Hueco Tanks Road Trip

Hello everyone! Thanks for checking out my blog and I hope you will check back soon for more updates as I continue my journey to climb!

Recently I was fortunate to have the opportunity to embark on a 10 day climbing road trip through New Mexico and Texas with my good friend and climbing partner Erik . This is the longest trip to date I have made and every aspect of it was amazing! I met some really cool friends along the way and did some incredible climbing, which I will never forget.

Erik and I camping at the trailhead to Ruff & Readys

Our trip found us first in the Rough & Readys climbing area in NM where we camped right at the trailhead, a nice change to the hour long approaches I am used to with adventure climbing (long approaches, difficult route-finding, and multi-pitch climbs which require perseverance and determination).
In the morning we climbed some sport routes on a form of volcanic tuff. It was a great way to start the trip and set the pace for hard climbing to come! That afternoon we headed out to the Organ Mountains outside of Las Cruces, NM where we planned to do some traditional climbing (of course after stopping at a local brewery in the area). Luckily for us, the weather was in our favor as we hiked over an hour through snow only to climb shirtless on the rock above in beautiful weather (a few days before we arrived they had extremely unusual cold weather). Camping was fairly cheap and we were able to collect plenty of wood to provide us excellent coals for cooking on the skillet. One of the nights we made a dish consisting of potatoes, carrots, celery, red pepper, onion, jalepeno, and portabello mushrooms which we stuffed into fresh tortillas. (It was very delicious and I highly recommend trying it!)

After a long day in the Organs

After spending two days in the Organs, we departed for Hueco Tanks outside of El Paso, TX. This is a very sought after destination and has some of the best bouldering in the country, as well as the most inspiring and aesthetic rock formations I have seen. Hueco primarily consists of bouldering, but we also found some sport and traditional routes to do as well. However, bouldering is the bread and butter and rightfully so; there is such a high concentration of classic problems it was overwhelming. We were fortunate enough to be set up with a guide who took us out with a group to boulder in the back country of East Mountain. It was a great day with 8 bouldering pads and strong energy from the group as we worked on numerous classic problems such as "Dragonfly", "Backdoor Man", and "Ventralfin". The climbing was amazing and humbled me as I soon discovered I needed two rest days to recover.

Me on the start of Ventralfin, V5

We stayed our nights at the Hueco Tanks Ranch which is where most of the climbers visiting the park stay due to cheap camping and a barn that contains a foosball table, ping-pong table, wireless internet (allowed me to catch up on the work for the classes I was missing), a shower, and an atmosphere of climbers that must be experienced to understand. The Ranch also provides its guests with pallets of wood for the bonfire pit which was a nice break from collecting wood every night and allowed us the opportunity to meet some cool friends.

Fire at Hueco Tanks Ranch

After spending three days in Hueco, we headed out to Last Chance Canyon on the Guadalupe Rim in New Mexico. We were not planning on going to Last Chance originally, but after hearing some stories we knew we had to check it out. The Guadalupe Rim is also a popular Hang-Gliding destination where Erik was planning on flying. It was amazing to see him fly, as I had only heard him speak of his adventures. With 30 mph winds, he just walked up to the cliff and leaped forward. Before I knew it he was 40 feet high and soaring like a bird which was absolutely surreal to see.

Erik taking flight!

The next day we moved camp over to Last Chance Canyon and hooked up with some friends we met at Hueco who are on a 9 month road trip climbing all over North America in their bus (http://tomandmitchsvantasy.blogspot.com/). The climbing here was amazing; orange and black streaked limestone, mono pockets, small crimpers, and steep overhangs. We climbed at the Mad Cow wall the first day which had some really cool technical routes and then climbed the Solstice Cave the second day which offered us some of the most beautiful, overhanging, limestone sport routes I have seen. The camping was also great (minus the 50 mph winds the second night) as we had a big group of friends and other climbers join us around the fire.

Me in the Solstice Cave. Solstice, 5.12d

It was hard to leave after spending 10 days on the road, sleeping outside, and climbing in new places almost every day. However, we were deeply satisfied with our journey and fortunate to be able to share our experiences with cool friends we met along the way. I realize how special times like these are and look forward to many more in the future as I am compelled to travel and climb as often as I possibly can.