Trip Reports - 5/8/99 - Linville Gorge, NC - "Follow the New Leader"

"I've bought a rack, and I need to break it in" wrote Chase Crowson, a fellow Flatliner living in Atlanta, Georgia.

Enlarge photo of Chase

"Then we should head for Table Rock!" I wrote back. We compared schedules, and matched up a few days on the first weekend in May. It took no coercion at all for Chris Braund to slip away from Columbia, South Carolina, and join us  for the day Saturday. It would turn out to be a wonderful weekend. I envied the relatively short (four hour) drives my partners would have as I set out Friday evening for Table Rock, North Carolina, from Gainesville, Florida. At nearly 580 miles, it's one of the longest drives I regularly make for a "weekend" climbing trip, but worth the effort. I paused for some sleep at a rest stop in South Carolina around 11 PM, then resumed my journey at 3:30 AM Saturday morning. Chase and Chris were ready in the parking lot when I pulled in around 8 AM.

See larger view of Table Rock

We selected the "Cave Route 5.5*" as a suitable climb for Chase to get warmed up on. It's probably the most popular route at Table Rock. The first pitch is bolted, the second takes gear well. Chase led both pitches to the Lunch Ledge, with assurances from both Chris and I he had done a fine job. Gear placements were solid, the rope ran clean, his anchor setups were good.

Chris led our next route, named My Route 5.6*, from the Lunch Ledge to the summit. The first pitch is bolted, then mounts a small roof, with a scramble to the top via a series of  mossy ledges. Again a fine, fun route. It was unusually clear that day, the pink azaleas were blooming everywhere, the sun shone warm. A picture perfect day. We admired the distant horizons for a while before descending the foot trail that leads to the base of the mountain.

View larger image of Chase on The Cave Route

You guys wanna see Devil's Cellar? I asked. "Its on the way..." Devil's Cellar is located on the "backside" of Table Rock, a narrow chasm formed between the cliff faces of the mountain and an enormous buttress of stone. Descending from the summit on the mile long hiking trail to the parking lot, we detoured onto a side trail that led around the west face of the mountain. It led up to the mouth of the Devil's Cellar. I showed my partners what I knew of the area, then we dragged out the guidebook to see what the rock had to offer.

Enlarge image of Chase on My Route

Water still cascaded down several likely routes from a rainstorm last night limiting our selection.  I spied Quiver 5.7+ *, a nice traversing route up the buttress, but started it by challenging the bulging roofs of Raining Again 5.10. Once above the roofs, it is easy to divert left onto Quiver. It was a fun route with some unique challenges. We all enjoyed and recommend it.

View larger image of Devil's Cellar

We finished the day back on the east side of Table Rock, on another new route for us all, Blood, Sweat, and Tears 5.7*. Chris took the lead again on this single pitch route. We rappelled back down to the trail, and hiked back to the parking lot for dinner. Chris would have to leave in the morning, but what a day to remember. Warm, sunny, clear, just enough breeze, great routes, good company, all the best things of climbing.

See larger image of Quiver

Sunday left Chase and I with another clear warm day. It was an opportunity that was too valuable to waste, a good time to head down into Linville Gorge. We'd done the six pitch ascent of the Prow 5.4 here last year, and Chase was eager to get on more of the long and spectacular routes in this remote and beautiful wilderness. It takes about 45 minutes to hike to the area known as the Amphitheater, a large side canyon off the main gorge hosting many classic climbs.

See large photo of Chris and Chase

We scrambled down the slippery descent gully onto the sloping floor of the canyon. A small waterfall coursed down from the head of the gully, lively from the recent rain, and cascaded through the tangled rhododendrons downward towards the Linville River at the base of the canyon. We spent some time exploring a trail along the South wall of the Amphitheater (a.k.a. we were lost for a while), then rejoined the main trail to descend to the base of the Mummy Buttress. This monolith holds the two most popular routes in the area, The Mummy 5.5* and The Daddy 5.6*. We were fortunate to be the first ones to The Daddy, a new climb for both of us . The climb went well, with Chase leading the first two pitches, and me the next three. Great climb, great time. We celebrated with lunch on the top.

View large photo of The Mummy Buttress

We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting at the base of The Mummy. We attempted to rappel to the base so we could climb the route, but one of our ropes got stuck. We made it to the bottom of the climb, but were stuck there. A party had started up the route, and we would have to wait for them to move ahead of us. We were lucky enough that they freed our rope from the top of the second pitch. We were unlucky enough to lose our enthusiasm for the climb, as the hour was getting late. We scrambled out of the gorge and hiked back to the parking lot. Dinner, and quiet night followed.

View larger photo of Chase on The North Ridge

We awoke Monday with an ambitious list of climbs to tackle on Table Rock before we left at noon. We started with The North Ridge 5.5*, to be led by Chase. The plan was to climb to the end of the second pitch, rappel back to the ground, and move on to the adjacent climb White Light 5.8+. Things did not go as planned. When Chase asked me which crack the second pitch followed, I misdirected him to the right. Oops. Too long since I last climbed this route. The detour caused him to miss the next belay ledge entirely, and run up to the summit. Now we were stuck. No good anchor presented for returning to the bottom of the North Ridge. We would instead, have to rappel down the East face of the mountain, and hike back to retrieve our gear left at the base of the climb. By the time all this transpired, noon was upon us. We returned to the parking lot, and headed into Morganton for lunch at El Chapala, a Mexican restaurant on the outskirts of town. Good food, inexpensive, and they'll even serve smelly climbers. We said good-bye after lunch, and returned to the Interstate Highway for the trip home.

Enlarge photo of Wayne

Submitted by Wayne Busch

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