New Jack City - 01/13/2012 - 01/14/2012

We don't get out camping much with the two kids, but I had a 4 day weekend for Martin Luther King Day so we decided to go camping for at least one of those nights. We decided to head to New Jack City on Friday the 13th since we had only been there once before. We didn't want to interrupt the kids nap schedule too much, so we left at nap time so that the kids could sleep on the way there. We got to NJC around 4:00 which gave us a little bit of time to climb before it got dark.

We chose to camp right by White Face because it is a ways away from where most people camp, there is climbing right there, and it is a nice little cove type of thing to help keep the kids contained.

I've been wanting Amy to start leading more for a while, and since NJC has a lot of easy routes we decided that this would be a good weekend to have her start doing more. Amy took her first lead fall at the Gym a few weeks ago, and realized that it really isn't that bad so she feels better about leading now. We started by climbing a 5.7 called "White Flight". Amy lead the route and got the redpoint (it wasn't an onsight because she had TR'd the route over a year ago). After Amy got down I also ran up it and got the redpoint.

After "White Flight" we decided to do a 5.9 called "White Head". Amy didn't want to lead the 5.9 so I ran up it getting the redpoint, then Amy TR'd it.

After the 5.9 there was still a bit of daylight left so we set up a TR on some lower angle rock so that Danny could have some fun climbing as well.

On Saturday it was a little bit cold so we wanted to climb somewhere in the sun. A crag called Sunnyside seemed like it fit that bill, plus it had quite a few routes in the 5.6 to 5.10 range so we thought it would make a good place to spend the day. Unfortunately I misplaced the remote control for the camera so we don't have many photos for this day, but we did get a few of Danny climbing so I'll at least post those.

We started by doing a couple of routes in this dusty little corridor on the left side of the crag. The first route we did was a 5.8 called "Powder Puff" which ended up being quite soft for the rating (A theme that we seemed to see throughout the day). I ran up the route and got the onsight (there may have been one 5.8 move on the route), then Amy ran up the route getting the redpoint. The second route was called "Cheap Lipstick" and the guidebook calls it a 5.9, but it ended up being easier than the first route I'd say that 5.7 would be about right for the rating. Again, I onsighted it and Amy got the redpoint.

It had warmed up a bit and we had seen a 5.6 that was around the corner in the shade that looked like it would be fun for Danny to try climbing so we headed over there. The climb is called "Little Jack Horner" and was pretty fun for being so easy. I got the onsight, then Danny climbed up to the first bolt, and Amy redpointed the route.

It ended up still being a bit chilly in the shade so we headed back around the corner into the sun to do a couple more routes before heading home. Next we jumped on a 5.10c (felt more like .10a) called "Gold Finger". I went up first and blew the onsight when I slipped off at a balancy move just past the third bolt. Amy didn't want to lead anything that hard so she TR'd it without any real problems. Next we climbed a 5.8 called "Walk in the Park" and the name says it all. Once again, this route might have had 1 5.8 move on it, but the rest felt closer to 5.6. I ran up and got the onsight, then Amy got the redpoint. Finally before we left it was bugging me that I had fallen off "Gold Finger", so I ran up it once more this time getting the redpoint so that it wouldn't haunt me later.

After that it was time for the kids nap so we figured that it would be the perfect time to leave so that they could just nap on the way home. On the way home both Amy and I commented on how we really liked the rock at NJC. We had only been once before and hadn't remembered being all that fond of it, but I guess the place grows on you because we had a great time and can't wait to go back.