Ode to The Dryer Hose

Way up in the old U.P.
Just out of Mew-ni-sing
There rose a pitch of water ice
A beauty to be seen.

It hung from a lip with air all ‘round.
Stood tall as a lean white birch.
To gaze at it and contemplate
Was like a prayer in church.

Tall and fine, its cold crystals set
Straight as a drop of water falls.
To take the sharp end up that path
Really took some … er … nerve!

Alas, and now it wears a “skirt”;
Its steepness lost to fools.
Today some dance upon its flanks
Without even using tools!

Old memories long for the day,
When challenge it would pose.
But now it’s just an “easy day”,
Since someone took The Hose.

Yes, Way up in the old U.P.
At Ice Fest it still flows.
But, the thrill will never be the same,
Since someone took The Hose.

Phil Watts

Today it is known as Life’s a Pitch, but the original route The Dryer Hose was so named because a well-placed clothes dryer hose directed water from a small stream over an undercut sandstone edge to form a direct flow for freezing. When the Pictured Rocks National Park administration decided to actively promote the ice climbing resource, they removed the dryer hose. The route name was changed to protect the innocent.