a day in the life of

today is a multi-post day... scroll further down to find the first one.

well, the day turned out well. i stayed on easy stuff to warm up and did 9 problems in an hour to warm up. then i went over to do some roof warm-up laps on nobody gets out of here alive.

i ran into some friends that i've made here... really the only people close to friends that i've got left in the campsite. it was a great day with a lot of laughter and some good problems. i got on a few things that were brand new to me, including the classic "ghetto simulator" which is a very long boulder problem, people joke that it's a route. it was great because i got it on my second try. the first try i felt exposed and dropped off at the beginning. maybe my endurance will be half decent on routes anyway?

it was amazingly hot out, and i got a buddy to take a picture of me as i was seeking out the only shade i could find. i've spent a lot of time on this roadtrip under rocks, but usually it's because i'm climbing them instead of hiding under them.

i got on my project eventually, but it was the end of the day when we made it there. i don't take projecting all that seriously anyway, and more importantly, i think a few of us are going out for dinner. i made a small amount in tips bartending at the rock rodeo, and i'd like to put it towards a dinner.

overall i completed 18 problems, and stuck the next move on the semi-project. it was a great day! i may stay in hueco another few days if i can climb without having to wait in line.

game on

today is a multi-post day... scroll further down to find the first one.

holy crap it can't be possible. as i drove over to the park this morning, i was shocked to see there was no line up. as i drove through the gate (without having to slow down or stop) i wept tears of joy. a little dramatic perhaps, but it's been intensely frustrating to be held back from climbing. i'm in the far side of the park right now, and i'm going to do a lot of problems to warm up since i have the time.

let the games begin.

brush your teeth

today is a multi-post day... scroll further down to find the first one.
wow what a great morning so far. the cereal is a bit gross since it sat out for over 20 minutes in the sun. love to shoo flies off my food before i eat.
i am so pumped to climb. my earlier post was a bit cut off since i had to pee so badly. here in the desert there is no "pee tree" to run behind when nature calls. the guys just walk off a distance and stand with their back turned, but as a woman i am screwed for peeing in the desert. no matter how far i walk off, it doesn't really matter. the outhouses are disgusting, they aren't changed very often and now after the rock rodeo, they are FULL. it's a disgusting topic, i know, but it does give you something to chat about with the neighbours. everyone's always discussing the current state of the outhouse, and it's a real intimacy to discuss your current comfort level of defecation in the facilities with a total stranger.

another cool thing today is wearing my headphones. it gives me an excuse to retreat inside myself even though there are other people around. no need for chitchat, all you can do is wave. i think i may be on to something. i just copied some of my favourite upbeat music to my mp3 player. today's soundtrack will be daft punk's homework, sasha's fundacion and involver
today is supposed to hit 27C, sort of a heat wave. let's go climb.

desert girl

today, to celebrate the New Moon, (and the fact that i'll be leaving the free wi-fi in the tent part of my journey soon) today is a multi-post day. let's follow my progress.

i slept really well, asleep by 10pm and up before 7am. i feel great and i slept well. the coffee's good, i've switched to putting vanilla soymilk in my coffee instead of the whole milk i was indulging in before. i've gained weight here at hueco, what with the social time snacks and the liquor? sharing a bottle of wine with someone can quickly gain you a friend and in most cases it's worth it. i've made a few friends on this trip that i really hope to see again. it's nice to occasionally "click" with someone, and it actually makes the trip go by faster.
i wonder who i'll climb with today. i have a reservation from a girl who just left, but i don't have the number. if i don't have the number, they can refuse me entry at the gate, so i'm intensely suspicious about today's events. i feel so zen. i just sat in the sun and stretched. i've discovered that i'm a bit of a sun worshipper, and today is clear blue sky. the sky is huge down here, and there have been few clouds lately. it's quite amazing to lie on your back on the ground and all you see is blue. blue in your peripheral vision, and blue straight ahead. i like the desert.
i'm celebrating hueco, but it's definitely time to move on. the girl who gave me the reservation was leaving this morning. she thought maybe she'd be here a few more days, but she woke up today and the time was right. that's what i'm waiting for right now, i can sense that it's almost time to move on.
this freedom thing is great, and it just messes up the whole thing when you have to sit in line to get to the rock. you can see it from the gate, and it's just like sitting next to a bowl of ice cream that you're not allowed to eat. hopefully hueco doesn't melt while we're stuck waiting.

