watch out for broken glass at lookout wall - erie

[danhelmstadter]

The other day I drove up to Erie hoping to get some pitches in. Arriving at my favorite spot - the lookout wall, I found the entire area (ledges above & ledges/ground below) covered in nasty glass shards 3/4" thick, off road tires, paint cans, appliances, and a bunch of other shit. Extremely sad. I didn't have any work lined up for the week and the scene was too sad for me to walk away from. After a few afternoons up there, I've hauled all the big stuff out, amounting to at least a couple hundred pounds.

 

I picked up most of the glass, but unfortunately there is still a bunch of small glass bits(multiple old big screen TVs were launched/smashed), and some of the bits and dust are still on the top out jugs, ledges, and holds on the routes. I may go back with a brush and try to clean them -- but beware! -- it would suck to end up with a bloody hand slapping the topout jug and there's just too many glass bits to get totally clean.

 

It was cool to experiment with haul systems, I got a bunch of fun climbing in too including an aborted free solo attempt on the 5.8 at powerline wall, and a full on rainstorm toprope of the 5.6 trad on lookout wall, I tried to avoid the glass at top by laybacking the finish but I ended up with a bloody finger anyway.

 

glass at the anchors, lookout wall

 

hauling trash up

 

Edited February 22, 2012 by danhelmstadter

[olyclimber]

Thanks for doing this Dan! Man that sucks.

[dennyt]

Wow, thanks for your hard work cleaning up!

[Dannible]

Damn that sucks. Good work though, that's really cool of you.

[Mtguide]

Many thanks for your cleanup efforts, Dan. I wonder how long it's been like that; I haven't been up to Erie for quite a few years, but it used to be one of my favorite places to practice when I lived up there. Really sad to hear of it being trashed like that, I can remember when about all you might see was an occasional Mountain Bar wrapper. It's good to know that there are still folks like yourself around with the willingness to put in the hard work and time to keep it safe and looking nice.

 

Maybe it's already been thought of, or done, but perhaps there needs to be, at minimum, an organized yearly group/communal cleanup effort on a weekend, make an overnight party out of it. Mt. Erie has too much history and value to the climbing community to let it be ruined. I live in Portland now, but I'd be willing to come up for an event like that. It's like what SOLV does with the annual beach cleanup on the entire length of the Oregon coast. Thousands of people come out and collect many tons of junk to keep the beaches safe and pristine. Seems like we ought to be able to gather at least a few dozen folks to spruce up Erie. Anyone else?

[keenwesh]

wow, lame. I can see shooting TVs in a gravel pit somewhere that is already a toxic waste dump, but this is something else. See any signs of a couchburning? yeeee haaaw!

[bwwakaranai]

GGGGGRRRRR!

makes you mad doesnt it.

 

Thanks alot for the clean up effort. I havent been to the lookout wall for a while but it has two really fun climbs that

I frequently enjoy. Ill bring a broom next time.

 

An Erie clean up day is a great idea, lets do it this spring.

 

 

[mattp]

I'm not making excuses for anybody and I don't like broken glass but I think it is worthy of note that Mt. Erie is a place that is "special" to a lot of people who are not climbers and who may have ideas about the place that we will never understand.

 

On Holloween eve a few years back I took my nephew climbing at the summit wall and as I was belaying him from a spot on top of the wall I noticed that I was sitting in an area where somebody had deposited the ashes of their dead relative not long before. Seriously.

 

Your glass shard vandal may be a jerk but there is a real possibility that they thought they were doing something "cool" or "right" or maybe "important" when they left that glass on the top of "your" crag.

 

To repeat: I don't like broken glass and I'm not making excuses for anybody. But Mt. Erie is a public place and the public may not share the same sensibility as me.

[genepires]

there is no amount a self delusion can convince oneself about being "right" or "important" (maybe "cool") while hucking a tv off a cliff. Throwing tires, appliances and paint cans is just plain littering and illegal. Pure chemically altered dumbasses.

[danhelmstadter]

No couch burning Keenwash though I think they lit their guitar amp on fire before tossing it off the lookout.

 

Matt, I respect your capacity for empathy in a situation such as this that draws only anger from most, perhaps the culprit(s) were venting some pent up emotional anger from a fucked up situation in their lives, and maybe they are healthier from their trundeling experience, maybe they were just punk kids or crackheads. I don't care, shit happens all the time, what happened happened. I wasn't even really angry, just sad to see trash and a shitload of broken glass defileing an area that is soulfelt to me and a lot of other people.

 

I went back the other day and brushed off all the holds and ledges on the bolted 10a on lookout wall, just don't go too far to climbers right on the exit.

Edited February 24, 2012 by danhelmstadter

[Jason4]

I think there was a clean up last summer at Erie and I'm sure some interest could be generated in the SAC community. I know several members live in Anacortes and climb at Erie regularly in the dry months.

 

I climbed out there a few times last summer and did not see trash then so I assume it happened sometime during the winter.

 

I haven't been out to Clayton to boulder since the fall but I expect I'll find lots of glass in the cracks when I do get out there in the next couple of weeks.

[JasonG]

I think the Dallas Memorial Clean up is scheduled for around 4/21 or so this year (hasn't been finalized yet). I will try to remember and put it in the events forum when it is nailed down. It would be great if a bunch of folks came out to help -last year we had a good crew out there. Thanks for getting a jump start on it, Dan, your efforts are much appreciated!

 

If folks do see such extreme cases of littering, please let Anacortes Parks and Recreation know ASAP. Contact Jonn Lunsford:

 

jonnl at cityofanacortes dot org

(360) 299-1953

 

I have to say that is some of the worst littering I have heard of up there in recent years. Disgusting.

