Summary

When:   10/4/2009
Where:   Pilot Mountain, NC
Who:   Lisa Lorenzin
What:   Duracell (5.8)
   Oscar Myer (5.10)
   My Husband is Going to Kill Me (5.7)

Description

Got to the parking lot just before 10am. There were a couple vans there so it looked like it was going to be a busy day with groups swarming the rock. (We passed one group gearing up and getting a lecture -- probably about safety -- as we hiked down the trail.) Decided to try climbing at the Copper Top area because we hadn't been there before, and it had looked short-but-interesting last time we were at Pilot.

Lisa and I each took a radio, and with her guidance, I found the top of the routes and setup a top rope anchor off two trees on the easier side of the wall to start on. I rappelled down, hanging my pack from my harness.

We climbed a couple variations on the easier left side. We were probably on Duracell, but it really didn't feel like 5.8 climbing. I topped out and moved the anchor over, having Lisa send up some of my trad gear. Made an anchor using one (smaller) tree, one tricam back in a vertical crack, and one Camalot to the right in a horizontal crack. This moved us to the right along the wall a few more feet. Once again, I rappelled back down.

Climbed then decided to move the anchor over some more. I climbed up, hung from the anchor (weigh on one piece with a (slack) backup to another) while I re-tied the BFK and re-equalized the three points without reseting them. I did this once more to move us over a few more feet later. These two different anchor points brought us to some variations of Oscar Myer.

We never had any competition for the routes we were on, although we had a few people wander by, heading on one direction or the other. Had lunch of PBJ and some snacks then decided to move to something else. I hiked up Three Bears Gully to take the anchor down while Lisa headed up the cliff band to check on routes that were open.

Lisa camped out at the base of Husband while I hiked up the trail and found the top (on my third try after overshooting it in each direction). I was tired and moving slowly while setting up the anchor. The setup is relatively easy since there are two bolts with rap rings, but they are down a few feet on the wall right at the cliff edge. I made sure to get safe before playing at the edge. Ended up scrambling/lowering myself down to the ledge before the bolts ... then I realized I'd left one cordelette at the top out of reach so I had to climb back up and then scramble down again. Not exactly what my lizard brain wanted me to be doing. I eventually got the anchor all setup and rappelled down, once again dangling my pack from my harness.

Lisa climbed once, then I climbed. I was tired, but it actually felt pretty good, and I enjoyed the climb. The Copper Top wall is pretty short (about 30-40') while Husband is taller (about 80') so it was nice to have a more sustained route. Lisa climbed a second time so she could try a different variation at the top. When she got to the top, she derigged the anchor and rappelled back down so we could pull the rope.

It was 4:45pm at this point. We decided not to setup another route. Instead we hiked on up the trail and scouted a bit for some other moderate routes we haven't climbed before. We found the area, but I'm not we found the actual routes. After that, we hiked the other way to go find Scott Millbern and Christine Neuper down at The Beach area. We played with Finn and someone else's dog while waiting for them to finish up, then we all hiked out, getting to the parking lot around 6pm. We all headed to Guatalajara #2 in Winston-Salem to meet Jeff Dillon, Nancy, Pheobe, and their friend Mika (sp?) for dinner.