Ship Rock in Summer

Saturday we headed to another great summer climbing destination : Ship Rock. When much of the southeast is getting steamy and the friction is disappearing, Ship Rock, nestled right next to the Linn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway, is usually breezy and balmy. It looks like a relatively small cliff line from the road, but the two climbing areas contain excellent trad routes.

This past Saturday was no exception. Despite passing clouds and dashes of light rain, the classic climbs of Ship Rock remained dry and pumpy as ever. We started off with Hindu Kush on the main tier, then moved up the hill for Welcome to Watauga. Mike Grimm of NC's own Misty Mountain and Phil traded stories about past climbing partners leaving gear behind on this outstanding route.

The mashed, fixed tri-cam reminded us that we need to replace some of the tri-cams on our rack, since they have succumbed to other routes this year. They seem to be one of those pieces of climbing gear that seems to collect dust for a little while, and you wonder why you keep carrying it, but then you hit a rash of situations were they are indispensable.

By the end of the day, we finished on everyone's favorite 5.10a - Harpoon plus a run up The Anguish of Captain Bligh. If you haven't headed to Ship Rock to check out these amazing climbs, we'd highly recommend it. Stop in and say hi to Mike at the Misty factory while you are at it and enjoy!

It would be an understatement to say the dogs were whooped on the way home!