Millbrook

Alright, so, maybe you've heard: Millbrook has an approach. But, as it turns out, I like approaches. It gives you time to get psyched on what you are about to do, and in that sense it's a bit like foreplay. But it also "feels" more appropriate to have to hike in to a cliff. I mean, it's rock climbing. This is serious hardcore stuff, man. Sure, it's convenient to walk two minutes to the climbing, but it's most definitely not eXtreme.

The mileage to Millbrook is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 miles each way and it takes close to an hour. But it really is a great approach. It is relatively flat with a third of it being on a fat carriage road. Then you wind your way through tall pines, crossing some streams along the way. Eventually you pop out in a patch of seemingly endless mountain laurel and when you do leave the mountain laurel you end up on flat rock littered with dwarf pitch pine. Just a little bit of up hill after that and you're at the cliff, simply titillated.

Mountain laurel approach.

The most common approach to climbing at Millbrook is to hike to the Westerward Ha! (which is the classic 5.7 of the cliff) rappel station and then rappel down to the "death ledge." The ledge sits atop a mostly chossy bottom third of the cliff and all of the climbs start there. You can carefully scramble left or right from there to whatever climb you'd like. But, if you have the right beta or can interpret topos really well the better option is to rappel the route you want to climb, avoiding death ledge.

I've been to Millbrook several times now and have never been let down. I have really only done done a handful of routes out there, including Westward Ha! (5.7), Cruise Control (5.9), Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9), Time Eraser (5.10a), and Cuckoo Man (5.10b/c). But there is one other route that I've been on too: Square Meal.

Square Meal, which has been called 5.10d, is probably somewhere in the 5.11a/b range and it is perhaps one the most impressive lines in all the Gunks. I'm just going to go ahead and say it right now: It is the best climb in the Gunks. Rock quality, gear, movement, exposure, and fun factor all get 5 stars. After starting on the first pitch of Schlemeil (5.10b/c) you build an anchor on a small ledge in a corner. (Here to the right, you can see Matt working his way into the crux section of Schlemiel, with the top of Square Meal just barely visible.) From the anchor you move right on a good horizontal and make a few hard moves up to a small overhang. From there you plug in some good nuts, muster some courage while chalking up, and make some desperate moves to the right to a jug. One more cruxy section that includes a bomber mono pocket and it's hero climbing up a corner. To top it all off, the final 20 feet traverses out a horizontal jug rail on an overhanging face with massive exposure. (Check this photo out.)

This route and I have had "a history" together. Basically it has thwarted me, hard, twice before. On attempt number one, Matt and I had difficulty with route finding. We built the anchor in the wrong place, and then ended up traversing underneath the crux, climbing a bit of either Nectar Vector or New Frontier. From there we got up to the easier crux, couldn't pull it and ended up getting rescued with a rope from buddies at the top. Attempt number two was a little better but Devin and I still got shut down pretty hard. Built the anchor in the right spot that time and climbed both cruxes without falling. But I traversed a lower horizontal and ended up on Nectar Vector, again, this time in unprotected 5.11 territory. Luckily, we got a rescue from above from some friends, again.

So obviously, I had a vendetta. Matt and I were by ourselves this time, so there would be no help from above. We knew exactly where the top was, so we rappelled the route, building the anchor (in the correct spot) for the first pitch on the way down. Matt led the first pitch, getting a little worked and even taking a nice whip. After reassessing beta, he climbed it no problem, and I followed cleanly. After racking up at the belay, I moved out and up. After some minor hesitations at the first crux I moved through it. Nice and clean so far. I moved up to the next crux and again had to remember beta. Once I figured it out, it was smooth, glorious sailing to the top.

Just about to enter the crux section. Skytop and the Trapps can just barely be seen in the background.

If I had to personify my relationship with Square Meal, it would be like this: Vendetta was a girl that Square Meal and I were fighting over. I was the out-of-town guy and Square Meal hated my guts inherently. There were even two occasions were Square Meal beat the crap out of me. Once we got to know each other a little better though, we realized how lame Vendetta was and instead of fighting over her, Square Meal and I became best friends who have lots of fun climbing together.

So anyway, after Matt topped out, we relaxed for a bit, taking our sweet old time sorting gear, coiling ropes and packing up. We decided to do Realm of the Fifth Class Climber next -- Matt hadn't done it yet, and we were feeling a bit worked, so it seemed like a good option. I had minimal recollection of the route, but we somehow found the top and rappelled right over top of it. Matt linked the first two pitches together, which includes a pleasant corner roof, and I led the last pitch of meandering through roofs and faces.

Matt leading the stellar second pitch of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber.

Sitting back on the top of the cliff, we contemplated doing the Old Route (5.5), which was the first climb to ever be done in the Gunks. Just then, a turkey vulture landed on the edge of a cliff and a cool wind flared up. We looked over our shoulders to see dark clouds headed our way. The climbing seems to be on Millbrook's terms, so with the threat of a storm, we headed home. A light, cathartic rain kept us cool for all of the three and a half miles home.

The Portent.

Take the hike and get out to Millbrook. It is, without a doubt, worth ever step it takes.