Spring 2003 has been, well, wet.  Climbing is a matter of watching the weather  forecast and dodging the raindrops. Reminds me of Wales....

April 12th finds me at Seneca with Garrett.  An early morning trip from State College gets us to the rocks before 9, on a fine sunny day.  We rope up at the base of Candy Corner (5.5).  This beautiful corner just gets better and better the higher you go.  Right before the crux there is a big shelf off to your right, where the wimpish leader (me) can look around and convince himself that all the alternatives to the correct route are much worse (to say nothing of being unaesthetic).  The crux move is easy enough, but exciting.  A small foothold on the very outside edge of the corner, and a horizontal break in the opposite inside wall, provide a perfect stemming opportunity.  A blue alien was thoroughly fixed at the crux: witness to some previous leader's nervousness, or worse.  On up then, and bear right to the belay platform of Skyline Traverse, which we'll follow to the top of the South End.

Later in the day we head for Green Wall (5.7).  I think we started the first pitch wrong; below and to the right of where we should have been.  Traversing left to get to the initial corner, Garrett takes a fall.  The rope comes taut just as his feet land on my shoulder.  But we are both undamaged and he goes on to complete the pitch.  Seconding, I slip on the bouldery corner itself, but climb it on the second attempt.  Now we are at the base of the main climb and we can see it's a beautiful pitch; but the adrenaline is wearing off and we agree to leave it for another day.  We rap down.

June 2nd is the next time back, this time with Dan.  After a late start we are at the base of Ecstasy Junior (5.4) at around 1 pm.  I really enjoyed this climb which has a little of everything: a traverse, a crack, a corner, an overhang, a face...  Even a cave, but I think going through it would be a BAD idea.     The main crack is wide in some places and one needs to be creative with gear.  A couple of rusty pitons offer only psychological protection and precious little of that.  There are good placements though - including a nice thread up to the right just before the overhang.  Memo to self: leading on double ropes does not mean you have to place twice as much gear!  An excursion on Humphrey's Head fills out the rest of the day.  Back to camp at Seneca Shadows.   Tuesday morning: Rain again.