30% Chance of Rain

Sooner or later, I am going to remember that this time of year, 30% chance of rain is basically an everyday occurrence. The last few weekends, the sight of the rain cloud icon in the weekend forecast has sent me fleeing climbing plans and doing things like hiking and gardening. While these activities are perfect for this time of year, at the end of the weekend, I am slightly kicking myself as I realize the area rock is perfectly dry.

Still, the conditions have been fabulous lately for hiking in Pisgah National Forest. The cloud cover and cooler temps have made for crisp mornings and cool evenings. Just when you think the clouds will block your views, you hit a vista with ethereal, passing clouds and are thankful for this exact forecast creating this exact view.

Saturday I grabbed the dogs and headed to the Big East Fork Parking Area off of 276 and headed out the Shining Creek Trail. This trail follows a creek nearly the entire way up to the Art Loeb, making it a truly tranquil setting and loads of fun for the dogs. The trail was especially uncrowded and quiet. Depending on which map you believe, the trail is roughly 3.5 miles to the Art Loeb, where you can easily turn around or try to make a loop with Old Butt Knob Trail. I had hoped to do the loop, but found no clear sign of the OBK trail, so I returned the way I came.

I was a little surprised that these two trails did not have blazes or signage, since they are accessed by such a nice parking area. It is easy to follow Shining Creek, but I never saw any sign of Old Butt Knob Trail in the two places I should have intersected it. Also, if you are looking to find Shining Creek from the Art Loeb, good luck! This area of the Art Loeb is not well marked, and there are numerous dead ends that merely lead to camping spots and blueberry bushes. From the Art Loeb, Shining Creek is easy to miss, although there are a couple of wood steps leading into what looks like a narrow path and soon becomes a well traveled path.

Still, I really enjoyed the massive trees, the raging creeks and the seemingly bashful burgundy Trillium. Check this trail out if you want to go beyond the BRP!




Climb Globally, Shop Locally
Looking Glass Outfitters
69 Hendersonville Hwy
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
828.884.5854
www.lookingglassoutfitters.com

Climbing Anchor Clinic

The first time I went multi pitch climbing, I was in Rocky Mountain National Park and my climbing experience was less than minuscule. My two climbing partners bickered throughout the morning about everything from our failed "alpine start" to the direction of our route. Nonetheless, as I clung, scraped and slid in fright to the top of the first pitch, I was 100% terrified to see that my reward was a tiny ledge with a great deal of exposure to the valley below. I knew I was tied in to some sort of "anchor," but somehow this gave me no solace. Much bickering later, the two "experts" decided we were off route and that they should lower me to the ground while they attempted to find the remainder of our climb.

I mostly accredit the fear I felt that day to general climbing ignorance. I had no concept of how gear worked and what is a good anchor. Whether you are a sport climber who always thinks "I would trad climb if only I knew how..." or a trad "follower" who climbs multi pitch occasionally in blissful ignorance, assuming that your partner's anchors are bomber, you have everything to gain by learning how to build a suitable anchor. A good base understanding of anchors is the perfect way to start your trad climbing education and could give you the ability to get out of an unforeseen sticky situation.

Step 1: Find Suitable Instruction for learning to build anchors!
Lucky for you, Appalachian Mountain Institute has several Climbing Anchor Clinics on their calendar throughout NC, so the tools to learn are at your fingertips. Don't let yourself get to the third pitch of a climb only to find that your partner has established a hanging belay from an undercamed alien and assume that you are in good hands!!

Step 2: Ensure you have the proper gear for building anchors before putting your knowledge to use.

AMI Course Schedule

• July 2nd Brevard, NC
• August 6th Brevard, NC
• October 8th-9th Rock Intro & Anchor Combo Pilot Rock State Park

Happy Climbing and stay Safe!!



Climb Globally, Shop Locally
Looking Glass Outfitters
69 Hendersonville Hwy
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
828.884.5854
www.lookingglassoutfitters.com

Bomber Approach Shoes - The Scarpa Quest

Scarpa has maintained a legacy of fine Italian craftmanship since the late 30's, and it shows in every finely made piece of footwear they produce. Their approach shoes are no exception. While other approach shoes either feign stickiness only to let you down at the first minor scramble, and others grip nicely for the first few months, then swiftly fall apart, the Scarpa Quest manages to walk the fine line between durability and stickiness in a high quality package.

Our first encounter with the Quest was actually in the shape of a return. A customer returned a pair claiming that the sole was faulty. To even a retail novice, this pair of shoes had been sliced on the sole by some out of the ordinary machine or knife-like feature- hardly what anyone would consider a manufacturer's defect. In Customer Service-speak, I would call this CLEAR user error. We dutifully took the shoes back, yet couldn't bring ourselves to toss them as they were quite new and the returnee had already repaired the problem with a dash of glue. So, we gave them to a fellow climber who has been happily wearing them without fail for about 3 years now!!

