More Boulders at Munson Lake, NB

A three day weekend and no rain results in twelve new boulder problems at Munson Lake, NB.

On Saturday, Jono and I played around on the new ones I'd discovered a few days earlier, establishing 8 easy problems.  The nicest is probably Quawsant Right: it starts on good holds under the right overhang, reaching around left, then traversing the lip to the top.  This name was inspired by a menu item at the Clifton General Store where they offer a breakfast sandwich on toast or quaswant.  It took me few minutes to figure it out, thinking it was perhaps referring to a Passamaquody cheif who once lived in the area.  Did you get it yet?  It's a horrible misspelling of croissant.

Quawsant

Vitamin I: an overhanging off-width and nice lip traverse.

On Sunday, Mike D came out as well.  The three of us finished off most of what was left from the day before, though a really nice problem on Houdini remains elusive.  After a brief lunch we took off for the overhanging well-featured boulders I'd found on Labour Day weekend.  I took the lead with flagging tape, Jono followed with the saw, and Mike, with the shears, was behind him.  We connected the trail that previously ended just beyond Piled Up with 3 more big boulders (2 of which were new discoveries) and eventually to those steep features just beyond the edge of the clearcut.  We cleared trees and brush, and peeled of some moss and soil carpets.  They were not as large as I'd remembered, but definitely as cool looking.

Mike D in one of the "before" photos

As the sun was setting and the puddles freezing, we walked back to the road and met a convoy.  Adam, Terry, Pete and Dom had been doing some development at Utopia Crag, and were camping out at Munson, since bouldering on was on their agenda for Monday.  After a visit the rest of us went home for hot food and warm beds.

The temperatures rose significantly overnight (Monday's 18ºC was a record high for November 12th) and there was a heavy fog.  As planned everyone met at Hidden Wall (including an Albertan turned back at the US border that Jono had met the night before) but the rock was soaked.  Warm moist air condenses when it contacts cold rock, so our choices were limited to faces in the full sun, on boulders that are exposed to the wind.

The scooped face of Roadside Ice Cream Stand

Terry M on the first crux Adam's new line, Hot Fudge Moustache V3.

Pete B sticks it solidly and crosses through

Adam took advantage, by adding a great new problem to Roadside Ice Cream Stand, which along with the classic Blueberry Ripple, kept everyone entertained for hours.  When we moved on to The Clam, Matt and PJ joined us.   The former deciphered the sequence to the slab left of Use Your Mussels, making it an even dozen new problems.

We wrapped up the day at the Cornerstones, waiting for the sun to dry each boulder in turn: Pump and Dump, Gutterball, HandLESS, Sideshow Bobbed, Eighty-Sixed, Goatsucker, and Curvy Trunk Cedar.

Dom C fighting to stick on the sloping holds of Eighty-Sixed, at the Munson Lake Boulders

No End In Sight

Four more boulders were found today at Munson Lake, NB.

Unsure of what I wanted to climb,  I wandered down the brook near Hidden Wall to scout for new boulders.  Though I didn't continue all the way to the Lake, I went far enough to decide there likely isn't anything significant in that direction: Before long it gets rather soft and thick with alders.  Turning Southwest, I eventually emerged back at the road, without finding a single boulder.

I crossed the road for the return trip to the car, and close to Graffiti Block I found a "new" boulder that's perched on a few smaller rocks, making for some climbing potential on the underside.  The starting hold flexed a bit and the next one, a long reach away, flexed a lot.  A quick flick with a crowbar popped both off, and left no features in their place.  This sucks as it could have been a really cool steep sequence on big holds.  You don't get that often on granite, and didn't here either.  Still, there is one other potential problem on another face.

A few weeks later, Marty was the first to decipher the problem, which he named Charyotte.  It's a short dyno up this face.

Next, I went along the trail to Piled Up, to check if the other two boulders nearby might be doable with the low temperature and humidity.  The landings made me second guess working them solo.  On my way there I spied a piece of granite to the South that had been hidden by leaves until recently, so I left my gear and took off to get a closer look.  The terrain here is rolling.  Young spruce trees –some saplings, some 3 meters tall– are thick in some places and in others it's wide open bog.  There is little sense of scale.  From afar it's hard to tell if a boulder is towering above the trees or if it's tiny and just happens to be sitting on high ground with some saplings at it's base.  You've really got to get up close to get a good idea.

Above and below: Two faces of a yet to be named (or climbed) boulder near Piled Up 

That erratic probably has two easy problems on it, and from it's top I saw more potential, less than 50 metres away.

One of the new finds

The second will also hold a couple easy problems.  I climbed up the back side to slide a block off the top, and from there could see yet another promising looking boulder.

Off I went and, yes, this one looks good up close too.

Above and below: Cool overhanging faces on the 4th boulder

...and from it I walked to yet another only to realize I was back at my gear stash!  So I grabbed the loppers and retraced my steps, and did the preliminary cutting of a new trail.