Monday, April 05, 2010

Guidebook: Camden, ME - Charlotte's Crack (5.7), The Web (5.6), Harmonic Convergence (5.7+), White Streak (5.9 R),

Camden, Maine - Barrett's Cove

Approach: From the parking lot off Mountain Street (Rt 52) in Camden, which is a large, paved pullout across the street from Lake Megunticook, take the path on the right side of the parking lot (if facing the cliff). Follow the path up to the left to get near the base. For climbs on the left side, continue left. For climbs in the middle, head up right on a climber's trail that goes straight up and left, and follow that to a ledge. For climbs on the right, take the same path that goes to the center, but head right instead of going left to the ledge.

The Web (5.6) - One Pitch - Trad - Bolted Anchor - 110 Feet


Approach: Starts on the ledge above Harmonic Convergence (5.7+) and P1 of Charlotte's Crack (5.7). Find the right-angling crack between two rap stations that heads toward the arrete / chimney.

The Web (5.6): Climb the right-angling crack to the arrete. If the chimney is wet, then this route becomes an R-rated route due to the difficulty of accessing gear placements in the chimney. If the chimney is wet, climb the arrete to about 25 feet below the top and then fade left toward a wide pod with a crack at the top. Climb the pod (or the face to the left if the pod is wet) to the anchor above. If the chimney is dry, climb the chimney and arrete until you fade left toward the pod.
 
Descent: Two raps with two 60m ropes or one 70m rope will get you to the ground. A single 60m rope will leave you short on both rappels, though it will be possible to swing far to the right on the first rappel to just barely get back to the belay ledge. Otherwise, a short, easy, but possibly unnerving downclimb is required once you get to the ends of your rope.
 
Charlotte's Crack (5.7) - Two Pitches - Trad - Bolted Anchors


Approach: Head up to the center section of the cliff, find the nice ledge, and find the crack on the right-side of the ledge at a medium-sized tree.

Pitch One (5.7) - 115 feet: Climb the crack straight up to a tree with a chain around it. Continue past the tree and up the crack behind it to a nice belay ledge.

Pitch Two (5.7) - 110 feet: Walk left, past the right-angling crack, to a wide crack. Climb the crack straight up to a tree.

Descent: Walk right about 15-20 feet to bolted anchors. Two raps with two 60m ropes or one 70m rope will get you to the ground. A single 60m rope will leave you short on both rappels, though it will be possible to swing far to the right on the first rappel to just barely get back to the belay ledge. Otherwise, a short, easy, but possibly unnerving downclimb is required once you get to the ends of your rope.

 
 
Harmonic Convergence (5.7+) - One Pitch - Trad - Bolted Anchor - 115 Feet

Approach: From the same starting ledge as Charlotte's Crack, but left about 20 feet, start at a small stump below a wide pod that is about six feet up.

Harmonic Convergence (5.7+): Climb through the pod to a small crack. Follow the crack to the left-most small overlap. Clip two bolts that are left and above the overlap, then generally stay right of the bolts and head straight up to the large ledge. Staying straight above the bolts makes for very nice climbing, but you'll miss the good pro that is to the right. If you don't mind runouts, the straight variation is worth the effort. If you don't like runouts, you're better off to the right.

Descent: A single 60m rope will leave you short of the ground by about 10 feet. A short, easy, but possibly unnerving downclimb is required once you get to the ends of your rope.

White Streak (5.9 R) - One Pitch - Trad - Bolted Anchor - 180 feet

Approach: This is located on the left side of the right section of the cliff. Before getting to the ledge where Charlotte's Crack starts, head right toward a blocky buttress. On the left side of buttress, scramble up 40 feet of broken, hard 4th class / easy 5th class rock to a very comfortable ledge. Stack ropes near the nice, curved belay tree on the right.

White Streak (5.9 R): From the right of the belay tree, start in broken rock directly below a groove and across from a large tree. Climb straight up past two bolts (midway up) with long runouts if you're not paying attention to gear along the way (if you don't know where you're going then this route can get tricky). Run out sections are easier than 5.9. The crux is near the top and is well-protected by a horizontal crack.

Descent: Rap with two 60m ropes to the large ledge.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

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