The East Coast said goodbye with a great rain storm, making it easy to go back to my life of dirtbagging in the Southwest.
I have flown many of times, but the sky and clouds were unbelievable on this flight. The light inspired me to take some photos.
The plane ride was unadventurous just how I like all traveling to be. Rhea picked me up and the next evening I climbed with her, Tori and Susie (the two women I started my trip with). Who knows maybe i'll end my trip with them back at City of Rocks.
After picking up my home (my car) on Thursday I headed down to Morrison. Before I went climbing I met up with another friend for coffee. Rachel and I used to work together and she knitted me this amazing blanket. I can't believe how much time had to have gone in to making this blanket. It is an incredible gift, which I am very thankful for and got to try it out the past week. The blanket is so warm and very comforting!
After meeting up with Rachel I headed to Morrison for a short climbing session at one of my local climbing areas. Unfortunately my injuries (popped tendon in my pinky and a messed up hamstring) were hurting so I spent the afternoon running laps on the warmup traverse and enjoying the sun after being on the east coast for a month.
Morrison was very peaceful as I was the only person there. You can see snow on the ground on the dark side (across the street), yet it was at least 60 degrees when the sun was out. I could have hung out there all day. After Morrison I drove down to Pueblo and spent some time with a good friend I haven't seen in over two years. I really enjoy catching up with friends I haven't seen for awhile. It gives you time to see how people have evolved from experiences, but yet are still themselves.
That friday Dana and I headed to Shelf Road another favorite climbing area. It was in the upper 60s that day in the sun. The shade was chilly, but the sun was perfect. I hadn't climbed on rope really since Smith Rock in September, so I was back to battling the mental game of leading. I did notice even when I was nervous and mentally freaking out my external reaction was much mellower than before. Focusing on the way I breath while climbing helps my thoughts to not be as wild or overbearing.
After a full day of climbing we returned to Dana's place cooked dinner and passed out. I couldn't believe how exhausted I had felt. The next morning I had a little later start than I had planned, but ultimately started my drive to Hueco Tanks, TX at about 8am. It worked out perfectly as my friend Jeremy was on his way and had just passed Pueblo so we met up on the road and followed each other down to Hueco.
My friend Phil who I met and climbed with on the East Coast has a good friend who lives out at Hueco for the winters. He put me in contact with Sid, and Sid was kind enough to let us stay on his land.
Sid is a great guy who was very welcoming. Jeremy and I had a blast hanging out with him and chatting about politics and conspiracies. Sid is also a guide down in Hueco and took us out to climb on East Mountain. We climbed the entire day!! It was pretty epic. We started at the warm up area, then when over to Dragonfly, a rad V5 and a V10 which Jeremy was working...the name has escaped me right now. Dragonfly is a beautiful line which follows a crimpy slightly overhung crack to a face climb top out. There are some big moves and minimal polished feet, but man it was such an aesthetic line. I worked it for a bit and made progress, but didn't want to spend the whole day at one spot so we moved on.
We walked over to some classic V1 and V0 climbs then headed to another area. There was a bit of rock hopping to get there and we entered a corridor, with unique features. I instantly saw a climb I wanted to get on. The line was so inviting. However, it was the hardest V5 I have ever worked. I could make the first move and then there was a huge move to the lip, which shut me down every time.
After working this we headed over to the Moonshine Area. Hueco is known for many roof problems, which you climb these large huecos (holes or scoops in the rock). Moonshine is a classic and has V4, V5, and V6 lines on it.
Here is a picture of Sid in the middle of the climb, both the V4 and V5 share these moves. When climbing these roofs you are continuously changing your body position to hold tension to keep your body off the ground. The climbing style at Hueco is very unique and works your muscles in very different ways then most bouldering areas.
After we finished climbing there we started to loop around with the intention of heading back. Sid then asked if we were down to go to the round room. Neither Jeremy or I knew about the round room, we heard people say the name, but didn't know what was so special about it. Sid said we would have to hustle to get over there as it was 4:30 and we had to be back at the station by 5:30 and we were a half hour walk from the car. We said okay, stashed our crashpads grabbed our shoes and chalk and began our run...yea actually running. We reached the Round Room approach in 9 minutes, took off our approach shoes put on our climbing shoes and climbed the approach. You climb up and then slide down this crack and walk into this amazing Round Room of rock wall and the lower third of the room is covered in Huecos. My jaw dropped when I entered I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it. We began the traverse around it, finished, snapped some quick photos...(sorry this one is kind of blurry i'm not sure why I don't have the good one on my computer) headed back out the approach to our approach shoes, changed shoes and began our run back to our crashpads. We arrived back at our stuff at 4:58...that has to be some sort of a record. It was totally worth it.
On the walk out Sid showed us some of the petroglyphs including the star eyed man, which is in amazing condition and in a spot hidden from most of the elements. We got back to the cars right at 5:30 so it was a full day of climbing, hiking, and even a little running. It was great to have a tour guide/friend who was got so excited about showing us these climbs and different areas for the first time!
The next day, which was day three of climbing, we climbed with Michael and Leah two of Jeremy's friends who are also originally from the East Coast, but now live in Colorado. We ended up meeting up with Sid who was climbing with friends and had a blast working so many different problems!
This is a classic V2 called Nobody Gets Out Alive, Sid was telling us how the landing used to be all cactus hence the name. This was Leah's project she really wanted to send it before leaving Hueco. She got on it and cruised the whole lower section, but got her beta mixed up as she was pulling the lip. She rested for a while and then gave it another go. This time she had an audience...no pressure... as she crushed the whole thing! It looked effortless and was great to see someone finish their project as she worked so hard. We were all super stoked for her. Right before we went there Leah had sent another problem that had been giving her trouble...it was a great day for her!
Sid took us to Getto Simulator, which is a classic V1 or V2. It has jugs most of the way up, but is very overhung and a bit mental as it is tall even though there is a rock behind you for most of it, which you can step off onto. There are definitely no fall areas.
We then headed to the Martini Cave. Everyone was working Baby Martini a long V6 roof problem. This problem has so many chalked up holds you to tend to get lost each time you get on it until your beta is dialed. I got on it and literally did a full circle in one spot wasting so much energy. The next time Sid guided me through the beginning beta, which allowed me to really pay attention to my movements and ultimately helped me to remember where to go. I made progress that day, but made even more progress the next day I got on it. It is such a fun climb with many heel hooks, toe hooks, drop knees, and knee bars! Your body is constantly changing position.
This was a fun V2 or V3, which was a quality warm up and took me a few tries to figure out how to make the long move at the top. It had a strange top out, but was totally worth doing.
Here is Sid running laps on Baby Martini!
Day Four I took a rest day only to find out the next day was going to be super windy and cold. The wind was 20-25 mph on Thursday with gusts up to 45mph...we still went climbing! Most of our time was spent in the Martini Cave and I made even more progress.
We got to the park that day at 9:00am and I lasted till about 2pm and was over the cold and wind! Leah and I headed back while the guys worked a V10, which Jeremy sent...he crushed pretty much everything he got on.
Hueco is a beautiful park full of history and adventure. It is a process the first time you go as you need permits and there are a lot of rules, but it was worth it and now that I know the process the next time will be much simpler! I headed out on Sunday and was able to spend my sister's birthday with her in Arizona! First time in 11 years!
