Last weekend I tried Seneca Rocks again. The hike, well, just plain sucks. I mean, I hate it, with a passion. The only thing I have to look forward to is that the second day there we usually only do like 1/4 of it. Thank goodness.
Anyways, so day one we head out and the plan is for me to climb with John and second Old Man's Route (5.4). After the grueling hike, we arrive only to wait while 2 other parties complete the first pitch. But I was ok with that, because I needed a long rest after that hike anyways.
Finally we got going, it was a nice climb. There was one spot that I got a little stuck, needed a take... then saw the foot that I was missing right away and was able to continue. 3 Pitches later we are at the top of traffic jam hanging out while other members of our party headed to the summit. John and I didn't feel the need to do that last little bit so we just hung out and waited. Unfortunately we waited quite a while, then we had to wait some more because traffic jam held up to its name and there were 2 groups with a total of about 6 people in front of us to rappel down. That sucked. I started getting pretty anxious and really just wanted to get down. I think I have discovered what I don't like about multi-pitch climbing. I do not like just sitting at the top and waiting to get down. If we could have rappelled down as soon as we had reached the top, or within 30 minutes, I think I would have been ok and it would have been a good day. But, because I started getting anxious it made it much worse for me on the rappel again and I freaked a little. Plus Steve and I did a Simul-Rappel, and I had never done that before, so I think that made it harder too.
Ok, so day 1 ended, no real issues, other than wanting to get off the rock as soon as possible.
Day 2, short hike, hooray! John lead up the first pitch of Ecstasy Jr (5.4) and I attempted to follow. About 1/3 of the way up... maybe only 1/4 of the way up... I got stuck. I was trying to mantle up over this edge, but the next placement of gear was a tree that was slung about 5 feet to the right of me. So as I'm trying to get up over this thing, I can't get a take or have the rope tight because it will pull me off, and I'm freaking out because if I fall I will swing, a lot. I got so exhausted that I had to take... so I asked for a take, then had to try and down climb a bit, ask for a take again, then finally had to let go and I still swung a little bit and ended up beneath that tree. I tried for another 10 minutes or so, getting increasingly frustrated that I couldn't get up this section. I had barely started, John was waiting at the top, there was a group of 4 waiting to start. I felt so stuck. I was freaking out. I kept trying to tell myself to calm down and think things through but I found myself practically crying and wanting to give up. I told John I didn't know what to do. I kept walking back and forth across that area trying to figure out a way over the ledge. To the left wasn't working, way to the right I lost the current ledge I was standing on. Ugh! I hated that. Finally, I decided to try and climb up directly beneath the tree. There seemed to be better feet and there was a solid hand hold just behind the tree, not to mention there was the tree itself... and, the fact that I was directly below where the rope was clipped it was easier for John to give me a take and keep me really tight while I tried to pull over the top. Finally I made it. Whew! I was really frustrated with myself, but John was very encouraging, as well as the group below me. They had learned my name by that point and were saying good job and what not. That was very nice of them. So then I got through the traverse, which sucked, I was scared, but I went pretty quickly. Then up the rest of the crack. The rest of the climbing was a little challenging, but no major issues like before. I managed to get all the gear out, except this damn tri-nut. But a nice guy rappelling down next to me offered to try and get it out, he was successful. So I was on my way again. I finally made it to the top of the first pitch. I was exhausted and in pain, as just two moves prior to reaching the top I slammed my shin into the rock. Ouch!
After getting to the top of the first pitch, I looked and John and said something like... do you mind if we don't do the 2nd pitch?! :) He was very understanding and was even honest saying that the next pitch was harder so it might be better to just go down. So we did a Simul-Rappel as well and reached the bottom safe and sound.
It was a long weekend, full of a few firsts and a few scares, but it was good. I think I have decided that I don't mind multi-pitch climbing, at least 3 pitches anyways, as long as I don't have to wait hours to rappel down again. I'm not sure about more than 3 pitches, cause I've never done that before, but maybe I can work on adding one pitch at a time and see how much I can stand before going crazy.
That's all for now!
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