West Nile Boulder (aka The Creek Boulder) Climbing

Hikers and climbers alike have passed this boulder for generations, as it sits quite apparent only 100 feet from the Rattlesnake Canyon Trailhead. For as long as I can remember, I never saw any real development on this decently sized stone, with the exception of the boulder's left face, which had a perpetual brush-stroke of chalk on its large, sloping jugs. But that was it—as far as real climbing was concerned.

Still psyched from the discovery (or re-discovery) of the Creamery, I was in the habit of taking a second, third, and fourth look at all the rock I had written off in the past, so I started scrubbing dirt and lichen off the Creek Boulder and found complete radness.

Most of the problems on this boulder most certainly have been done before, but the harder lines are, I believe, true first ascents. As Bernd puts it, sometimes you get a "re-first-ascent".