We are roughly three-quarters of the way through our road trip to Hueco Tanks. As Jen has pointed out, we’ve had some rough, wintry weather. The trip opened with a winter storm across Texas, followed by a long weekend in a Microtel waiting for sunshine and temperatures above freezing. Finally, we made it to the park and actually did some bouldering in the sunshine. The weather has been generally okay, with a few cold days, and a few warm days, with a chilly Thanksgiving celebration thrown in for good measure. We are currently waiting for the sun to burn off some cold fog, but I have hope we’ll get out at some point.

The climbing has been good. I sorta/kinda trained for this trip, and I’ve been pleased with my tick list thus far. Some notable problems:

• 1969 (V9) – Done in a couple of hours.
• S.A.D. (V8) – Second try…should have flashed it.
• Crash Dummy (V7) – Skin of the teeth ascent after doing 1969 and working Scream (V10).
• See Spot Run (V6) – Flash…I’d been putting off this classic, high problem, and finally felt that my head was together enough to do it. Probably the highlight of the trip so far.
• That Hi-Pro Glow (V6) – Flash…a nice problem to close out an East Spur tour day.

I have two open projects: Tequila Sunrise (V11) and El Chubacabra Left (V10). Tequila Sunrise just might go down today, but I’m not so sure about El Chubacabra–it is quite burly. I’ve done all the moves, and even linked some sections, but putting it together just seems out there. Tomorrow, we’ll head to Tuscon for a few days of rest, then return to Hueco Tanks for a few days next weekend before starting the drive home.

Posted on 7 December 2013