Breakfast at the Top
Our plan was to climb High Exposure in the dark and have breakfast with coffee at the top.
It’s one of the more “classic” routes in the Gunks and very difficult to get a chance to climb it. You either wait in line forever, or get up really really early and be the first.
Why not make the experience even more classic by climbing it in the pre-dawn light, then have breakfast at the top as the sun finally rolls over the horizon?
Sooooo, if the sunrise is roughly 6:45 am:
- What time do we get up?
- Where do we get breakfast?
- What time do we go to bed?
- How long to get to the parking lot from the motel?
- How long to get to the climb from the parking lot?
- How long to do the climb?
- How cold will it be?
It was supposed to be in the 30’s – pretty freaking cold compared to the weather lately, so bring/wear lots of climbable layers.
We got to the motel at 10:30. Got to sleep by 11:30. We weren’t getting up before 5 am, so that dictated our schedule from there.
McDonald’s drive through is open 24hrs up there, so we stopped and got 4 large cups of coffee (to drink on the way there and fill the thermos for the climb) and a bunch of breakfast sandwiches to eat on the way and eat up top.
Got to the parking lot around 6 am. It was already half full.
Got out and started hiking in.
The view was beautiful. The pre-dawn light was enough that we could see the valley completely filled with fog. Through the fog we could see individual street lights glowing like globes at the bottom of a shallow pond. It was mesmerizing. Whether we did the climb at all, we’d already seen something amazing.
The picture hardly does it justice.
We got to the base of the climb (first of course) plenty warm enough, but realized dawn was fast approaching. Oh well. Make the best of it.
While Scott geared up to lead, I packed our remaining breakfast in my backpack to carry up. By the time he started to climb, we didn’t need our headlamps.
The first pitch was mostly uneventful for both of us. I realized on the hike in my vertigo was in pretty bad shape. Either a newly strengthened infection or just lack of sleep had me weaving a little as we walked the carriage path in the dark. No matter. I took my time with the climbing (which wasn’t all that difficult), and managed a pretty decent ascent by even non-vertigo standards.
By the time we both completed the first pitch, the sun was completely over the horizon.
We took lots of pictures.
Onto the second pitch. Scott started up and I was able to get a picture as he set the first piece of gear.
Then it was onto “the move”. The routes crux is known as “the move”, because it’s not particularly difficult as a crux usually is, but mind bending none the less.
In this picture Scott has already completed “the move” and set his protection. The move itself involves climbing up to the ledge on which he stands, squishing yourself under the roof at his knees, then reaching up behind you into space and up the face to grab a left hand jug (giant hold) that’s just out of reach. Imagine squatting under your desk and reaching up behind you to grab the top of your lamp all the while being 200 ft off the ground. Sure it looks easy with him standing there at that point, but the move to get to the point is just a bit precarious. Once past that move it’s 30 ft or so to the top, climbing jugs on an ever so slightly inverted face – 200 ft off the ground.
Yeah. Good times.
Then it was breakfast time.
Took two uneventful rappels to get down, then we were off to another climb.
We climbed Credibility Gap next. That was a fun little 5.6. We got off route at the top and fought our way through some sandy slopers, but we made it.
After that we took a chance and found Madame Grunnebaum open – another great classic. That was a great climb. I’d even rank it slightly above High Exposure.
So it was only three two pitch climbs, but I was exhausted. Between the lack of sleep and vertigo fighting climbing, I was done and we headed home.
It’s always good to end a trip on a good note – even though it took us 6 hours to get home.
– b