Often the best climbing is that which comes unexpectedly. With Friday's rain arriving just as I had met Vincent Faires for some much-needed bouldering, and Saturday forecast to be more of the same, I had resigned myself a full day of couch sitting. Then as morning passed, the rain stopped and clouds lifted, leaving the warm afternoon sun free to work. Realizing things might be dry, Vince and I headed down to Northwest Branch to check it out.
It turned out that although the river was full and muddy, the rocks were completely climbable. Wanting to play on another variation of the low traverses I had done on Tuesday, we made our way down to the Tick boulder. I've almost come to think of The Tick as my outdoor system board, with its slight overhang and perfect assortment of holds, all above a comfortably flat landing. Exploring my Maryland roots by finding every possible eliminate on a small piece of rock, I told Vince that I was hoping to begin on the left arete and follow the first couple moves of The Traverse before dropping down to the central sidepull jug and continuing the previous traverses. I envisioned a series of small precise movements bringing me within range of the jug. Vince, deciding I shouldn't be the only one exploring roots, went big in true Texas fashion to hit the jug directly from the initial crimp and slot. Great, now we were playing a game of take-away. The Tick had officially become a gym.
Photo: Vincent Faires
Photo: Vincent Faires
Photo: Vincent Faires
Photo: Vincent Faires
Photo: Vincent Faires
Vince managed to send after a few attempts, and I followed not too long after.
As with the other traverses I mentioned, this was fun and challenging, but I'd still recommend doing The Traverse first. This was just another way to change things up a bit, to keep enjoying a fun boulder in a good setting after the "official" lines have all been repeated to exhaustion. If anyone gets out and comes up with anything else fun to play on, I'd love to hear about it!
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