Recluse Traverse  5.10b

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Type:  Trad Consensus:  5.10b [details] FA:  unknown Submitted By:  Jay Knower on Nov 9, 2009 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (3) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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Description 

You have probably walked past this route one hundred times without seeing it. If you look at the start of Recluse, and then look to the right, you will see a thin crack horizontally splitting the wall. This is the Recluse Traverse.

Start on Kiddy Crack and climb up to the top of some stacked blocks. From here, the crack traverses directly left, steeply at first, for about 25 feet. The first bit is the crux, as the overhanging wall below offers no footholds. Once you reach Recluse, continue straight up that crack to the top of the cliff.

The Webster guide mentions this traversing crack having been climbed as the beginning of a girdle traverse (wtf?) of the Practice Slab. It makes more sense to me to head up Recluse instead. Plus, this is a nice way to climb the stellar upper crack of Recluse without having to do that route's heinous boulder problem start.

Protection 

TCU's or Aliens for the traverse. Bigger cams for the finish on Recluse.