Gothic Spanking: Climbing Gothic Arches in New York state
It’s noon already and my head is pounding. The thirty degree Celsius heat is draining my gas. I just made it off the ground to the first belay ledge. Where do I build an anchor!? I bring my partner, Julien, up. We bail with our tails between our legs. One of the best alpine climbs of the North East, Gothics Arches, spanked me but I will get her back.
Disclaimer: Climbing is dangerous and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool or a liar. Climbing has come a long way since hobnail boots and hemp ropes. If you are aware of the risks and have proper instruction, you can manage those risks. There are many ways to start learning to climb safely. Reading this blog is not it; this is not a substitute for professional training nor for common sense.
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| View from the South Face of Gothics. A good place to prepare for a spanking. |
The Approach
We chose to split the ten kilometer approach up by camping at the Ore Bed Brook lean-to and taking up early the next day to send the route. We hiked in from the Garden trail-head. It’s ten dollars a day at for parking.Camping is free and you don't have to hike in a ton of stuff. You don’t need to bring much water. There are ample creeks at low altitudes but don't expect to find creeks at the top of Gothics. You can avoid bringing a tent if you use a lean-to but it might fill up fast on weekends. If the lean-to is full, there are always camping spot around it. Don't forget to drag in a bear can (not to be confused with a beer can) and you will want to use it as black bears are active.
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| Always respect the locals |
The guide book, Adirondack Rock, mentions a herd path from the main trail between Saddleback and Gothics. This herd path is supposed bring you to the top of the face. In theory, this is the trail you use to rappel down to the base and get back once you top out the route (more on this later). Mother nature took her back real bad. The only viable option to get to the base of the climb is to bushwhack down the gully between the Pyramid peak and Gothics to the base of the climb. I take that back. Bear Grill's premium machete might of come in handy for chopping a way through to woods.
Plan B(ail): The Original Route
So here we are sunburnt and we had to get out. Thankfully, Julien scoped out an easy escape: the Original Route. It’s a 3 pitch 5.4 alpine route with a scary top out on wet moss. It also, in theory, connects to the same herd path to get back to the main trail. |
| Julien scoping out the Original Route (5.4 alpine) |
Once we made it to the top, we ended up doing a brutal push through the woods to the trail (did I mention bring a machete) as rappelling back down and hiking back up the gully between Pyramid and Gothics didn't appeal to us.
Next Time
Hopefully, one of you will be inspired to do the crazy long approach. Next time, I’ll look into to setting up camp at the base of the climb. Looks like there is a creek at the base of the wall as well so hiking without water should be okay. Also, I'll bring more gear. The gear anchors will eat up a lot of pieces and one would want to put more than three on the doubtful flakes you can belay from.
Here is some useful information about the area:
Climbing Magazine article that inspired me into climbing Gothics
About the author: Greg Gibson has been climbing since 2010 and started MTL Climbing with Kushwant Bussawah to help bridge the gap for his friends trying out climbing and help share cool areas and trip stories. When he is not trying figure out how to get up a rock, he works a day job as an engineer.
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