Finally, I made it to Chickies Rock, A small crag in South Eastern PA that I’v been meaning to check out for the past few months. I really didn’t know what to expect with this crag, When I looked into this place after hearing about it, only one route appealed to me and it was only a 5.4. The reason it even appealed to me is that it was long and really bordered the limit of a single pitch, and it is called Witches Brew which is pretty cool. Where this crag really shined was in its view. From the top you get an undisrupted view of the Susquehanna river and the surrounding landscape, for a Pennsylvania crag, I havent found a view this good considering most of the crags here are in the woods and not exactly the tallest rock on the planet.
Patrick preparing to rappel
We gazed up at the route for a bit and observed it. It followed a crack with lots of features surrounding it for about 140 feet. The final twenty feet or so involved a rather large chimney which would trap you if you climbed to high into. The reason for this entrapment was a large chock stone caping the chimney. After examining what we could from the ground we got our stuff together. I racked up my cams and such as Aleya flaked the rope at the base of the route.
Patrick leading Witches Brew
We completed our preparation ritual and I stepped up the base of the climb. I dipped my hands into the bag of chalk hanging behind me and looked up at the route. Stepping onto a foot then reaching for a hold I began to ascend the crack. I quickly found myself high into the chimney that the route description said not to get high into. I looked up and realized I was under that large chock stone the route description warned of. I placed a cam and down climbed a bit to a point where I could step out to the face adjacent to the chimney.
I continued up the beautifully exposed face toward the top of the route. Aleya yelled up to advise that I was getting nearer to the end of the rope. Moments later I found myself at a perfect location to build an anchor and provided a belay for Aleya. I yelled down to her that she was on belay and shortly thereafter she joined me on top of Chickies Rock.
For about twenty minutes we enjoyed the view from the top. We could see several miles of the susquehanna river in either direction and this part of the river seemed quite a bit wider than other parts. below us a pair of rail road tracks paralleled the river and stretched down the line. We took turns posing in on the cliffs edge with the vastness to our backs before joining our two ropes to make the 160 foot rappel back to Earth.
Aleya finishing her rappel
Back on solid ground we noticed that the climbers to our right were finishing up on a route they were top roping. We decided to follow in their foot steps and set up a top rope on the route. This allowed us to climb two routes: Snowflake and For Madmen Only. Neither of these routes were exceptionally special, but were enjoyable none the less. We each climbed the routes twice, on Aleya’s last climb I belayed from the top so we could break down the anchor and then walk back to the base of the cliff.
With so many other options in the Northeast such as Seneca Rocks and The Gunks, A little crag like Chickies Rock easily gets over looked. Compared to those places it should get over looked, but if your looking for something new to do and your in the area, Chickies Rock is worth an afternoon of playing around.
Patrick is a lover of all things adventure and photography. When he is not at home in Northeast PA, he can be found traveling with his camera and climbing. One of his most memorable experiences outdoors is his recent summit of Mount Rainier.
