These pictures all start looking the same...Ed enjoying moderate lead climbs and Chris making some of the harder lines look easy....

Early February..Ed venturing onto the overhanging main wall

In early March, I was able to get some side views of Chris on an overhanging 5.9

Finally! We snuck down on an overcast Thursday in late March. About the time we arrived it started spitting rain. With the temps in the low 40's it got nasty. We enjoyed a couple of laps on Black Fly and beat it back to the car.

A beatiful April morning. We only had an hour and a half so we selected the Brat Block. The first shot shows a buzzard circling as Chris ponders the slab move on the Brat, 5.6. Then we moved over to Katzenjammer, a devious 5.7 that follws an incipient left diagonalling crack line almost to the top and then angles back right. At some points it seems that you need to use imaginary footholds.

In mid-April, I was joined by Steve Whitney for his first time out in around 15 years. He has a pair of vintage EBs that attracted some attention from old timers walking by. Here are some photos of Steve tackling The Brat...a very nice job after a long layoff. The third shot shows a very happy Steve and the fourth shows Ed ready to quit for the day. In doing one dynamic move, I managed to leave some skin on the rock...makes a nice colorful picture.

April 16th ..back in the gym

In May, Del Smith, visiting from Oregon, got his intro to rappeling and rock climbing. In the first shot Ed helpfully indicates which direction you go on a rappel. Then, despite wearing running shoes, Del gets right into it on Black Fly.

May 15th. We snuck out to Moss Island in Little Falls where we explored the Goat Crack Wall right next to Lock 17 on the Mohawk Canal. Getting into the rappel is fun and there is some great thin face climbing available between the cracks...plus a very comfortable belay spot.

On a day that got into the low 90s, Chris , Tiffany and I were too late for Betty but were able to get on Easy O. Beautiful dry rock and good climbing... but I was draggin' due to the heat.

End of May...forced back inside by a stretch of rainy weather. Things got gloomier when we found out that Andy will be forced to close ECRG at its current location. He is hoping to relocate, but these will probably be our last climbs on these walls. ( I wasn't making any progress anyway!) The last picture is Andy and Chris...Andy is Mr. Nice Guy and we wish him the best.

Early June. I finally got to lead Goat Crack in Moss Island. It sure looks easier now than when you are actually leading it. We then played on the adjoining face...lots of smearing if you stay out of the cracks. Photography is iffy since you are shooting from complete shade into direct sun.