Governor’s Stable

The weather this weekend was as close to perfect as you get in Pennsylvania in August. Sunny, breezy, no humidity, high 70′s etc. We decided to take the kids to Governor’s Stable, a bouldering area in Central PA that is right near Elizabethtown College and Three Mile Island.

Access to Governor’s Stable

For those that haven’t been to GS before, access to this area has been obtained through the hard work of the Friends of Governor’s Stable organization. Information can be found on their website. Memberships are available (we happen to be charter members with a 3 year pass) but day passes can also be purchased online. The kiosk at the entrance is looking great and the instructions make it quite clear that payment, a waiver, and sign in is required to access the area.

The Approach at Governor’s Stable

This trip was a lot easier than earlier trips as the kids walked the entire way. The hike in is as much of an adventure as the climbing, as there are tree stumps to protect the trail (it’s a muddy/swampy area after rain). It was quite the adventure, as C & R jumped from tree stump to tree stump the entire way in. From the park parking lot to the first boulder is well under a mile, with a bridge crossing, plank walking, and the aforementioned stump jumping along the way. The first portion of the hike is along the road (less than 400 meters) and there isn’t much of a shoulder, but there isn’t much traffic either.

Poison Ivy

Warning: Watch out for poison ivy and know what it looks like, as there is a good bit of it around. They’ve done a great job of clearing it off the trail area and away from the immediate climbing boulders, but it is out there and should be avoided.

Climbing at Governor’s Stable

While we usually stop at the warm up boulders on the way in (there’s a great area for the kids to play), we’ve gotten stuck there for hours in the past as the kids love the big flat boulder that they can play on and jump off. We skipped it this trip and went straight for some of the climbs we don’t get on very often. We went to the area known as Moby’s and friends to start. The kids love climbing the slab that is the top portion of the Moby’s Dick problem an they managed to smear up that for a bit before hanging out at the top of the boulder (picture above).

While they snacked, I climbed the v3 ish Minky Mantle (I started to the right) which went pretty quickly after a few warm up tries. We also messed around on Moby’s Dick, but didn’t give it a real try, as that is where the kids were climbing.

After an hour or so of lunch, climbing, and hanging out on top of the Moby’s Dick boulder, we packed up and hiked over to the Bread Loaf arete. I love this climb but can’t seem to top it out – it’s a head game for me, as the crux (for me) is quite high and I’m disinterested in turning an ankle (let it be known that the landing is flat, so I’m just being a bit whiner). The Bread Loaf Arete (v4ish) climb lost a hold in January but it is apparently not any harder (just headier. . . ).

After another kid climb on the backside of the Breadloaf Arete, we decided to call it a day. On the hike out, C ran theentire way, trying to beat her dad and brother. It was amazing. I could barely keep up (with the crash pad).

All in all, a successful day at GS with not too much climbing, but a lot of family adventure fun!

Roadside Closure at Red River Gorge

Reading the many comments on this week’s closure of the Roadside Crag at the Red River Gorge (see post by Planet Granite and article by Climbing Narc) I’m compelled to write about our fall climbing trip to the Red River Gorge and my own view on these access issues.

We visited the Red over Thanksgiving with our two kids. Our first day we climbed Military Wall. When we first arrived, no one was around, however, the traffic on the easier routes quickly picked up. A group of people set up three ropes and camped out there for a few hours as everyone in their group (8 people or more), ran up and down the routes. It made for a bit of a frustrating day, as we would have liked to climb on that wall a bit more but we moved to a less populated area with some harder climbing so as to keep the kids from bothering others.

The second day, we climbed a bit at the Roadside crag. We found the drop off a bit scary for our young kids so we only stayed for a few climbs. While at Roadside, we hung the hammock between two boulders in the shade so that C could take a nap. Traffic to the area was relatively low because the weather was quite cold. As far as I know, we (there were four of us plus two kids) weren’t bothering anyone while at Roadside. No trash was left. The hammock was out of the way. We carried out biological waste etc. Still, we only ran into a few other people. . . more climbing traffic would certainly have made things different (and difficult).

Again, we would have left so that we weren’t disrupting others with our hammock or the kids. I think that this desire to avoid the bottleneck areas, the areas that are high in traffic and socializing is a viable solution to the overcrowding encountered at some crags. When too many people are in an area at once, the area becomes the equivalent of a climbing gym.

Contrary to the loud music and the large crowds seen at some areas (in this case, at Roadside) the crags are not our local gym. They are wilderness and nature. Climbing is not a right in those areas, it is a privilege.

Here’s a link to the Roadside Crag owners’ original post with a list of the reasons for issuing this closing. I’ll summarize below:

The landowners are climbers. They are trying to protect the crag and the land. They are not predisposed (like many non-climbing landowners) to disliking climbers. The basic reasons for the closer are (according to their post) as follows: 1. Someone has hung homemade permadraws. And not even good ones. The fix – as requested by the owners – take them down. 2. Someone else has bolted a new line. And apparently a chossy one at that. The fix – take it down. Those are the easy items. No more permadraws, no more new lines.

The third point that was raised upon the closure of Roadside had to do with climbing traffic and a lack of respect for the land. Here is a quick summary of that issue (as I see it). Three things combine to make areas attractive to the masses. 1. Large climbing areas with lots of bolted routes. 2. Easy accessibility (no approach) 3. High volume of classic but easy routes.

Instead of waiting until landowners restrict and/or cap the number of climbers in an area, can’t we expect climbers to self-regulate and move on when they arrive at a crowded crag? That’s what we do. We have our own reaons: We don’t want to disturb people with the kids and we don’t want our kids to hear the cursing and random conversations that may not be kid friendly. We don’t ask others to edit, we just move on.

I completely understand that dogs, hammocks, erosion etc., can be problematic at crags. But they are particularly a problem at crowded crags. So my solution is to avoid the crowds. Still shoot for “leave no trace” but hike a bit further or climb a route that isn’t quite as popular. Save the popular areas for a random weekday or a different (less popular) season.

That’s my solution for the third problem at Roadside (and other popular crags). I think that’s what the owners are trying to get us to do. Too bad they had to restrict access to accomplish that.

Now I’m off to research best practices for “Leave no Trace” hiking/climbing as I’m pretty sure that I need a brush up. I really want to hang my hammock. . .