i worked out while facing the sun today. i feel like i'm charging my solar batteries, and i really concentrated on waking up my core muscles, since i need them so badly to climb here. i think i'll visit my project today. sent a wake up call to my muscles.

so, the coffee is good and i have a great power cereal mixed up. it's dried cranberries, bran and oat cereal, wheat puffs and a bit of the expensive organic stuff. i throw a bit of strawberry jam in to kill the fiber flavour. apparently though, my body didn't want it since i mixed up the cereal and then came to the tent without it. body say it want coffee only now. me listen to body.

i feel proud today. my confidence is up. i need to eat well and exercise a lot to feel good about myself, and i just don't feel that i've been that active in hueco. the bouldering really wears you out and rest is a must. resting is really boring.

i can't wait to climb! i'm going to go get ready.

unrequited love for hueco

well, i waited in line at the gate today for four hours before finally giving up and coming back to the campsite.
not everyone has to wait in line, if you have money you can book a commercial tour and you're guaranteed entry to the park. so basically like so many other places and circumstances in the world, those with money fare better.
second choice is to make a reservation. they're four dollars per person and have to be made via a long distance phone call to the parks bureau in houston. when i arrived in hueco three weeks ago, every day was booked in february. when you're waiting at the gate you're hoping for a reservation to be cancelled so you can get in. reservations are held until 12 noon, and then are processed as "no-shows". then people from the line up are let in.

when i arrived in line today there were six cars and i knew each and every person there. i think that fact alone shows that i've been here a while. five cars had been let in between 8am and 10:30am and the guy at the front of the line, who arrived at 6:30am, finally got in just before noon.

i blame the lineup for my shakey results with climbing. when i want to climb i want to be excited about it and just get on the rock. sitting around on my crashpad on the road is not comparable to climbing. i've met some good people and made some friends in line, but sitting around is not why i went on this trip.

i've sandpapered my fingertips and may have a lead on getting in on someone's reservation tomorrow. otherwise it's back to the line up...

turn down the noise

i do believe it's time to move on from hueco.

no hard feelings, but i've been here over three weeks, which has been my average time spent in any one destination so far. i'm going to go climbing today and see how it feels. the last week was not my best... i spent more time waiting in line to go climbing, then actually being on the rock.

volunteering for the rock rodeo was an interesting experience. what did i want out of it? a) to be part of the local climbing community; b) an activity to focus on so i wouldn't obsess about climbing; c) some light work experience that i could mention in a future job interview; d) free admission.

Well, it was a lot more work than i had expected. some extra responsibilities were dropped on me at the last minute, and it was a lot of work. i haven't worked that hard since i had a job and was dealing with unrealistic deadlines. it reminded me why work isn't all that fun, and that sometimes i can take on a bit more than i can handle. i think it was because i'm a "little person" here so i had no clout in reassigning responsibilties. a couple people just responded "yeah right" when i asked for help. but the people that did help out were really great, and overall it was quite a rush to be that busy, but i've barely climbed in the past 4 days, and i feel like i haven't climbed at all the past week.

nevermind working registration, i got to bartend at night! that was a LOT of fun. unfortunately even though i tried to pace myself with my own drinking, i ended up getting a tad bit inebriated. working the bar i got to experience firsthand the beer goggles on men, combined with the blabbermouth effect of liquor. survey says that after three beers i appear "gorgeous" and "hot". nothing you can take seriously from a bunch of drunk guys when you're one of the few girls at the event, but it was fun. i even made a small amount in tips (same men, same beer goggles).

another reason i wanted to volunteer was so i could have a chance to interact with people. a set purpose. hi there, i'll register you, hi there i'll serve you drinks. without a purpose, i'd just be on my own saying "hi there" and then nothing.

