Cedar Rock, North Carolina

John Simpson at the top of the second pitch on the South Side of Cedar Rock

On Saturday, August 27, my family and I were staying at a cabin we had rented with some friends outside Brevard, North Carolina. This was my first trip to the big granite walls of western North Carolina, and I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. I had heard about beautiful crack climbs as well as about exciting, scary friction slabs in abundance. With me that morning were John and Rachel Simpson and Jacob and Kellett Lowry. We decided to make a trip to the South Side of Cedar Rock, only a short ~20 minute drive to the parking area, but an hour-long hike from there to the base of the climbs. We were a bit nervous about afternoon rain showers, but decided to take our chances. After hiking for about 45 minutes, we became a bit concerned that we had perhaps fallen off our desired path, but a quick look at Google maps revealed the rock outcropping only half a mile to our north.In the end we almost missed it! Clearly, this is an area that hasn't seen nearly as much development as most other climbing areas I've visited. We basically had to bushwack through some rhododendrons to reach the base of the cliff from the main trail.

The crew prepares gear at the base of Cedar Rock

I have been suffering from muscle soreness (and perhaps a pinched nerve) in my shoulder, so I was really hoping to find some climbing that relied more on feet than on arm strength. John really followed through by bringing us to this area. As stated in the guide, "most of the routes have 200-300 feet of low 5th class climbing capped by an excellent final pitch." As a party of five, I was concerned that we might not be able to climb efficiently enough to get much time on the rock. We decided that John would climb with Rachel, while Jacob would lead for both Kellett and me, belaying us up on separate lines after him. This turned out to be an ideal arrangement, as our party of three managed to progress up the face at least as quickly as did John and Rachel. We started up the wall beneath what we thought was Gothic Groove (5.8+), with Jacob following a path slightly to the left, and John a path to the right. But it soon became apparent that we had not started in quite the right place, as the boys kept on climbing even as the other ends of their ropes trailed past the three of us at the bottom and started sliding up the slab! The leaders each improvised a gear anchor, and the rest of us followed them up this very easy (5.5?) low angle section. It was perfect for my sore shoulder, as I could almost hike up the whole thing, just using my hands for balance.

Looking up from the gear anchor towards Jacob on the ledge at the top of the second pitch. Not Always Wet (left) and Gothic Groove (right) are visible near the center of the top section of the wall.

Having reached Jacob's gear anchor, we traded gear, and he pushed on up another 50 feet or so to a huge ledge with two bolts for protection. I have to admit that these bolts didn't inspire much confidence: one bolt was rusty, and the other had a rusty hanger (clearly visible in the picture above). John had reached the same height that we had by now but was much farther to the right, and he was forced to traverse across the slab to the bolts. In the end all five of us were anchored in a rat's nest to those two bolts. By now I was checking the weather radar on my phone every few minutes, reassuring myself that there weren't any lighting-filled storms headed our way. There were some clouds in the distance to the east, but nothing that looked ominous yet. The five of us eyed the climbs above, trying to decide what we wanted to do. Not Always Wet (5.7) looked hard all by itself. Gothic Groove (5.8+) looked as if the "+" in its rating had real meaning: there were only two bolts on the entire route, we could only see one of them, and there were no clear trad gear placements.

Jacob decided to lead Not Always Wet, but only a few feet up the climb he was stymied, unable to find good gear placements directly in the water groove itself. Instead, he traversed a bit and found some solid protection in a few thin features to the left of the main line. Moving back into the groove, he slowly made his way upward until he again ran out of obvious protection. Trying to work a #4 camalot up the water groove, he struggled to find it a good spot, really running the route out until he was able to place a small (#1?) cam in a weak horizontal crack. Right while he was trying to place the piece, and while he was probably feeling least secure, John shouted up asking him if he could "see the second bolt on Gothic Groove". Jacob politely looked over, shouted "no", and continued on. Meanwhile those of us down closer to John gave him trouble for distracting Jacob while he was clearly in such an insecure position. That's an episode we won't forget soon!

After pulling through the scary section the climbing got easier, and Jacob reached the two bolts at the top of the route. Kellett and I followed again on separate ropes. It was a truly interesting pitch, as I had to turn my foot completely sideways to wedge it in the water groove from heel to toe. My feet felt solid in that position, but not when I tried to put them straight in.

Kellett and Jacob at the top of Not Always Wet

When the three of us had reached the top, I shouted down to John but didn't get any response. It turns out that he had decided against climbing the rather spicy looking Gothic Groove, especially because his new shoes were too tight and were causing him excruciating pain. The three of us rappelled down to the ledge again. From here we decided to speed our descent with a technique I had not yet experience: simul-rappelling. Jacob and I each fed one end of the rope through our belay device and rappelled down simultaneously, thereby counterbalancing each other's weight and getting us down the wall twice as fast. Inspired by what we had done, Kellett and Rachel did the same thing on the last rappel. We got down without injuries, and we had avoided the threat of summer thunderstorms. A success!

Rachel and Kellett prepare to rappel simultaneously down the last pitch