Now that we knew the way (from the visit up to these slabs two weeks ago), it took us no time at all to reach the base of the slabs. The main slab had been taken over by a family with lots of kids, so we decided to head a short extra distance to some slabs with solitude.
Nearing end of first pitch
I was having a slightly hard time mapping my climbing guidebook to the routes on the wall. On my first attempt, I ended up obviously off route, on a slimy wet slab that I could only ascend by hauling on some bushes growing in a nearby crack. I decided it would be best to bail off of that and head a little further over, where things looked cleaner. We ended up climbing a roughly 5.4/5.5 climb up a slab, over short vertical step, and up a bit more slab. It ended up being good practice for me with placing protection, setting up belay stations, and in general getting a good feel for the logistics and mechanics of multi-pitch climbing. All of this is very useful for becoming quick and efficient in any future moderate alpine mountaineering we might do.
Parking lot and river from above
Interactive TrackMap - Hike to Notch Mountain Slabs - Click Map to Expand
After the hike, we headed into Lake Placid where we were able to meet up with Lori and Steve, who'd just finished their climb of Cascade Mountain. We chose a rustic little restaurant in the heart of very bustling Lake Placid and had a delightful dinner, talking about everything and anything (but mostly mountain stuff, of course...). We promised to work to try and cross paths again, and we were off back to Ottawa. Nice meeting you guys!
