Sourthern Adirondacks / Crane Mountain

Has anyone been in the woods in the Southern Daks, especially Crane Mountain, in the past week?

How is the black fly situation?

Thanks.

Reports on Facebook from the man on the mountain (Jay Harrison) indicate there are indeed black flies. He also went on to say they weren't as bad as on Sugarloaf, which I guess was some of the worse he's ever seen (and Jay KNOWS black flies lol).

Unless you're willing to wait until August, I wouldn't let black flies stop you from hitting Crane. Bring deet, maybe a head net, and expect them as part of the experience. ;-)

Any other advice/beta, Kevin? I've never been. Looking to climb any style (trad/sport/boulder).

Boulders will tend to be dry, at least the harder stuff.

Not much sport, mostly trad or mixed. Also not much overhanging.

On top of that, per Jay the Peregrines have called dibs on the Ampitheater wall area, so it's probably best to avoid those climbs (there's a few quality routes there).

If you plan on going this weekend, I would say expect a lot of wet holds Saturday and only after some wind/sun would I expect Sunday to be any better. Crane has a lot of trees at the base of the climbs so it takes a little longer to dry the starts.

The best bet on Saturday would be the summit cliffs, which obviously dry quicker than the stuff on the lower Black Arches side of the mountain.

Lots to do though, so aside from the iffy weather forecast you could easily fill three days if you climb 10-ish.

Crane has a little bit of everything, which is fitting since the mountain is, IMO, one of the coolest not in the High Peaks, and one of the coolest overall.

Sport, boulders, trad, slabs, and steep rock.

Access is tough, the climbs aren't on a single wall, but dozens of little areas. You will spend some time figuring things out.

Flies will be worse South, Crane and other areas, and less bad North. This might be a better weekend for the Gunks (also had black flies this weekend) or the High Peaks. Flies are a bit like foliage, they peak at different times.

All that said, I think crane is a worthwhile adventure whether hiking, climbing, camping, bouldering or ice climbing. Definitely hit it.

FWIW the weather is generally a bit wetter in the ADKs compared to the Gunks. The forecast for Sat & Sun is a great example of weather that is likely to be rainy up north but climbable further south i.e. the Gunks. I can't tell you how many times I've dodged T-storms or waited out showers, or worse, in the ADKs only to hear that it was sunny all day in the Hudson Valley. My rule of thumb: if it's >=30% prob. of precip., I'll stay home (gunks). An ADK day has to be stellar weather. Obviously this reflects that fact that, for me, even the Southern ADKs are 8-10X farther away than the local cliffs. Take it for what it's worth.

And Justin and Kevin - you know I'm secretly super-envious of you being that much closer to my beloved Adirondacks.

M.

PS - So why do I go north? For vertical cracks. For friction slabs. For bolted granite e.g. Shelving Rock and Shanty Cliff. And b/c that's where I learned to rock climb; I'm a North Country boy.

Wear a long sleeve shirt. The flies are out at crane but easily tolerated as of yesterday. They only seemed be around early and late in the day. I count only inhaling two as a small personal victory. I'd recommend exploring the south corner cliffs... a little higher up, more wind, great views and a lot of new route development recently.

The black flies aren't bad at shelving rock and non existent at the Beer Walls as of this past weekend. And the climbing is good everywhere.

Gunkiemike wrote:FWIW the weather is generally a bit wetter in the ADKs compared to the Gunks....And Justin and Kevin - you know I'm secretly super-envious of you being that much closer to my beloved Adirondacks. M. PS - So why do I go north? For vertical cracks. For friction slabs. For bolted granite e.g. Shelving Rock and Shanty Cliff. And b/c that's where I learned to rock climb; I'm a North Country boy.

I was climbing at South Corner cliffs a few weeks ago, beautiful spot, amazing views and somewhat exposed (the belay is on a ledge over a drop), leading some 5.5 (don't remember the name) and Jay says, "Justin, how are your jamming skills." I reply, "not that great, I learned to climb in the Gunks, we don't have cracks there." So yeah, if you want to grow as a climber, the Daks offer much more variety, even if the Gunks are an amazing place. Even if I don't enjoy cracks, I love slabs, and the Daks have plenty of those.

Totally agree with what Mike said, when it calls for anything more than 10% chance of rain in the Daks, its probably going to rain enough to mess up your day. Meanwhile the Gunks often escape the rain and the cliffs dry out insanely fast. There are many cliffs in the Daks that are soaked for days after a rain storm, while you can usually get back on the rock in an hour or two post rain in the gunks. The flipside, the Daks often have shady cliffs, which can be nice when it's 85 out and feels like 120F at a belay in the Gunks.

Mike, I've been lucky where I've lived (as an adult). First 45 minutes from the Gunks (30 from Kaaterskill Falls), now equidistant between the Gunks and Keene Valley, with Catksill ice still being an easy 1 1/4 hour drive. Can't say there is an ideal place, but being that I like to hit different places, I kinda like where I am now, maybe 30 minutes north would be ideal. I'm within a reasonable drive of anything in NY, VT, or NH, even if I've gotten too lazy to take advantage of a lot of it (rarely get to NH anymore and Northern Vermont is an hour longer than the Adirondacks, and it's only 3 hours to Cannon from me, provided I don't get behind 40mph vermonters).

J. Serpico, I am in Saratoga Springs too (have been for almost a year).

Hit me up if you ever want to go climbing in the Daks. My wife used to live in E-town, so I've had the opportunity to check out many of the most well-known places, but there are still countless cliffs I have yet to explore. Always looking for new partners.

I'll shoot you an email so we can exchange info.

What areas do you suggest for crane tomorrow? I'm thinking (possibly incorrect) that the Belleview area will be relatively dry. I'm thinking about going up Le Jeur de Bon Heures (is the protection PG13 as stated on MP or G as stated on ADK Rocks website?) but am open to anything that is dry and falcon free.

If anyone has gone to Snowy Mountain recently and can give a condition report then I would be very thankful! Hoping to head out there this Saturday even with the rain on Friday.

John Lombardi wrote:If anyone has gone to Snowy Mountain recently and can give a condition report then I would be very thankful! Hoping to head out there this Saturday even with the rain on Friday.

I met a couple last weekend who had gone to snowy the day before. They said it was soaked FWIW.

Snowy was almost completely dry yesterday! No blackflies on the approach, either. One route was wet, the 5.9 A0 route.