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Location: AZ : Central Arizona : Queen Creek Canyon : Northern Devils Canyon
By: Ronin When: Apr 29, 2013 | view comment >> |
Comments: Maybe it's just the perspective of remembering when the trails were great, instead of "not that bad".
Glad you got to check out the new hardware. Unfortunately, I left some of the anchors in place when we got rained out. Cheers to anyone who finds my booty... hope the biners find good homes!
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Rock Your World (5.10c PG13)
By: Ronin When: Apr 22, 2013 | view comment >> |
Comments: Hmmm... maybe because the first bolt is very high off the deck, at the top of a shattered set of natural steps?
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Black Magic (5.12d)
By: Ronin When: Mar 29, 2013 | view comment >> |
Comments: Sorry for the delay... I had to find a towel to wipe off all the spray.
I know a little bit about Franklin; started climbing there in '91, put up Belly of the Whale, Hard Thing, Franklinstein, Wintermute, and Oddyseus. Along the way, Mike Fisher and I also created the first draft of the existing trail, and I organized the first Trail Daze, since the dozens of Access Fund members who routinely trampled the place were too busy meeting each others' crag dogs and getting their free T-shi... more >>
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Black Magic (5.12d)
By: Ronin When: Mar 12, 2013 | view comment >> |
Comments: Sorry... a bolted 12d with a tree anchor, in a place where NO OTHER BOLTED ROUTE has a tree anchor? I'm sure the landowners are going to love all the extra people climbing onto the plateau, either finishing this route or to try to set a TR to work it for their 8a.ego tick.
This is why Mike Fisher and I have gone to the trouble and expense of replacing all those tree anchors with climbing anchors.
Please be responsible enough to do the same.
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Location: AZ : Central Arizona : Queen Creek Canyon : Northern Devils Canyon
By: Ronin When: Mar 10, 2013 | view comment >> |
Comments: Trail update 03/10/2013:
Having hiked through the canyon via several trails in the last three months, let the guy who built most of the first trails back in the mid-90s offer a word of advice:
Every "direct approach" trail leading to and from the Amphitheater, Pocket Plaza, or the Stormwatch Area is eroded, overgrown, and otherwise in complete disrepair. I don't know or truly care whether this comes from the impact of herds of free range cattle (a major problem) or the fact that 99 out of 100... more >>
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Location: AZ : Central Arizona : Queen Creek Canyon : Northern Devils Canyon : The amphitheater : Bakefest in america (5.8)
By: Ronin When: Feb 22, 2013 | view comment >> |
Comments: Yes, five bolts... is there a problem with that? When I put the route up in the first place, it seemed like more than enough...
A great line, but don't miss the other faces of this tower: Angelicus (considered by some folks to be one of the best 5.9s in the canyon) and Madame Guillotine, the heady 5.10 on the north face.
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Location: WV
By: Ronin When: May 19, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Bridge construction is currently making the entrance to the Franklin Gorge crag a bit of challenge through the week, as is the fact that they are digging and blasting fill out of the back of the outcrop that looms overhead as you reach the one-lane bridge on the drive in. Not sure what this means to future access.... there's a good chance this road will be abandoned by the county and even gated by the landowners.
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Location: WV
By: Ronin When: May 19, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Best camping for Franklin Gorge: Thorn Springs Park and Campground. Take 33 West from the crag entrance on River Gap Road. Turn left at the 33W/220N intersection light, and follow 220 south for three miles to Dry Run Road, at the old Pendleton Co. Industrial park, now home to the DMV and DHHR.
Turn left on Dry Run (since turning right means an instant collision with a steep bank) and follow around a bend, past a gorgeous bed and breakfast (up for sale) and a set of tantalizing limestone cli... more >>
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Edge-u-cation (5.10c)
By: Ronin When: May 15, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Actually, the route is "Edge-U-Cate", and the area is the end of the Impact Zone. Coming soon: a guidebook that was actually written by someone who put up routes and built trails at Franklin, as well as being written with the landowners' knowledge and consent, something NO OTHER guidebook can claim... even the one written by the famous guy...
Stay tuned for more...
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Bircham's Beach (5.10a)
By: Ronin When: Dec 2, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: This route is 10b and has always been 10b... never did figure out who thought it was 10a... probably one of the folks who put it in a Falcon Press guide without contacting any of the FAs....
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Belly of the Whale (5.7+)
By: Ronin When: Dec 2, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Route now has 5 bolts, all new, with a lower first bolt added by FA. PLEASE stop TRing this line through the anchors... carabiners cost one HELL of a lot less than ring anchors.
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Unknown 5.10c (Roadside) (5.10c)
By: Ronin When: Dec 2, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Sounds like Limestoned....
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge
By: Ronin When: Sep 29, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: All routes have now been restored with new bolts and hangers to replace the junk hardware used in some of the original installations. New routes have gone up and the trail is in better condition than ever, with a new set of stone and mortar steps (courtesy of Eubanks Renovation's Ryan Eubanks and the NoVa/D.C. Crew and with a little help from yours truly), new trails around Blood Sweat and Chalk (thanks to Amber Childress and Whitney Moss), and an increased police presence in the parking lot to ... more >>
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Location: WV
By: Ronin When: Sep 29, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: "Due to rainy weather..."
We just came out of a three-month dry spell which began to border on last year's drought. WV, lke most other places on earth, gets a lot of rain in the spring and pretty dependable precip in the winter. It is steep and rocky, so it doesn't dry out as fast as the desert, but I climbed on dry rock for the last two days after a week of rain every day (which was the end of the dry spell, and not a routine event).
"...crazy locals..."
Trying to remember the last time on... more >>
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Location: WV : Eagle Rock Climbers' Benefi...
By: Ronin When: Sep 24, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: For more about Eagle Rocks and Smoke Hole canyon, check us out at:
www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/West>>>
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Location: WV : The Second Franklin Trailda...
By: Ronin When: May 16, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Wow... it's like deja vu... this is JUST LIKE the event I submitted, sometime back in April... except that it has Andy's name on it... Oh, well... at least it got submitted.
Hope to see some of you folks there... maybe even the guy who almost copied my text from RC.com word for word when he posted the Franklin area on this website without including any route beta or mentioning it was private land...
Speaking of which, to better facilitate trailwork and hardware replacement, the main crag will... more >>
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Location: WV : Franklin Gorge : Photo
By: Ronin When: Apr 30, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: It probably felt like a 5.5 up to there because you were climbing on the crap rock to the right of the bolts, instead of following the solid holds to the left. Or you are a colossal sandbagger. That's my line "Wintermute", lad, and it's really only 5.8+ anyways, but it's always fun to hear folks offroute dis on our lines at Franklin.
Cheers-
Mike Gray/Ronin
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Location: TN : Sunset Park : Climber Access Threatened a...
By: Ronin When: Apr 28, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: "...the park service cited numerous negative incidents involving climbers, including loudness (Sunset is in a residential area), blocking trails with ropes and gear, and unruly dogs."
First off, I've owned more than one dog in my life, and lived with more than a few. I love them IN THEIR PLACE, which is not at the crag. Period. Dogs do not understand staying on the trail, do not assist in climbing in any way, do not understand what "Rock!" means. They dig holes when they are hot. They chas... more >>
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