oh yes, so i ended up drinking a bit too much. i could swear i didn't drink that much, but since i can't really afford alcohol i don't drink too often and my tolerance is a lot lower. combine that with barely eating anything the past couple days since i couldn't leave the registration desk, and i missed the entire party. i hear that the bonfire was great, and the band was good. all i did was serve drinks, and then go to my tent to sleep.

i haven't been that messed up since i was overdrinking as a teenager. i'm not proud of myself and i think that i've been regressing a bit here at hueco. i'm not a party girl per se, but this environment is a lot of party all the time. i'd like to move on and have a bit of time to myself. this trip can't be all personal growth moments, but at hueco i'm not really improving myself as a person. it's also frustrating to climb since you could spend 4 hours of the day in line up to get into the park instead of just being able to say "hey i'm ready to climb" and then go hit the rock.

i'll be here for less than a week, and i'm looking forward to picking my next destination. the weather is turning into what we canadians would call "summer" and it's going to be really hot this week. it's early morning and i'm already in a tank top. i'll leave for the crag in an hour or so, and judging from today's climbing results, i'll decide how much longer i'll be here.

eureka

i do believe i may have figured out what it takes for me to climb here at hueco.

i took a rest day on tuesday and just focused on stretching and relaxing. any muscles that hurt got some attention with a lot of stretching and workout. i figure that if the muscle hurts, it isn't strong enough, and my theory seems to have worked out since i'm not so sore anymore. stretching is great. i went to bed early to get a good night's sleep and i got myself really worked up to climb again.

wednesday i woke up excited to climb again but then things got a little bit frustrating... the reservation someone gave to me wasn't valid and i had to wait at the gate until 12:30 before getting into the park. at first i thought i wouldn't even be able to focus my energy on climbing, but i chilled out and did some laps on one of my favourite problems in the park - nobody gets out of here alive. it's a roof problem that transitions into slab and it was a really exciting experience to work through the problem without a spotter. i've been scared when climbing here in the past and i needed to get over that. i had to totally believe in my abilities and it really helped me to focus my energy.

i met up with some canadian boys and climbed with them for the rest of the day. i had a great time! i pushed as hard as i could, and climbing was a total out of body experience. as always i tried problems that were a few V-grades harder than i have ever completed, but i got a lot further on them. it was like watching myself climb, completely detached from pride or ego, instead of being so involved in the experience. when i felt a bit of doubt, i worked through the move anyway and a number of times i really surprised myself when i held on. there was a great energy in the group and i had a really great time.

i also got to see a new-to-me area in the park and there are even more really great problems. i'm excited to go back and try harder on them! at the end of the climbing day we went to an area that i haven't returned to since my first day here. the problem is called "sign of the cross" and i had a lot of trouble on it my first day here. the crimpers are sharp, and there's a bit of a toss at the top that i was too scared of. after that it gets a bit tall and i just couldn't do it on my first day.

i sent the problem on my first try yesterday, and it felt great. i've finally had a breakthrough with hueco tanks climbing, and i'm not going anywhere soon. i'm making lots of friends and really enjoying the atmosphere here now. the rock rodeo is coming up this weekend and i'm looking forward to it.

fun in the desert!

adam on babyface (that's the sixth or seventh adam i've met now, but he's from nova scotia and we went to the same high school, so that's okay)

me working on "the mexican chicken" - this is one of the moves that i surprised myself when i held on

raphael working through the start on babyface (big move to small hold)

adam on "the mexican chicken"

freebird

wow, my blog has now gotten 1,000 hits since i started the counter the day before my trip. that's pretty cool and i wonder who was the thousandth. i dropped by around 996 and then left it alone for a day. haven't checked yet today, but certainly will take note when i post this up. i was feeling pretty good about things so i headed straight for the slackline for a good dose of humility. damn that thing is hard. i still can't get on it without holding someone's hand.

monday was a fun day of climbing. i got up at 6:45 when the sun hit my tent (instant sauna-like feel) and was at the gate by 7:30. or should i say ... in line at 7:30. i was the seventh car there, since so many people have camper vans and just sleep at the gate. it took four hours in line to get into the park - i don't have any reservations so i'm blessed with lining up, or asking around for people to give me their spare reservations.

