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.