So, take a good hard look at the sad tennis shoes you've been fooling yourself to think are suitable for approaching climbs in, and consider taking a step to the other side. Or, if you are already an approach shoe convert, consider stepping your feet into a pair of Scarpa Quests. One, two, three, maybe more years later, they'll still be worth the money and sticking to whatever you put in their path....



Climb Globally, Shop Locally
Looking Glass Outfitters
69 Hendersonville Hwy
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
828.884.5854
www.lookingglassoutfitters.com

Bullet Packs and tiny Haul Bags

Western North Carolina is well known for its multi-pitch trad climbing, thanks to looming granite cliffs like Looking Glass, Laurel Knob and Whitesides residing in our backyard. Many area visitors are surprised to learn that Laurel Knob is in fact the tallest cliff on the East Coast.

So what key gear do you bring for these classic, multi pitch climbs? Well, a bullet pack is a great place to start. These small packs are more rugged and versatile than their small demeanor might initially give away. You can stuff them into your crag pack for the approach, and pack them up as you rack up for your climb. As Katie & Adam can attest, a lot of multi pitch climbs take longer than you would have imagined, making it hugely helpful to pack a few bars, some water, sunscreen, a layer and perhaps a topo for your route.

The Black Diamond Bbee
This pack is one of the gold standards of the bullet pack category. It is nimble enough to easily hand off to your partner as you swing leads, and the hip belt is placed high enough to not interfere with your harness, yet let you sip on a Platypus or grab a Gu at the belay station. We are consistently amazed by what we can stuff in this little pack. This pack also works well as a day pack or trailrunning pack if you want to be like Jeremy & Natasha and do the Art Loeb in under 12 hours.

Metolius Zodiac
This bag is truly a mini pig- the little cousin of a traditional haul bag. If nasty weather and hauling a touch of gear is in your future, this could be the pack for you. With exterior daisy chains and haul loops, the 15 liter Zodiac is beefy, yet efficient for hauling. If you need a touch more space, try the Zodiac's 24 Liter cousin, the Metolius Mescalito. I've got my eye on one of these for when summer's afternoon showers can literally put a damper on your gear...



Climb Globally, Shop Locally
Looking Glass Outfitters
69 Hendersonville Hwy
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
828.884.5854
www.lookingglassoutfitters.com

Sun Wall Climbing

Somehow we haven't yet gotten bored of doing a quick sesh at the Sun Wall on Le Pump and Out to Lunch. When you are short on time, this little circuit is a great way to drink in some amazing scenery and get your pump on. You can see that the trees have really turned green in Pisgah finally. Sunday was delightfully breezy and pretty humidity-free, making the Sun Wall a great choice for the afternoon.









Climb Globally, Shop Locally
Looking Glass Outfitters
69 Hendersonville Hwy
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
828.884.5854
www.lookingglassoutfitters.com

A Little Southeastern tour de Sandstone

Easter weekend had quite a variety of forecasts, which we checked several times a day earlier in the week before deciding our chances were best to stay south. Yet again, we changed our plans thinking it would rain and the clouds did not let loose on Thursday. Nonetheless, we had a lazy morning and headed to Atlanta to see Phil's folks and check out the phenomenon known as Stone Summit.

If you haven't already heard of this climbing wonderland/ biggest gym in the southeast, it is well worth a trip. But, ask Phil about whether or not it is a good place to stop at the BEGINNING of a climbing weekend! It is hard to resist thoroughly trashing your forearms on the plethora of steepness, especially coming from the land of slab climbing.

Friday we again planned on rain, which never really happened. Still, we headed to Little River Canyon with what cryptic directions we could find. This little corner of Alabama is bigger and more beautiful than anticipated, and the steep sport climbing will keep those forearms crying. The area was absolutely covered in poison ivy and we saw a copperhead as big as my forearms, but still had a blast before heading north to Tennessee since there is no camping at LRC and the crag is pretty dog-unfriendly.

Foster Falls is a great place to cure the itch for clipping bolts, but this time of year, watch out- because that itch might also be a tick parachuting onto your head. They were a formidable army, but the camping is still very nice at Fosters and the park is extremely well maintained. More fun climbing and more copious amounts of poison ivy greeted us Saturday.

By Sunday, which was of course predicted to be the best weather day, we were back in Atlanta for Easter festivities, stuffing our faces and trying to look clean. The weekend was a great cure for our (sometimes rare) sport climbing itch, and a reminder that the southeast has so many climbing treasures!


Climb Globally, Shop Locally
Looking Glass Outfitters
69 Hendersonville Hwy
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
828.884.5854
www.lookingglassoutfitters.com