i kept myself on easy problems on monday and it felt really good to finish things. i went for quantity of routes completed instead of difficulty. of course, since i'm stubborn and sometimes not all that bright, i threw myself at a couple problems that were a few V-grades harder than anything i've finished before. can't hurt to try. or can it? i worked a lot of crimpers on monday - that seems to be the speciality here - and seem to have tweaked a pully in my pinky finger. so i took another rest day yesterday. i think i need to focus more on recovery than climbing right now. my tips are getting a bit scary looking... i'm not sure if i have callouses, which are good, or just pre-flapper material, which is bad.


things are going well with the rock rodeo - i'm in charge of registration for the event, but unfortunately i also get to work in the little camp store in order to pay for my camping. i got all excited, dreaming up an electronic solution to track registration - thinking of having it all in a database instead of just a paper sheet people sign in on... but really i'd much rather write these days instead of doing anything technical. i'm really losing interest in the techy side of things, though yesterday i did feel a glimmer of excitement.

so i'll be heading to the park soon... i'm taking my time today since i hate to rush. no goals or expectations today

up down, turn around

this is another one of those times when i'm analyzing the solo roadtrip. i'm analytical by nature, and this is something else worth figuring out.

i appreciate more and more having friends around. observing the community here at hueco has really been interesting - observing human behaviour and interactions. our friends are our buffer from the world, and if they're good friends, we should feel safe in their company.

i'm all over the place with my feelings here. for starters, constantly meeting people gets quite exhausting. i retreat to my tent, but then sometimes i get bored and just wish someone would come over and ask if i want to do something. i don't really know anyone that well. i met a really cool couple from vancouver and was blessed with friends for a week - a temporary buffer from the world but now i'm on my own again.

Humourous Attempt at Being Social #1
last week i tried slacklining... there were a number of people around and i bit the bullet, put my pride aside and my ego on hold. one of the taller guys held my hand and explained how to get on the slackline. i tried my bestest and laughed my way through a few steps on the line. i must have been going in slow motion, because when i biffed (new hueco vocab) off the line, the crowd of people were gone. honestly, just two people remained besides me. oh dear. so i haven't tried the slackline again, but will get up the courage sometime again. actually, i think instead i'll wait for a good day when i send something and need to be humbled. ah yes, i can rely on slacklining for a good dose of humility.

this morning a potential friend made an effort to be nice to me and invited me over for coffee in the morning. he runs with the locals here and i must admit i'm really intimidated by the group. i try not to be, but remember that i have no friend shelter. i have to sit in the group all on my own, and if i'm not feeling like being top notch entertainment, i'm pretty quiet. i made an offhand remark to him about how no one really talked to me the other night when he invited me over for dinner and the strong regulars were there and he told me what i needed to hear. he looked at me, cocked his head slightly and said "well half the time i don't even think you like me." oh dear. he's got a point. meeting people is one thing, but i need to remember that this is the desert... there are no trees, there is no screen or shelter so we're all in each other's space, essentially. i need to make a conscious effort to say hi to people when i see them, instead of just retreating into my shell. it's just strange to always be on my own... i can't always expect other people to take the initiative to get to know me.

so i gave some thought to what my potential friend said this morning. somehow i manage to occasionally come across as unfriendly. well, i can't fake excitement for every person every time i see them, and i'm solar powered so i have trouble being chipper when it's cold and dreary. or maybe i'm using that as an excuse and just like to feel sorry for myself every so often?

Humourous Attempt at Being Social #2
i went to the barn and decided to be social with the few people there. one of the guys was fixing the fooz ball table - another sport i've never tried so i figured that, like slacklining, i should suck up the courage to try it out. i explained that i had never played before and he explained the basics to me. we played and i lost terribly, of course. it's kind of like when i tried slacklining, only without the bizarre crowd vanishing action. so the two other people jumped in to play doubles, and the guy who made up the other half of my team had been watching the entire painful ordeal that was the previous game. oh yeah, he was a great partner, taking the game so seriously, shouting "stupid goalie" when i allowed a goal, and chastising me on my technique.
i almost made a comment about how it was good that this interchange happened just before he was leaving since now we wouldn't have to worry about a friendship blossoming, but i remembered about trying to be nice and bit my tongue.

