April 28, 2005

Hi Folks,

Man am I ever sick of the rain. Over the last week we've only had a couple of sunny days. This is starting to remind me of the first year we lived up here. It rained pretty much 3 weeks straight. You know how bad it is when you throw the dog and cat outside and they're back in less than 5 minutes! On top of that we have had several flood watches. On Sunday the water came almost to the top of 1st Bridge and did cover the road between 1st & 2nd Bridges. Hussey Field flooded, the road was closed for several hours, and the fire department moved a pumper over to this side of the river so that they could cover any problems on this side of the river. It made me feel good that they were thinking proactively.

There have been a few nice days. The problems for climbing is that when it stops raining, it's too wet to climb. Especially when it's rained this much. It will be days before things dry out after this. Fortunately it's not too wet to ride my road bike and that's been the saving grace for me right now. Too bad 'cause I had just gotten my head around the climbing season starting..

Road Openings:
Hurricane Mountain Road is not open quite yet. It's still got some snow and ice as of Wednesday, tho should be much better after this rain. Bear Notch Road opened on Wednesday afternoon and Passaconaway Road is open. The gate on Evans Notch Road is open and the road itself should be open and passable over weekend.

New Bike Site:
For those of you into road and mountain biking in the Whites, we have started up a new site called, appropriately enough - NEBikes.com. It's based on the same concept as NEClimbs and hopefully will achieve a similar following. We will have a forum up and running shortly, as well as Ride Guides, reviews and more. Check it out.

And the Nonsense Goes On:
It was reported on NEClimbs that the pin anchor at the top of Upper Refuse is gone again. This is a drag and I'd love to catch the person responsible, but that's another topic... A friend went up on Coffin Nail a couple weeks ago and found the last few bolts hammered down. They had to back off and were able to do it without incident. That said, you always need to go into climbing a route with the thought that the fixed gear you are anticipating using MAY not be there. You never know what is going to happen, so be prepared.

Peregrine postings - from Chris Martin, NH Audubon:
On 4/18/2005, NH Audubon biologist Bob Vallieres verified that the peregrines are incubating in a raven nest located on the far right side of the lower cliff band atMount Willard, not too far from where they nested in 2003, in the general vicinity of the "End of the Universe" climb. We are considering implementing a partial closure around the nest site, but I still need to gather a little more info on precise location of nest and location and volume of use of nearby climbing routes before making a decision. I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

On 4/21/2005, I verified that the peregrines are incubating on the grassy ledge located at the center of the Painted Walls cliff, a spot they have used frequently in past years. The USFS staff at the Saco District will be posting temporary closure of the cliff in the very near future. As usual, Rainbow Slabs remains open.

On 4/21/2005, I verified that the peregrines are incubating on the upside-down pine tree ledge located at the northern end of Cathedral Ledge between "Repentence" and "Remission" climbing routes, a spot they have used several times in the past. I posted closure signs at the bottom and top of the cliff in the vicinity of this area, and at the kiosk on the road at the base of the cliff. Climbs to the right (north) of "Cathedral Roof" and left (south) of "Diedre" are temporarily closed.

A statewide listing of all NH sites with temporary restrictions will be issued and circulated to climbing outlets and visitor center facilities within the next 2 weeks. You can contact Chris directly for more questions.

Phone: 603/224-9909 x317; Fax: 603/227-0501;
E-mail: cmartin@nhaudubon.org; Web: www.nhaudubon.org <http://www.nhaudubon.org>

First Annual Wall Climbs Trail Day
The Wall (Quechee, VT) and The Barn (Plymouth, NH), along with The Rumney Association will be hosting this event. Everyone is welcome and it will be on rain or shine. Tools and equiptment needed for the tasks will be provided.

Tenatively - April 30, 2005
Trail Work - 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
BBQ (in parking lot) 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Climbing 1:00 PM till dark and beyound

Contact Alex Herr if you want to help coordinate efforts.
Phone: 678-481-1955 or email at: aherr@mccarthy.com

Updated info is posted in the NEClimbs forum so check it out there.

Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,