8/28/99 - Looking Glass Rock, North Carolina
As told by Wayne
Busch
North Carolina is my favorite state to climb in. It hosts several
of our Southern mountain ranges in it's western extreme, with some
of the biggest rock faces in the Southeast. Looking
Glass Rock is one of the most southern of these mountains with
superb granite faces and domes for climbing. When Karen Van Sickler
asked Black Dog Expeditions to take a group of her coworkers climbing
at Looking Glass, we knew right where to go!
View large group
photo
 Looking
Glass Rock is located in the Pisgah
National Forest, just outside the town of Brevard,
North Carolina. It is about 3 miles long, rising gradually
to it's peak at the North end, host of some of the longest and most
difficult routes. We spent the day climbing at the South Wall, the
most popular area at Looking Glass. It offers opportunities to rig
a lot of top-rope routes, as well many multi-pitch opportunities.
See bigger photo
of camp
 We
arranged campsites for the group of 11 at the Davidson
River Campground. It sits at the edge of the National Forest
on the river, and is comfortably located 1 minute from town, and
15 minutes from the trailhead at Slick Rock Falls. Guides Jason
Hale, Jim Waldrop, and I, arrived Friday afternoon, set up camp,
and headed to town for dinner at El Chapala Mexican Restaurant.
Great food, great prices, highly recommended! Returning to camp,
we greeted each carload as the climbers arrived.
Enlarge image of
Tisha
Saturday morning, we gathered at 08:00. Jim and Jason went ahead
to start rigging climbs. I brought the rest of our group with me
to the Slick Rock Falls Trailhead following registration and outfitting.
The trail climbs steeply at first, then levels off as it winds about
a mile through the forest along a small stream. It becomes steep
again, and rocky as you approach the South Wall. Emerging from the
trees, you look up at an expanse of several hundred feet of gray-white
granite, rolling gently as it rises. The cliff line continues half
a mile to the north, and a ways south as well.
 By
the time our group reached the South Wall, Jason an Jim had rigged
a climb in the "Lichen or Not" area. They quickly established
top-ropes on two more routes including the classic "Lichen
or Not 5.5". We spent the first half of the day on these three
climbs, testing harder versions of each. It was a lot of fun.
After lunch, Jason rigged a line on Bloody Crack 5.8, a challenge
only the experienced climbers completed. He next set a rope
on another long challenge nearby. It was a full day when we packed
up around 6 PM, and hiked our to our cars.
View large photo
of Dan
Enlarge image of
Leslie
 Most
of the group took advantage of the hot showers at he campground
before departing for home at the end of the day. The camp thinned
again as more left after dinner. Sunday morning, left Jim, Jason,
and I, with Karen Van Sickler, Chris Braund, Leslie Cohn, and Jay
Nelson. We split the group; Jason, Jim and Chris went to The Nose
at the North end of Looking Glass Rock. They would spend the morning
climbing Sundial 5.8, 4 pitches, about 450 ft. Leslie,
Joe, Karin, and I returned to the Lichen or Not area. Instead of
top-roping, today we would break free of the ground and go up into
the higher regions of the rock. It was quite a thrill to be almost
three hundred feet off the ground in such a beautiful setting. We
rappelled back to the ground, packed up, and hiked out to our cars.
It was a great day!
See
larger view of Andy
Looking
Glass Rock, NC climbing area page
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