the bottom line is that i'm by myself and relying on other people for my happiness, confidence and self esteem is completely unrealistic. being on my own, the only thing that matters is what i think of myself. if i'm withdrawn and lack confidence, people will react to me in the same way. they really only react to the image that you project.

my next attempt at being social will hopefully be a bit less on the slapstick humour side. the hueco rock rodeo is here next weekend - it's a big climber gathering and comp from what i can gather. i'm not quite ready to leave this place, but i would never go out of my way to attend a large gathering of people i don't know. this is a great opportunity to get involved in the community, so i've volunteered to help out. if it's just something like sitting at the registration desk signing people in, that would be fine; but it would be great to have a more active role.

maybe i just need my mind to focus on something so i can stop worrying about my performance in climbing.

sunshine and lollipops

we were blessed with a sandstorm last night. i slept with earplugs in since there were a few rowdy groups of inebriated climbers that threatened my sleep. i'm still in shock at the state of the campsite. absolutely everything that i left on the picnic table was on the ground buried in sand. it's just strange since normally winds this violent are part of the weather forecast, so i've been prepared for them in the past. i wasn't able to caffeinate myself fast enough today since i had to scrape the sand out of my coffee press and water boiling pot before i could even start the holy process of coffee brewing.

there is a very fine sand everywhere. my tent is a four season high quality one from mec, but i think it's designed more to keep snow out instead of sand. trying to do up the zippers on the fly or body pump out my already fatigued from two days on climber arms.

sand is just a fact of life when you're living in the desert. i call it Vitamin S since it's mixed into all food and drink by default. it's the bonus ingredient in everything you cook. when i wake up i can smell it and taste it.

i may climb today, but it will be my third day on. i'm being hard on myself since the bakery at the local market appears to be my kryptonite. they have these little chocolate muffins which are more of a devil's food cake consistency... spending even $2 there one can load up on all sorts of delectable goodies. my climbing has been hit or miss lately and i need something to blame it on. i'm blaming the sweets. i'm trying to exercise some self control to not go to the market. this plan is backfiring since i'm slowly running out of groceries. jessica cannot live on soymilk alone.

i'm doing some sleuthing since i really can't figure out how to reach my peak performance on the climbing here. i feel strong and then watch myself let go. there always seems to be something in the way and i really need to learn how to clear my mind and just focus focus on the moves. i've been out with tours lately, and that gives me the excuse that having to climb with 10 people makes it difficult to take a turn. otherwise i feel too cold (in the shade) or the holds are too warm (in the sun). excuses excuses. today will be my third day on which is probably kind of stupid since my tips are fried. fried, shredded, and somewhat scary in appearance. but no, i'm stubborn and i'm going to keep on climbing until i can figure out how to rock the casbah on the rock here.

to the innocent bystander, it may appear that being on a roadtrip solely to climb is all sunshine and lollipops. most of the time it's pure 100% unadulterated fun, but it's tough not to take climbing seriously when it's really all i have to do. this is my career right now, and my results are inconsistent. it feels like i'm constently on problems that highlight my weaknesses - a few powerful moves on small holds to a big throw. i can't seem to learn how to throw if it's on a vertical plane. give me overhangs or give me death!

it may sound like i'm being hard on myself but really i think most of us climb for the constant challenge. i'm not going to run around on easy problems all day just for the feeling of finishing something. some days i only finish 2 of the 10 problems i attempt. it just feels like there's some secret to unlock my abilities in climbing. it's a constant struggle for most of us - always pushing our limits and trying to learn new moves so they may be added to our repertoire.

so i'm going climbing again today even though it's my third day on. i tell myself that i'll just tape up my raw fingertips and play on easy stuff... but i know i'll be hurling myself full force at the first tricky problem i encounter. there must be a secret to climbing and i'm determined to find it. is it my diet? how well i sleep? do i need to be freshly showered with my hair done? is it something i wear? is it all confidence related?

