The Rich People ........ (at Laurel Knob)

It's strange looking down, watching people come out and check their mail ....  while you're on a giant 900-ft multi pitch rock climb.   

Those houses are ugly, and I won't even get into the walk-off versus rap issue that also relates to the rich people.

the jealous people (at mountain project)

I am sure that a lot of rich people helped to purchase Laurel knob. The topout out doesn't have to do with rich people it has to do with someone owning the property. I am not rich but I don't want people walking through my yard all day. Are you sure insulting the landowner's on a public forum will help public relations? You come off as super entitled.  

At least we are allowed to legally climb there now.

I think the next CCC fundraiser should be to buy a home adjacent to the crag and turn it into a hostel, similar to the AAC bivy huts in the Northwest. 

I'm kinda not even kidding, even though I'm sure the HOAs out there probably have rules against it. Maybe if they instated a dress code and noise ordinance?

I definitely didn't mind the approach (went for the first time last Friday), but it definitely rubs it in your face hearing weed eaters and construction a quarter mile away.  

A few more years of Trump and we'll all be ready to go French revolution on them. 

I had a BLAST climbing at Laurel Knob in the spring! I am so grateful that there is access for climbing! Support your local climbing advocacy groups!

Work hard and invest wisely and you can be rich, too!

In a sadistic kind of way, I almost like the long approach. Keeps out the riff raff

Mark O'Neal wrote:

In a sadistic kind of way, I almost like the long approach. Keeps out the riff raff

I've always liked the hike too, especially after improving the (original) horrendous descent section. The best LK climbers I know do the long hike in - good for strengthening the 'ole calf muscles...

Talk about open mouth, insert entitlement...It's nice to see people with absoutely no clue what it takes to achieve and maintain access pop off like some kind of stud!  Russ, be thankful that crag is even available for you to climb at instead of sounding like a six year old girl bitching about her brother's foot being on her side of the car!!!

https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/fight-laurel-knob-showcases-power-climbing-community

Luke R 84 wrote:

I think the next CCC fundraiser should be to buy a home adjacent to the crag and turn it into a hostel, similar to the AAC bivy huts in the Northwest. 

I'm kinda not even kidding, even though I'm sure the HOAs out there probably have rules against it. Maybe if they instated a dress code and noise ordinance?

I definitely didn't mind the approach (went for the first time last Friday), but it definitely rubs it in your face hearing weed eaters and construction a quarter mile away.  

Actually, a property in an adjacent subdivision came up on the market recently, but the HOA regulations would have prevented a parking area so we turned it down. Well, that and the $300,000+ price tag. Lots of places you can go climb if the local landowners aren't your type of people. All we ask is that if you are climbing at Laurel that you are respectful of their private property and considerate to any locals. Not much to ask for access to one of the proudest cliffs on the East coast.

Brad Caldwell wrote:

Talk about open mouth, insert entitlement...It's nice to see people with absoutely no clue what it takes to achieve and maintain access pop off like some kind of stud!  Russ, be thankful that crag is even available for you to climb at instead of sounding like a six year old girl bitching about her brother's foot being on her side of the car!!!

Hahaha more of this from You! Hell you could buy 15 parking lots for 300,000!! Stop bitching about the bitching Brad you're like the 9 year old brother that won't move his foot 

"At first, the Jennings Family, the folks who owned Lonesome Valley, the long scoop in the land at the base of Laurel Knob, allowed climbers on their land. The arrangement didn’t last long, though. When a dirtbag started homesteading at the base of the cliff, the sheriff came to chase him off, running the squatter out and over a wooden bridge. The climber took a tumble, breaking his leg, and before he was off crutches, he was suing the Jennings Family for having mortal risks on their property. Mr. Jennings felt he had no choice but to close the cliffs."

There always a jackass around to ruin things... This is why we can't have nice things.

Russ Keane wrote:

I won't even get into the walk-off versus rap issue that also relates to the rich people.

If you think only rich people make things inconvenient for climbers, you need a crash course in the history of climber access in the south as a whole; a good start would be the sad fate of Steele.

JL

Climbers don't need anyone to blame for losing access but themselves.  As a group we don't know how to behave...  Just look at Woodland Wall in WV.  The limestone company was perfectly happy letting us climb there, but we insisted on parking people in, in their own driveways.  (because of course our right to climb there trumps their right to be able to get out of their own driveway)  So of course they complained..  And Greer was forced to shut it down... Evil mining company - I think not... more like Dumbass climbers...

Give the guy a break. As a long time Laurel climber, I do miss the days when that epic hike led you to a cliff where the nearest house was barely visible. You really felt out there. Like most of Cashiers Valley, these McMansions are unoccupied for most of the cooler months. I remember being out there one time when they were putting on a roof. The constant hammering all while being runout was an extra challenge. When I did let out a hoot after completing the hard sequence, the roofers replied my shared enthusiasm. I agree that it would be nice to have less of these houses in the places we climb to detract from the natural beauty. Now climbing predominantly in that area, you pretty much just get used to these types of scenes.

The worst display I have seen from these types of properties is below Wild Cat. When the contractors finish these properties, they often discard the trash off the cliff. We found a full weed whacker one day. There is also tar stains down the cliff. At least the houses at Laurel are below the cliff! You could be dodging landscaping debri instead of run outs.

I plan to go to Laurel soon and don't mind hiking for sweet, tall rock 3 hours from Atlanta.  Big props to the CCC and Access Fund for the access.  I know we'd all prefer that everything was pristine, had a nice road going to it, wasn't crowded, and let us do whatever activities we wanted but unfortunately there's not enough space/resources for everyone to do that.

saxfiend wrote:

If you think only rich people make things inconvenient for climbers, you need a crash course in the history of climber access in the south as a whole; a good start would be the sad fate of Steele.

JL

In Cashiers: "Rich People" (wah).

--- makes for an invigorating hike in/out.....which I have done, on occasion, four or five times some weekends.  As for the ease of a bottom parking area.....likewise, keep those riff raff out. If you can;t bust out the hike, you don't need to be 1,000' off the deck on a complex sea of granite. Go to Sandrock. 

At Steele: 'Mater Farmers. 

--- once you traipse tomato fields in favor of easy access, on the most tomato-producing stretch of land in the SE, it makes for a very narrow strip of climbable cliff . Them boys'll git ya. 

I don't think the hike in/out is as bad as the fact that you have to rappel the whole cliff. Rappelling is time consuming and can be the most dangerous part of the climb, especially in a sea of granite where a lot of the features look similar at first glance. At some crags you can't avoid a rappel, but at Laurel it just seems like a kick in the nuts when all it would take is a narrow strip of land eased at the top for a trail.

The hike in/out to the CCC kiosk is fine, welcome even. But rapping the cliff just to have to walk back up next to it makes whoever owns the land at the top look hyper sensitive/overly protective of their views/liability/whatever. It wouldn't surprise me if that were the case given the plethora of needlessly gated driveways you see on the way up.

Of course, this is all just whining, in the end. I am sure the CCC did everything they could to make Laurel Knob as convenient as possible. Things are what they are. I am happy that we are able to climb at Laurel Knob at all, and will happily do those raps and go up those switchbacks to be able to climb such an awesome rock.