Page 4C
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 29, 2017
West Virginia peaks draw experienced climbers and novices
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
Associated Press
SENECA ROCKS, W.Va.
— The pale ridge rises like the
ragged fin of a prehistoric fish
in a rolling green sea of low
forested mountains in eastern
West Virginia.
Massive and intimidating,
the craggy landscape of
Seneca Rocks draws serious
rock climbers from Wash-
ington, Pittsburgh and else-
where to its fiercely vertical
routes. The mountaintop once
hosted American combat
troops training to fight in
Italy’s Apennine Range
during World War II.
Despite its daunting
appearance, guides say this
is a good place to introduce
novices to a challenging but
manageable ascent.
“It lends itself to mellow
climbing,”
said
Adam
Happensack, who led a three-
some of mixed skill levels to
the summit recently. “It’s like
the coolest exposure you’ll get
for this grade of climbing.”
From the Monongahela
National Forest Discovery
Center terrace, through a
binocular scope, you can
watch climbers nearly a half-
mile away ascend the west
face. The peak rises 900 feet
above a fork of the Potomac
River below. Visitors can
splash in the river, hike forest
trails and stay in campgrounds
or an old motel. The nearby
hamlet has two combination
general stores and restaurants.
Seneca Rocks viewed
from the ground spears the
sky with its gray quartzite,
but becomes more intimate
and breathtaking on the way
to the top. You hear the birds
and soft thrum of the wind
through the hardwood forest,
and occasional yells from
climbers to partners belaying
them on safety ropes.
Happensack led climbing
partner Phil Brown and me
up a seven-pitch patchwork
of easy routes to the top,
including
the
Skyline
Traverse. Many handholds
and steps were obvious jugs
of rock. No pitches were
rated higher than 5.4 in the
Yosemite Decimal System for
technical climbing that ranges
from 5.1 to nearly impossible
5.15.
One well-known feature is
that traverse with little more
than a few steps around a rock
column into a three-sided
chimney with obvious holds.
However, the first moves
require stepping over about a
100-foot drop.
“It’s like the scariest thing
a beginner can get into,” said
Happensack, who has taken
many first-timers up the route.
He cautioned that those
initial footholds are worn
and slippery from decades of
boots and climbing shoes.
It took me a long, slow,
breathless minute to follow
him: testing the leaning
traverse across the space,
trying to grip the narrow
crack on one side and fumble
toward something to hold on
the other with arms spread
wide; trusting that the slightly
smooth step below wouldn’t
simply slide you into space.
The safety rope attached to
my climbing harness was
AP Photo/Michael Virtanen
In this June 24 photo Seneca Rocks rises behind the Monongahela National Forest Discovery Center in eastern West Virginia. The crag draws
serious rock climbers though guides say they also bring novices up its easier routes to the summit.
AP Photo/Michael Virtanen
In this June 25 photo climber Phil Brown climbs the
vertical pitch of Old Man’s Route high on the west face
of Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. Considered an easy
climb, the route ends on the shelf near the upper tree.
AP Photo/Michael Virtanen
In this June 25 photo climber Lindsey Enterline from
Hershey, Pa., manages the safety rope belaying her part-
ner at the start of Old Man’s Route on the west face of
Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. Enterline, eight months
pregnant, says she chose the easy and safe route.
“I’ve done the route before, and it’s one that
I won’t fall sideways — or do the traverse.”
— Lindsey Enterline, pregnant climber from Hershey, Pa.
somewhat reassuring.
This is what climbers call
exposure — where there
would be a high risk of injury
or even death from a false step
without protection.
You have to trust the rope
and go.
Brown, who followed me,
has climbed for a decade in
the Adirondacks and did this
traverse once before.
AP Photo/Michael Virtanen
In this June 25 photo climber Phil Brown rappels down
from Old Man’s Route on the west face of Seneca
Rocks in West Virginia. The crag has no hiking trail to
the top so you have to either rappel or climb down.
“Wow,” he said, when
he joined us at the top of the
chimney where Happensack
belayed him. “Cool.”
Mix cheesy eggs, avocado for a yummy breakfast taco
By ELIZABETH KARMEL
Associated Press
Long before I knew that the
origin of breakfast tacos were a
hotly debated topic, I was eating
them and loving them. I had my
first breakfast taco many years ago
in Houston and have enjoyed many
more in Austin, Texas. But, I am not
about to give birthright credit to any
particular city in because I am fairly
certain that Mexican immigrants all
grew up with their mother’s version
of “breakfast tacos.”