well, i've got to get to work. the rock is calling me and i must go earn my rest day tomorrow. and maybe a chocolate muffin..

happy anniversary

i was so happy to watch the full moon rise on this, the two month anniversary of my roadtrip. two months has really flown by and i think i can put in another two months no problem.

i woke up with the sunrise, excited to celebrate my anniversary, and then also scored a reservation so i could get into the park without lining up. i then talked to a few people and got an invitation to climb in an area i've never been before. i drove to the park by myself, but feeling pretty great. i signed in, and then as part of my continuing celebration, loaded my chalk pot with an entire brick of chalk. it was then that i realized i had forgotten my lunch, so i tossed everything back in the car and drove all the way back out of the park and to camp to retrieve my pre-packed lunch.

after all that, i wasn't going to allow myself to have a bad day. yesterday was as stressful as a day off on the road as a completely free spirit could be. betsy's been having trouble starting lately - for some reason the battery wasn't keeping a charge. i bought a new alternator and got some "help" from a passer-by to swap it out. but then the old alternator tested okay, so i ended up returning it and calling CAA to come and put betsy back together. she started like a charm, after three hours of being taken apart. still no idea what could be the problem.

i also got to go out for dinner with a crew of nice folks from the campground. there's such a ridiculous hierarchy here, and i'm up a step for having been here over a week. bottom feeder no more!

so anyway, after such a stressful dirtbag day yesterday, today was bound to be good. when i woke up the birds were singing and they tied my hair back with ribbons as i brewed my coffee. i was ready to climb.

i had a nice relaxing warmup and followed my new group of people to follow to the new meadows, where i got on lobster claw, a problem i have heard so much about. i had some trouble grabbing the crux hold in the proper manner - i kept pinching it instead of crimping it - and finally got the send. it felt great! after that i hung out in the sun, just happy to be here, and then worked on a few other problems that were also a lot of fun.

all in all it's great to be on the road. i realized this week that this is the first time in my roadtrip that i have no where to be at anytime, and no set time to leave. in the past i 've had people to pick up or drop off at airports that really controlled my agenda. if i feel like packing up tomorrow i can. if i want to stay a month, i can do that too. hueco tanks is a great place to be, and as long as betsy behaves, i can afford to stay here for a while.

*** the signal here is good, but the bandwidth is not so great. pictures to be added to this later.

super famous climber people

well, i am all on my own on this trip again, having dropped john off at the airport last night.

i thought i had a lead on a reservation to get into the park, but it fell through. i went to line up at the gate and found out that the people just in front of me had already been waiting for 2 hours. at the front of the line they had been there for nearly four hours. a volunteer tour opened up and some spots were available. this is where it's good to be travelling by myself: the cars in front of me were all groups waiting to get in together. i grabbed the last spot on the tour.

it was a really crazy group and i can't say i got a lot of climbing in. we went to an area with only one problem that i would consider warm up grade and i tried starts to problems that were too hard for me. i also worked on a dyno problem... dyno's are my weakness... and didn't get that either. eventually a group of people showed up at the area - including dave graham, so everyone else cleared out. i mean, i certainly don't feel like trying to stick a dyno when such top notch climbers were around.

later when we moved areas, ben moon showed up and worked our problem with us. he was super friendly and nice. i could tell he was someone famous or popular by the way some of the guys on our tour stopped talking when he showed up, and the guide changed his tone to one of reverence. i was just really happy that i was able to get relatively far along in the problem we were working, and other than that was able to act my normal self.

i go through so many different emotions over the course of a day. i'm here in the desert by myself, and due to the lack of trees, there's no privacy on the campsite. so here i am, all on my own and on display to boot. everyday i meet new people, and most of them i will not see again. if i really let my mind run wild, its pretty daunting to have such strong climbers around. i just met someone, looked them up and found out they've done v14. oh dear. i'm partly inspired and partly discouraged by all the talent around. i'm trying to focus on the encouraged part of things, and really believe that i can improve my climbing if i really work on it.

betsy update

today is a rest day. as usual, i got up with the sunrise and spent a good amount of time sun worshipping. it's fun to just sit and stretch your muscles, and even better when it's done in the desert under the warm sun.

