The 10th Mountain Division climbed here, as had God alone knows how many indigenous and later generations of hunters, explorers and sweethearts, exposed to the elements and subject at any time to any of a number of sudden, perhaps catastrophic geological changes.
This formation is one of the icons of the canyon, and is located just 2.2 miles from the Route 220 intersection on the south end of the canyon. Opposite the campground entrance is the grave of William Eagle, Revolutionary War hero and local legend.
The Rocks are covered with semi-detached flakes, stacks of loose stone, precariously-balanced blocks the size of stoves. Trees, debris, and indeed entire large portions of the numerous faces can and will fall off without provocation or warning. Apparently-solid rock can suddenly fracture and plunge earthward, taking you with it and sucking your belayer right through the first quickdraw. Massive sections of the talus slope below can shift or collapse without warning, including sections which have until then been stable for years, centuries even.
Trails were established by whitetail deer, black bear, local climbers and other unstable forms of indigenous life, and cannot be counted on not to hurl you to a painful and untimely death or even to get you to the crag and back again without winding up like the Donner party.
Venomous snakes, stinging insects, biting animals, Steelers fans and vicious plants can and likely will attack you for absolutely no discernible reason, at any time, anywhere. Being outside is a risky business, and you probably shouldn't do it if you are unwilling or unable to accept those risks as your own responsibility.
Climbing Eagle Rocks is especially dangerous, for the reasons noted above and many, many more. The face is spotted with old pins and ring angles left behind by soldiers before the Second World War, some of them patriotic saints, some psychotic killers, most of them just unstable young men terrified by the enormous exposure and pushed to the limits of sanity by bad food, homesickness, venereal disease, abuse from overbearing homophobic drill instructors and the challenge of trying to follow driving instructions from the locals.
More modern gear like rappel anchors, face bolts, and cold shuts may have been and likely was installed by drug-addled, brain-damaged trad climbers with a pathological resentment of gymbies and newcomers, deeply-seated antisocial issues, no sense of personal safety or respect for the sanctity of human life, and an addiction to Yuengling Black and Tan.
(Of course the author has no personal knowledge of this possibility.)
No anchor, bolt, piton or ring angle should be trusted to save your life. The carabiners left in the anchors are to better facilitate safely anchoring and descending. Please don't remove them unless it is to replace them.
There is no real record of who first climbed the trad and aid lines of Eagle Rocks. Every first ascent is a theoretical first ascent in an area so devoid of shared knowledge and so commonly visited by strong climbers in the early days of climbing.
Smoke Hole is a place like no other.
Share the ride, share the road.
Respect landowner rights and please support our small local businesses, If you're climbing Eagle, stop at the campground check in and pay for a night of camping, even if you're not going to stay, in thanks for access. Make a note on your envelope.
Little things keep access open.
Climb smart, think hard, talk to your partners, stay on trails, leave it a little better than you found it, give lots of hugs, take lots of pictures, and with any luck you, too, will live long enough to tell lies about the good old days.
MG
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