Over the month of March I made what I hope will end up being at the very least pad humping, spot providing bipedal mouth breathers.
South East Exodus
Tired of being cold and wet in the South East I moved West to Hueco Tanks. Happily, along the way I managed to visit Roswell, New Mexico. The comical museums and alien artwork everywhere was worth the small detour.
The Hueco Tanks
My arrival in El Paso, Texas coincided with this years Hueco Rock Rodeo. I had previously agreed to volunteer for free room and board at the Alpine Club’s Rock Ranch.
The Rodeo is essentially a big party that happens to have a climbing competition before hand. Famous crushers were present and I thought that was kind of neat. What I found more interesting though was just how many people came out to the middle of the desert for this, to be frank, sad looking pile of rocks.
It turns out my skepticism wasn’t warranted.
Access is only a slight issue in my opinion. Like everything, if you’re proactive or determined it is not much of a hindrance. Besides the climbing is totally worth the effort.
My first problem at Hueco was Sherman’s Sign of the Cross. It went and I remember thinking to myself “If that thing is only V3 I would need to prepare myself for the possibility I would not be breaking any barriers here.”. Classic Kyle brand negative thinking.
28 Days Later (moar or less)
I didn’t end up breaking into new grades at Hueco. My friend Swiss does a better job of explaining the myriad of potential reasons for this.
Over the month of March I made what I hope will end up being at the very least pad humping, spot providing bipedal mouth breathers. At most, life long friends.
Either way, I left physically much, much stronger and hugely psyched for Sandstone at Joe’s Valley.
Photos