we finally got ready to go into town and run errands, but betsy wouldn't start. oh dear, finally some trouble with the car. i opened the hood and got john to attempt to turn her over while i stared at the engine hoping that it would be something obvious - something i could catch with my limited and out of date mechanics knowledge. thankfully it was - the alternator couldn't turn = dead battery! i dusted off the battery and confirmed my suspicions when i saw the "recharge by 4-03" sticker on it. hell, i squeezed an extra couple years out of it! we got a jump start from one of the few people on the campground who didn't go climbing and drove to the mechanic. betsy has a new battery now and has promised not to give any more trouble. she's 18 years old and i've already driven 8,000km on this trip.

that was enough excitement for the day, and i am so so so glad that she got us to el paso and that the battery didn't give out on the drive here in the wee morning hours in the middle of the night.

hoping to climb again tomorrow - having so many elite climbers around really encourages me to climb to my full potential. i have a few lofty goals that i can't even speak out loud but hope to reach by the end of this road trip.

project alert!

yesterday started off slow. i was so sore from the first day of climbing and was pretty much scared to climb again lest i may injure myself. more importantly, i was feeling kind of lazy. we sat around the campsite in the morning and were both unmotivated. then i talked to someone in passing (note to self, always talk to people in passing) and found that his group was not going to use their reservations for the day. we have to leave. right now!
they kindly drove over to the park with us to transfer the reservation to us. we're going to climb! we proceded to the warm up boulders where i furthered my quest to be lazy and unmotivated. i tried a few of the easy easy problems and just didn't feel on. i was a bit shakey and nervous and told john it was going to have to be a Very Easy Day. we met a nice guy at the warm up boulders who has been a climbing vagabond for the last seven years, and he came with us to the mushroom boulder.
the guys started to work a problem that i was sure was over my level, and i proceeded to wander around looking for Very Easy problems in the sun. i sat, i climbed, i sat a bit more. finally the urge to climb hit me. by now there are three guys in our group - john, and two guys we've added to our group along the way. one of them kindly suggested a few Very Easy problems for me to go do. i looked at what they were working and said that no, i'd like to try this one. my mood improved triple-fold when i stuck the opening moves on the first try - the guys had been working this move for a while and i was able to do it statically. not that it matters since heaven forbid i compare myself to them, but it just felt great to be able to keep up. i had heard that hueco is sandbagged, but i seem to be able to climb at my normal grade level. i worked through a few other moves on the problem and am leaving it for a later date.

above: adam (a different adam and the fourth adam i've met on this trip) is fixing the pads since we had to stack them for me to even get on the problem....

bear down and then control the move to cross over to the next move. that's the move i have to get next...

and it was a very good day

after completing my post talking about feeling insecure and overwelmed, yesterday turned out to be a very good day. john was able to get us reservations to get into the park, which was a pleasent surprise. i will always be surprised when i get to climb here, due to the limited access.

we met a group of people at the warm up boulder, and they were talking about going to go do a problem that i had heard john talking about. i asked if we could join them so we all went to the next area together. after burning out on baby martini, we mentioned going to another area and a few of the guys asked if they could join us. our group of four ventured over to work on sign of the cross.
this problem is really good, but really illustrated how off i am my first day in a new place. for starters, i couldn't reach the starting holds without 4 pads (two pads and one folded). once i was on, i was getting through the first few moves but couldn't commit to toss to the next hold. my muscles and my brain just weren't getting along.

the guys sent the problem one by one and it was only me left. by now the rest of the group of nice people had returned, and were sitting around the problem amphitheatre style. oh boy. i tried the problem "one more time" and stuck the move! i was so excited i screamed and everyone else screamed... i went for the next hold, didn't quite make it and hit an intermediate. eek! as soon as i hit the wrong hold with my left hand, i felt my right hand expire. oh boy. i am all the way up there, one move away... no, mere inches away from the first of the finishing jugs and my right hand has gone on strike. i fell off and crawled away laughing so hard. what a rush. i laughed like i haven't laughed for a long long time. it felt so great to have a good support group and great spotters. i just can't believe that i've lost my ability to crimp after almost two months on slopey sandstone. i laughed and laughed, i used to really like crimpers and now they feel so foreign. what was really great though was the support i got from the group, even though the problems i was working were exponentially easier than what they were working.