[Love2Climb322]

I climb Mt Eire quite a bit and have noticed an increasing amount of beer bottles/trash laying about at my favorite walls. I pick it up when I see it and I'm glad to see others do too!

It would be fun to do a little trail/wall marking around there some time. I dont know about anyone else but I seem to always get lost when im up there. All we would need is some wood, a wood burner, paint and little sunshine.

[bwwakaranai]

I climb Mt Eire quite a bit and have noticed an increasing amount of beer bottles/trash laying about at my favorite walls. I pick it up when I see it and I'm glad to see others do too!

It would be fun to do a little trail/wall marking around there some time. I dont know about anyone else but I seem to always get lost when im up there. All we would need is some wood, a wood burner, paint and little sunshine.

 

Thats funny...I just inquired about the sign thing. I emailed the city and was told that they would probably support that idea but would want to involve the mt. Erie climbing committee which consists of a few local climbers/hikers. I emailed back and havent heard about when we might get a thumbs up or not. There are some sensitive areas that skim private property and it would be good to have a plan before nailing up signs. Signs would not only help new climbers find their way but also cut down the erosion and keep folks from trespassing. The April 21st Mt. Erie meet up and Dallas memorial day might be a good time to implement some signs. I was going to buy a woodburner and get to it but if you have already started I might refrain. I would love to at least put a little input on a couple of the sign placements if I could, being I've been stomping around there for some time now. Let me know what your plan is and I'll let you know if I hear from the city.

 

 

[mattp]

It would be fun to do a little trail/wall marking around there some time. I dont know about anyone else but I seem to always get lost when im up there. All we would need is some wood, a wood burner, paint and little sunshine.

 

I love that. I was there a few weeks ago and we wandered about a little bit but almost everyone we encountered was completely lost. Signage and some better mapping would be a big plus.

[Love2Climb322]

I have not started making signs yet, but I would be happy to supply a wood burner and some wood. I will be out of town for the next two weeks, but when I get back I would like to organize a group to get started.

Good to know that someone has been in touch with the city. Let me know if we run into any problems with that.

Any input on particular walls/trails that need signs would also be great.

 

[danhelmstadter]

I just spent a couple breezy afternoons at the main wall, and hadn't been there before, I got lost and backtracked a couple times, but it was kinda fun to eventually dial in the approach with the help of the book. Didn't see any ticks, must still be little cool for em.

[curtveld]

Lookout Wall update: The glass is pretty well cleared from the routes and topouts - big thanks to Dan and anyone else that contributed!

 

Still LOTS of tiny shards around the base. So small and dispersed that an army of volunteers could not make much of a difference. It's all mixing into the dirt and natural debris, so not really a huge problem for climbing. Wouldn't hurt to bring a tarp or something to lay your rope out on, though.

 

Unfortunately, based on the variety of older crap littered around the base, the Lookout is directly below the prime yahoo launching spot, so likely to be an ongoing concern. Too bad, because the routes are pretty fricken ....er, I mean...typical Erie choss. So not a great spot if you forgot your helmet.

[Choada_Boy]

Your glass shard vandal may be a jerk but there is a real possibility that they thought they were doing something "cool" or "right" or maybe "important" when they left that glass on the top of "your" crag.

 

To repeat: I don't like broken glass and I'm not making excuses for anybody. But Mt. Erie is a public place and the public may not share the same sensibility as me.

 

Really? So I can think it is "cool" and "right" and "important" to take a TV and smash it on top of someone's head 50 feet below the top of OUR crag and you're OK with that because I am entitled to my own "sensibilities"?

 

I read this as apologia for the scumbags that do this type of crap. It's completely unacceptable by any standard, I don't give a fuck how shitty a job someone's parents did in not teaching them the difference between right and wrong.

[farflung]

 

Maybe it's already been thought of, or done, but perhaps there needs to be, at minimum, an organized yearly group/communal cleanup effort on a weekend, make an overnight party out of it. Mt. Erie has too much history and value to the climbing community to let it be ruined. I live in Portland now, but I'd be willing to come up for an event like that.

 

April 21 will the 2nd annual Dallas Kloke work and climb day starting at 9am.

[dberdinka]

I'm not making excuses for anybody and I don't like broken glass but I think it is worthy of note that Mt. Erie is a place that is "special" to a lot of people who are not climbers and who may have ideas about the place that we will never understand.

.....

Your glass shard vandal may be a jerk but there is a real possibility that they thought they were doing something "cool" or "right" or maybe "important" when they left that glass on the top of "your" crag.

....

To repeat: I don't like broken glass and I'm not making excuses for anybody. But Mt. Erie is a public place and the public may not share the same sensibility as me.

 

WTF? Are you HIGH Matt? There is a "sensibility" where throwing TVs and paint cans off cliffs is somehow a reasonable thing to do? What!?

 

No, this is just the simple barbarism that half of our society seems to be falling into. A thoughtless primitiveness of people to stupid to do anything more than break stuff.

 

So good for you Dan. You rise above as usual.

[Love2Climb322]

I would love to dial in on a weekend to get out to Eire and get some stuff done. The 28th of April or the 5th of May would most likley be good for me...I could make some signs ahead of time to make things go quicker.

It would be super fun to camp out in the area and get to know some more local climbers!

[mattp]

WTF? Are you HIGH Matt? There is a "sensibility" where throwing TVs and paint cans off cliffs is somehow a reasonable thing to do? What!?

 

Nope. I'm not high. Apparently you can't read where I wrote that I don't like broken glass and I am not making excuses for whoever "did this." Are you high?

 

All I am saying is that the broken glass may be the result of some act that somebody else thought was not simply vandalism. If I were to confront someone about this or similar behavior I'd focus on asking them to consider their impact on other visitors rather than telling them I thought they were a complete failure as a human being.

 

Your mileage may vary. Calling them a dick may be more successful but I doubt it.