We made it! Grigore and Robyn arriving at Hunters.
Finally, some sunshine in Happy Valley! After several days of cloudy coverage, Ethan, Grigore, and I hit the snowy trails of Hunters Rock for some fantastic bouldering! Hunters is about 40 minutes outside of State College, a breeze compared to our weekend six hour voyages to the New. With the warm sun in plain site, we hitched a ride in Jess (Grigore’s trusty car), and drove to Hunters. We managed to get most of the way, however, because of the wintry storms the east has been getting, the pass to the bouldering area was knee deep in snow, too much for Jess to handle. After several attempts and some slippery heaves to get Jess rollin’ on snowy roads, we gave up. Instead, we hiked nearly three miles across and up Pennsylvania’s slopes to the bouldering ridge.
The lil’ guy is all tuckered out!
A three mile hike in knee deep snow and sunshine kept our hopes high! It was fantastic! We hiked the bouldery ridge to find some of the best dry, frictiony rock our fingers have groomed. AHHHH! Finally, real rock and warm sun! We took advantage of the pleasant day.
Ethan on one of the few snowless climbs to be had.
We climbed some sweet boulders, hiked around Hunters, and basked in the PA sunshine. As we were hiking out, we stumbled upon two guys warming up next to a cozy fire they had started in the snow. Seeing that we had hiked the entire way and nighttime was nipping at our heels, they offered to take us the rest of the way in their four-wheel-drive truck. BONUS! An enjoyable hike in, some sweet bouldering, and a lift out. What a beautiful day in PA!
Robyn cruises the first climb of the day.