Chatfield Hollows

On Labor Day Pete and I tried our luck at Chatfield Hollows.

Chatfield Hollows is a park in Killingworth, CT that has a quaint little rock climbing spot notorious for its short tough routes. The walls don’t go much higher than 40 feet or so, so the top of the cliff is just about at the same level as the tops of the trees.

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After getting a little lost entering the woods, Pete and I finally found the crag and got started on a 5.5. This would be Pete’s first lead.

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In action. Pete places some gear.

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Pete’s completed his climb.

Now, this was a pretty good route to get a first lead in. The low height and great gear placement was super safe. Also, in an attempt to get some practice placing gear, Pete laced the thing up with protection. Let’s take a closer look at that last picture. I’ve circled gear in red.

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Pete placed a total of 14 pieces of gear in a 30 foot wall. hilarious!

After Pete finished up we went through a few harder routes. Pandemonium, Sirius, and a third that escapes me. They were harder routes… 5.9, 5.9+, and 5.10+.

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Overall, I would describe Chatfield hollows as somewhat magical. It’s off the beaten path so for most of the day Pete and I were alone at the rock. It was sheltered and the Gniess rock was a pleasant break from the typical Trap rock at Ragged Mountain.

Laborless Day

This labor day weekend was overflowing with adventure. First, Saturday.

On Saturday I went to the Gunks with Andreas. The Gunks is a hugely popular climbing spot in NY and Andreas is an extremely intense German. He led a 5.10c like it was a walk in the park. Completely smooth and without hesitation. On top of that, he was humble about his on-sight achievement.

The second pitch of nurse’s aid was rated as a 5.10a… but it was not a 5.10a. At the top there was a “wild hand traverse” which would have been better described as an “insane hand traverse.” Here’s a rough sketch:
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Andreas was unsuccessful in his leading of this portion of the climb. He actually had to make a little aid ladder out of gear. He did it, and eventually got to the top.

I was following, and when I got to the hand traverse I did the most horribly sloppy ascent. First I traversed out about 3 feet. Then I threw my left foot onto a chip in the far corner.

Then I mashed my face against the rock.. jammed my wrist into the crack and pushed down to get my body above the crack.

Then I brought my right foot up and kind of slobberly mushed myself higher. slobberly mush is a pretty good adjective noun combo. Other good adjectives noun combos that could be used to describe my motion might be:

sloppily wormed
grovingly smooshed
squirmingly wriggled

Finally I desperately grabbed for the top and stuck it.

After completing the route a group of climbers who had been climbing next to us spoke up.

climbers: You did a great job with that roof!
Mike D: Ugh. no I didn’t. it was just about as ungraceful as you can get
climbers: Grace? grace doesn’t matter in Trad* This is climbing not figure skating.

We had a good laugh. After nurse’s aid, I led CCK a 5.7/5.9 exposed lead. Once worn out, Andreas and I left the gunks and shared some pizza in New Paltz. It was a great experience and I was happy to spend some time with Andreas.

*traditional climbing

There’s something alive in the fridge. no… seriously.

This weekend was perfect.

Friday night I had a very important kung fu session and I’m pleased that I went. Sijeh Shannon was running class and critiqued my forms to a level beyond any other. It was extremely helpful.

Saturday Dave Susco and I hit up Main Cliff in the early AM. I started with a quick Broadway lead (5.8). Then Dave led a two pitch route: Jessica (5.8+ R). In actuality we never meant to have him start up an R. I was looking at the book, got confused, and we started up the wrong route. That said, it turned out to be the best climb of the day. The top was extremely tricky, and despite it being an R (this means rare gear placement) Dave threw down 6 pieces of protection in 20 feet. And this was absolutely necessary. He ended up taking a pretty big fall right before topping out. I would guess that he fell about 12 feet. It was wild.

The gear held without a problem. The top ended up requiring three consecutive sharp crimps and some creative footwork. It was a blast.

After eventually finishing that route we headed over to Vector and I led that route without too much difficulty. The crux was a thin off width that required a 4 cam. Unfortunately, I’d already used it so I had to run out about 12 feet of rope (not ideal). But I never felt very nervous… I think I will soon be ready for my first attempt of YMC – Main cliff’s infamous 5.9.

Some day I will be leading 5.10s. And that will be a triumphant day.

After climbing Dave and I shared some martial arts knowledge (he does Bando*… a thailand fighting style). It was fun.

Sunday, Shaun L. and I cleaned out the fridge (it was very dirty), I finished my cleaning of the downstairs bath, and we hit up the grocery store.

Good times. Very good times.

*SEE COMMENTS

It’s Just that Journey Puts Me in a Good Mood.

My time in Cape Cod was extremely relaxing. While I only spent 2 full days there, I felt like I was able to fully escape the ties to home. I didn’t use a computer and didn’t feel the need to. There were no e-mails or phone calls. It was bliss.

I drove out on Thursday night. Friday was spent on the beach: flying kites, bicycling, reading like crazy, and swimming. Alicia, Theresa, and Alicia’s fiance Dwane were down there too and we were enjoying our bonding time.

Friday night we had fried fish, watched a movie, and then despite Dwane and my general feelings of laziness we were convinced by Theresa and Alicia to hit up Karaoke.

Theresa started our group off with a thrilling version of Son of a Preacher Man. She was classy and reserved. I had forgotten how nice her voice is and I think the local crowd at the Sea Dog was impressed. Alicia followed her with Call me by Blondie. It was full of energy. She mixed her emotions with angst and the result was a firey explosion of umph.

Then I was called up. I had, obviously, decided to perform Journey. I went with ‘Lights’ my personal favorite and a song with which I feel very comfortable. Despite being tired, when Journey starts playing I have a hard time not rocking out. I put everything I had into it and was told afterwards that my air guitar was wild.

Who were these DiDonato kids who took the local karaoke bar by storm? “Are you some sort of theater troop?” asked the Karaoke DJ.

A few more groups went up as we went through the book. Alicia would do Straight Up, Theresa would do some Cher. I got a tap on the shoulder.

A group of girls wanted to sing Summer Lovin’ but needed a guy’s voice. I gladly participated. And if I do say so myself, I think we did a pretty bang-up job. One of the girls, Cherise, was actually a back up singer for a band. She knew all the harmonies and it stepped the performance up a level.

After that, Tree did ‘Busta Move’ while I danced backup. And Alicia did another. The song escapes me for a moment… which is unfortunate because it was the best of her three. Alicia, determined to get me to spend time with Cherise (I must admit my sisters have good taste, she was cute and had a beautiful voice), signed the two of us up for Sonny and Cher’s “I got you babe.”

Unfortunately, neither Cherise or I knew the tune well, but we got up there anyway and did our best.

Outside of that obscure Karaoke experience in China, this was my first real Karaoke attempt. It was a blast and I hope to be able to get out in CT sometime. Apparently there’s a Rock and Roll Karaoke place in Hartford. I’ll keep you updated.

Anyway, the vacation finished smoothly. We ate smores and played Scrabble on the beach. I came back Sunday for some rock climbing with Pete and Irene. It couldn’t have worked out better.

And last night, as we sat on top of Wet Wall, a 5.6 with a dangerous start, the sun setting made the sky look like Orange Sherbet. It was beautiful and a great conclusion to a sweet break.