so i like it here. people are nice... the way i see it, even if they climb v10, they're still human, and i'm not going to cower in fear rather than talk to them. when we left that area, i told them thanks for the support and one guy, who was on a rest day, said "hey, thanks for climbing something since we can't today."

adam (above) and eric (below) scoring the top out on "no one gets out of here alive"

john bearing down on "the sign of the cross"

jessica showing that caves really are dark, working towards the crux on "baby martini"

hueco

well, it's my first *real* morning in hueco tanks. yesterday doesn't count since i was bleary after 4 hours of sleep following twenty some odd hours of driving.

a new challenge presents itself since this is my first time on this trip in such a popular climber place. in horsepens i was the only one there for the first bit, and then i had canadian friends visiting so i didn't need to worry about other people. in tennessee i was the only one on the campground, and occasionally other people showed up.

at hueco i have walked into a crowd of climbers. this is a brand new experience - the rock ranch is in the desert so it's not like there's privacy between campsites. i'm secretly happy to be here, but overall i'm feeling a bit insecure. i've only been on the road a month and a half, and i am probably no where near as strong as these people. i feel like a noob again... i've *only* been climbing five years.

roadtripping on your own is definitely a different experience. for the past four years i've done most of my travelling with damian, so i never really needed to care about meeting people to climb with. i got to be a couple, and we kept to ourselves. if a conversation with a complete stranger didn't pan out, then we had each other to talk to, which was clearly a better option. now i'm out here on my own merit. i think the best option is to get as involved in the local climbing community as possible. volunteering sometimes has its benefits, like free camping, or anything free for that matter.

well, i'm going to be here for at least three weeks, so it will be interesting to see how things develop. no complaints at all though, since it's guaranteed 20 degree days and sunshine. i feel like i haven't climbed in a long time.

i miss Red, oddly enough. i was wondering if this would happen. maybe someone could ship her to me from tennessee? since john was visiting when we decided to make the trip to hueco, the car was packed full with him and his stuff. there was no room for red. at least john doesn't drool or smell so bad, and he did do some of the driving. when i read about the rock ranch, i thought it said that dogs had to be penned on the ranch when you went climbing... i thought it would be better for red to stay in tennessee. but no, dogs can run free here, and there are plenty of other Big Dogs so red would probably feel quite small in comparison.

darn!

walking in memphis

pencharz and i are 6 hours into the 21 hour drive to hueco tanks. i'm excited to climb in sunny warm weather again. the obed was great at first since i had such great weather, but then it got so cold and i found that i don't climb so well in the cold.

it was a split decision. we went to the wartburg library to check the weather for el paso. after seeing that the forecast was in the mid 20's (celcius) and sunny sunny sunny, we just looked at each other and said "we're leaving today".



will all this stuff fit in the car? it's one more person and their respective belongings for betsy!






it's all in... sacrificing any and all visibility and quite a bit of comfort. in less than two hours we've broken down camp and crammed it all in the car...







so. i have again treated myself to the hotel room treatment - the neverending shower with no one waiting and no chance of using up hot water. aaaah my return to civilization.

life in the woods in tennessee was great, but i'm happy to emerge again, and hoping to crank crank crank in hueco tanks. more later!

solar powered

the weather in tennessee has turned wintry again and this time i'm not going to stick around to enjoy it. i need sun and warmth to climb, and neither is available here for the next little while.

pencharz is here visiting now, and we've made the call to push the long, very long drive to hueco tanks in el paso, texas. poor guy - we had some great weather last week and when he gets here it's cold and i'm sick.

i have been here for over three weeks now and it's certainly time to move on. yesterday felt like my body had an allergic reaction to the obed as i spent the day doubled over in pain from my stomach which had gone on strike. i felt positively wretched; enough is enough!

hitting the road again, good by to the southeast, hello to the southwest.

it feels great to be moving on.