Sep. 6, 2008 - Foster Falls, TN
Making the best of a weather-related change of plans, the Atlanta Climbing Club spent a great day of sport climbing at Foster Falls in Tennessee.
The club was scheduled to spend the weekend at Moore's Wall, a great trad climbing destination in North Carolina. Unfortunately, the former Hurricane Hanna made that impossible, as the storm drenched the Carolina piedmont over the weekend. So the ACC made a day trip to Foster Falls, where the weather was much more accommodating.
The main group from Atlanta included Gary Latimer, Enid Gonzalez, Harry Baxley, Brent Layne, John Liles and Robert Morris. ACC members Frank Nederhand, Jamie Schantz and Cathi DeSanto had come up the night before and camped out.
For Harry, Enid and Brent, this was a first visit to Foster Falls, so for their benefit, Gary, John and Robert set up some of the easier routes as a warm-up. Gary led Afterburner (5.5), while John led Gravity Boots (5.7), both fun climbs in the Rocket Slab area. After everyone had a crack at these routes, the group moved down to the more challenging It's All Good (5.9+), which Robert and John took turns leading. Further down the cliff line, Gary led Pocket Pool (5.9), a crimpy and balancy climb, while John and Robert once again took turns leading the popular Jacob's Ladder (5.8) and the rest of the crew took turns on these.
Further back toward the falls, Frank and Jamie were working on some harder routes, including Pillsbury (5.11a). The rest of the group wound down the day in the Red Light District, where Robert and John both led Timeless Christian Values (5.9) and John led Dutch Maiden (5.10a).
A long day of climbing left us all feeling hungry, so after a short stop to give the first-timers a chance to view the scenic falls, most of the group headed into nearby Jasper for a good meal. To our surprise, the barbecue place in town has now become a Mexican restaurant, so we enjoyed some south-of-the-border food and then headed home for Atlanta.
It was a great day of climbing at Fosters, especially with weather that never got ferociously hot the whole day. Congratulations to Enid, Harry and Brent for your first taste of crimpy Foster Falls climbing!