did the night before was a good thing. The 600 foot ascent towards Garfield is immediate, and somewhat long. I also realize that my legs won’t bring me as far today; they aren’t sore, but they feel like jello.

The summit of Garfield tells me what I already know; the weather is horrible and there will be no views today. I’ll be spending the day in the clouds. Small consolation, it’s not nearly as cold as the day before.

The odd view at the top of Garfield

Once at the top of Garfield, I descend back to 3400 feet at which point starts the horrible Garfield Ridge Trail. An unending series of ups and downs which mercifully stops at Galehead hut. At the hut, I debate with myself if I should do the .4 miles to go tag Galehead. I decide that I’d feel silly if I didn’t. I remove my pack, and fly up, literally, towards the nondescript and boring Galehead mountain summit.

Galehead hut, closed for the winter.

The very un-noteworthy summit of Galehead

Then starts one of the hardest sections of the loop; the ascent towards the 4900 foot South Twin mountain. It involves 1000 feet of ascension in .8 miles. I resorted to use the trick used by mountaineers: 50 steps then rest; 50 steps then rest, … At the top of South Twin, I decide that tagging North Twin wouldn’t be wise; the 1 mile hike in the opposite direction of the Guyot campsite (my target for the day) coupled with the late time of day means that it will have to wait for another time.

The top of South Twin.

Sign at the top of South Twin. I'll be taking the Bondscliff trail.

The surreal ambiance at Guyot

Back to my pack after walking to the top of Guyot

The rest of the trail towards the Guyot campsite is easy enough. I tag Guyot thinking that it counts as a 4000er; it doesn’t … oh well. I arrive at the Guyot shelter just before dark and spend the night there, a much warmer one, with 4 other hikers from Connecticut.

A Whites lean to!

A plaque on the shelter at the Guyot campsite

2 floors in this one.

Tally for the day: 7.5 hours of hiking, 3 summits (Garfield, Galehead, South Twin), 13.5 km (8.3 miles), 3000 feet of elevation gain and 2600 feet of elevation loss.

Day 3 (Dec 31st) : The painful one

The last day is supposed to be the easiest. I’ll be going over the 3 Bonds (West, Bond and Bondcliff) followed by the long descent towards my car. But for some reason, my boots decide that they are about to hurt me and hurt me hard.

The day starts off with the ascent out of Guyot camp followed by the detour towards West Bond. As with the day before, I’ll be in the clouds. Worse yet, the weather is close to freezing, so the snow is sticky and my micro-spikes are continuously clogged. Back on the main trail after doing West Bond, I realize that my heel is hurting. I take off my boot and realize that a blister is forming … not much I can do; I put on a blister patch, tighten up my boots and keep going.

Taking a breather

Next is Bond. Again, I’m in the clouds. Then comes Bondcliff … in the clouds.

Moving towards Bond.

Summit of Bond.

When I get back below the tree line, I stop again to look at my heel; it’s getting worse. At this point, I still have about 14km to hike back to my car. A long and painful one. I need at least 2 hours more than I would normally need to get back. When I take off my boot, I’m presented with the blister to rule them all. I’ll have a good excuse to spend the next few days in slippers at work …

Lincoln Woods trail ... long, boring, straight and flat.

At a river crossing

Finish line: 55km in 3 days.

The after math .... no wonder that 3rd day took me so much time.

Tally for the day: Close to 7 hours of hiking, 3 summits (West Bond, Bond, Bondcliff), 20 km (12.6 miles), 1000 feet of elevation gain and 4100 feet of elevation loss.

Other info

I always appreciate when other hikers share some of the technical info about their hikes.

Pack contents

• Gregory Palissade 80 : 5lbs
• Mountain Hardwear Lamina -30 Long : It’s a 5.9lbs bag. I got the long version so that I could stow my boots and other stuff at the bottom of it during the night to keep everything warm. 
• Marmot Eos 1P tent : 3lbs
• Big Agnes insultated Air Core : ~23 oz
• A wonderfully comfy Cocoon ultralight air-core pillow : 3 oz
• Cooking : 1 liter of white gas, a MSR simmer lite stove and a titanium cooking pot to boil water and melt snow
• Food : 5 dehydrated packs of food, a lot of snacks (I don’t eat a full meal while hiking; I just snack) which includes dried fruits, beef jerky, a cliff bars, cliff shots and jujubes.
• Misc stuff: matches, spare batteries, 2 head lamps, duct tape, large plastic tie-wraps, fire starter, camera, misc medication (nsaid, benadryl, aspirin, …), first aid kit
• Clothing : spare socks and spare mits/gloves.
• MSR Evo Ascent snowshoes (4lbs), micro-spikes and crampons (2lbs): I used micro-spikes for 100% of the trip. 

Annotated pemi-loop panorama