Fall is a great time to have a fun day multipitch climbing.  I recently had a great day climbing with Keith and Adam.  Keith wanted to climb the mummy for his birthday.  The Mummy is a great climb found in the Linville Gorge.  The trick is finding it.  To make the day even better Adam, Keith’s son, climbed along too.  Both have experience climbing.  Keith use to help out climbing with the Boy Scouts and Adam works at Inner Peaks Climbing gym setting excellent routes.  I was hoping for a great day all around and it did not disappoint.

The blues skies in the parking lot and mild temps offered up perfect climbing conditions.  When we met up I found both of them ready to go and packed up.  We quickly headed out for the cliff.  The approach is long with some technical sections getting down into the gorge.

Good fortune bestowed us and no one was on the route.  I planned to climb with the packs on so we could exit the rim trail.  Keith and Adam put on the harnesses and repack their packs.  I got the rack and rope ready.  The first pitch is the entrance pitch.  It has a steep section that can get you pumped quickly.  Keith followed the pitch first.  This section was wet and a little tricky.  Keith climbed through with determination, no falls or hangs.   Adam danced up the route pull harder moves for fun.  We all had smiles at the hanging belay.

Each pitch went better and I had a great time climbing with the pair.  We topped out to a beautiful view and had an awesome day.

Thanks for a great climb!

Patrick

Appalachian Mountain Institute