The trip home from the Adirondacks was sad and uneventful. I hate leaving there almost as much as I hate leaving the FInger Lakes and going back to Binghamton. Maybe the actual problem is just that I hate Binghamton.
We got home to unpack but I just unpacked one bag to repack another in order to answer the question “Also, did you want to play hooky and come climb with me and Danni on Tuesday the 12th?”
The answer to this question was obvious: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We arrived in New Paltz by 9am and parked in the West Trapps area. The attendant wasn’t there yet but there are envelopes to put $20 in with your information in order to purchase a pass. The walk up to the Carriage Road is all steep stones piled like steps that has the odd feel of man made and accident. At the top our trip leader said that would be the toughest part of the day. But it wasn’t.
We walked the Carriage Road to the lower end of the cliff and started climbing. First “In the Groove” and then “Bonnie’s Roof” with a switchover to the “KIng’s Throne.” At that point we were running out of daylight but managed a rapel on Ursula which we then top roped before rappelling the rest of the way down.
The weather was perfect. The climbing was hard and scary but I barely took a single picture because I was too busy living it.