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