The beauty of the tortilla is that
it makes normal fork and knife
foods like scrambled eggs (and pork
barbecue, steak, fish, etc.), portable.
And, regardless of where you had
your first breakfast taco, if you are
like me, you crave them and must
make them yourself at home.
I am a “no beans and no rice”
kind of girl and prefer my breakfast
tacos like my favorite egg sandwich
but rolled, or folded over in a flour
tortilla. To me, the essential ingre-
dients must be cheesy eggs, a dash
of hot sauce and cool slices of ripe
avocado. I love bacon and prefer to
serve it on the side where it stays
crispbut feel free to add it into the
eggs. Not many places add slices of
avocado unless you ask for it, but
for me, the avocado is what makes
AP Photo/Richard Drew
Breakfast tacos.
it a Tex-Mex breakfast taco instead
of just eggs in a tortilla.
When I have tomatoes and white
onions on hand, I add those to my
cheesy eggs and I am one happy girl.
I like breakfast tacos so much that I
have been known to have them for
lunch and or dinner as well.
The truth is that you can put any
of your favorite cheese and egg
add-ins in your breakfast taco. In
Texas, the potato, egg and cheese
combo reigns king as does the
classic eggs and bacon. If you are
a fan of chorizo, chorizo and crispy
potatoes make a perfect match
especially with some blistered
poblano peppers thrown in for good
measure.
———
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue
and Southern foods expert. She is
the chef and pit master at online
retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and
the author of three books, including
“Taming the Flame.”
The next day Brown led
me up Old Man’s Route.
Rated only 5.3 for difficulty, it
consists mostly of what looks
like a giant stairway along the
cliff face ending in a 50-foot
vertical corner to the summit
ledge.
At the base, 33-year-old
Lindsey Enterline, pregnant
with her first child, prepared
to do it with a friend. A
climber for seven years and
a runner, her obstetrician
told her to keep doing what
she was doing but not start
anything new. She’d chosen
the easy route instead of the
harder climb her husband and
other friends from Hershey,
Pennsylvania, took on.
“I’ve done the route
before, and it’s one that I
won’t fall sideways — or do
the traverse,” she said. “I just
make sure it’s safe. And you
have to have cool trust in the
people you’re climbing with.”
Another young woman, on
her first climb, mounted the
corner farther up, kept on a
tight rope by the experienced
partner who coached her on
finding holds. She ascended
with only one or two hesi-
tations. She’d fallen farther
down the mountain, but was
caught on the rope and kept
climbing. “I had a moment,”
she said with a smile.
With no trail to walk down,
Seneca Rocks climbs end in
rappelling on ropes threaded
through a device on your
harness that creates friction
and slows the descent. “That
was scarier than the climb
up,” the novice said.
Other sites that draw
climbers to the state include
the New River Gorge and
Summersville Lake, where
cliffs lean out over the water
not far from the gorge.
BREAKFAST TACOS
Servings: 8
Start to finish: 20 minutes
• 8 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and cooked,
optional or serve whole slices on the side
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 8 6-inch flour tortillas, warmed on a griddle
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 8 large eggs
• 1 cup white cheddar or Monterey Jack with jalapenos,
shredded
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced for serving
• Hot sauce
Cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 10-12 minutes.
Transfer to paper towels to drain (do not pour off fat from skillet).
Using a large non-stick skillet, add 2 tablespoons of butter
and onions to skillet and cook, stirring often, until translucent
and tender, 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and season lightly with
salt and pepper. Remove skillet from heat.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a large bowl to blend; add the
remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the nonstick skillet over
medium heat and let melt. Pour eggs in evenly over the tomatoes
and onions. Cook eggs, stirring occasionally to mix in onions and
tomatoes, and scraping bottom of skillet with a heatproof spatula
or fork to form large curds, about 1-2 minutes. Add cheese and
stir to mix in and finish cooking. Do not increase the heat to cook
everything faster or the eggs may burn.
Remove eggs from heat and mix in bacon if using or serve
on the side. Fill tortillas with cheesy egg mixture and top with
avocado. Serve with hot sauce.
Nutrition information per serving: 354 calories; 191 calories
from fat; 21 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 244 mg choles-
terol; 428 mg sodium; 27 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 2 g sugar;
15 g protein.