Jan 7-9: Driving to Hueco Tanks

On Monday morning, I kicked off three days of driving across the rest of Mississippi, Louisiana, and most of Texas as I made my way to Hueco Tanks State Park. Enjoyed the "free Louisiana coffe and Louisiana smiles" at the first rest stop in LA. Drove past some awesome oil derrick picnic tables at a picnic area  in Texas and plan on stopping there for a meal next time I pass through. No time this trip as I was hoping to hit the Dallas area before rush hour got too crazy. Other than having to dodge a table that had fallen between two lanes and a couple of slow spots, the drive to Bedford was pretty quick. I met my friend K at her apartment and we went out to a local joint with her friends for a tasty meal and good times.

Hanging with K

Later that evening, the first injury of the trip was experienced by Purvis, who was mistaken for a dog toy by K's dog while we weren't looking. Fortunately, his injuries were repairable with a little superglue and he is recovering nicely. However, the surgeon (me) was not so good with the superglue, so he will have to undergo a series of supergluectomies to remove the excess. 

Purvis recovering with his friends.

Slept in Tuesday and shared a late breakfast with K, who brought home some Waffle House while on a break from work. Afterward, I headed to a local climbing gym to get a workout before getting back on the road. A storm was rolling into town, and it was not pleasant driving through the downpours, but I made it to the hotel safely. Wednesday featured even worse driving weather, as it was windy and rainy. The spray from semis made passing them a terrifying endeavor as there was always a split second where the visibility was zero. Ugh! The rain eventually cleared, and I was able to take advantage of the posted 80mph speed limit. Passed another sweet picnic spot, this time with teepee picnic tables. After being in Texas for three days, I finally had a meal at Taco Cabana before driving out to the Hueco Rock Ranch, my home for the next few days. Glad to be in one place for a while instead of driving several hours a day. I know my next job won't be a truck driver!

Jan 1-6: Atlanta with My Peeps and Horse Pens 40

I started the year hanging out with my brother and his family and friends, watching lots of bowl games and eating many shredded chicken sandwiches, leftover from the New Year’s Eve party. Mmm. Between the soreness of my muscles form spending the previous two days climbing and the all day rain, January 1 was spent on the computer, in front of the TV, or both. Got back on track with my half-marathon training with 4-mile runs on Wednesday and Thursday, extra challenging because of the hills. I repacked the car and left behind a few items at my brother’s house, so the car is a little less stuffed and quite a bit more organized.  In other car news, I noticed I was overdue for the scheduled maintenance, so I took car of that Friday morning before packing up the car and heading back on the road. After a stop for some gym climbing at Stone Summit, I headed back to Horse Pens 40 for a couple more days of bouldering. A short night of sleep plus an afternoon workout wasn’t exactly the best recipe for having the energy to set up camp, but I managed. Thankfully, the tent gets easier to put up each time I do it.

Chunky

After a great night of sleep and a tasty breakfast, I headed out for some climbing. Temps were a little higher than last week. Yay! I warmed climbing around on the Ten Pins boulders then headed over to my project. The Stranger, to work the second half of the problem. The good news is, I was able to do more than last week. The bad news is, I think I need to figure out a slightly different sequence, since the move I need to do is much easier if my right hand is on a different hold. (Being a bit taller would help as well, but that’s not going to happen.) Close to two finger-scraping hours of trying different things. I decided to let it percolate in my brain and come back to it later. After lunch, I finally got one of the groove problems in the roadside area (Groove 1, V0). I got stuck on the topout the first time, but made it up on the second go. It wasn’t pretty, but I got up. (Right calf was quite knotted the next day from all the hanging out I did.) I climbed around a bit after that, but wanted to make sure I had something left for Sunday. When I felt like taking a nap, I knew it was time to call it a day. Turns out, my timing was pretty good, as it started to sprinkle a few minutes later. I had time to get all my firewood under my tent fly and get everything in the tent or car before the sprinkle progressed to rain, passing the shower in the car, having a snack and working on this entry for the blog.

When the rain slowed, I went out to start a fire. Let’s just say it wasn’t my best effort, although the rain didn’t help. It never really got going well, although that stupid song “Firestarter” was ablaze in my brain. Ugh! Earlier, another camper was inviting people to join him at “Kamp Krazy,” his campsite, for fire and socializing, so I headed on over and enjoyed his fire and company. The rain eventually stopped and the temperature climbed to around 40, so the tent was pretty warm; I could sleep without wearing a hoodie!

It occurred to Baggy that Purvis resembles a pillow.

Morning was warm, but foggy, and as it had rained more overnight, the possibility of climbing didn’t look so good. I took advantage of the bad climbing weather to run seven miles for my half-marathon training, hoping things would dry out later in the morning. They didn’t. (The run was great, though. I did the seven pretty easily.) I packed up the camp and started making the long journey west toward Hueco Tanks.

The hotel room was big enough to set up the tent so it could dry.

Dec 30-31: Horse Pens 40

After training over the holidays by lifting many slices of pizza (gyro folder from Pizza Brothers and pepperoni from Jim's Pizza Box), shredded chicken sandwiches, forks full of pie (french silk and apple pie a la mode) and countless other tasty treats, I loaded up the car and headed out on the big road trip, with Horse Pens 40 in Alabama as the destination.

I broke up the drive by stopping over in Louisville on Friday night to hang out with my friends M and L. Unfortunately, the drive took much longer than expected, due a bad accident that turned I-71 South into a parking lot for a couple of hours. After a tasty breakfast, I headed out to Chattanooga for a night at The Crash Pad before heading to HP40 on Sunday morning. After another highway parking lot due to accident, I finally arrived at my destination. I am taking these delays as a reminder to drive safely. (Not that I am reckless normally.)

Sunday was a gorgeous day to boulder, with sunny skies and temps in the 40's and the place was hopping. I met up with M, who had sent a shout out online that he'd be in town for a few days and was looking for people to climb with. We warmed up on a couple of V0's I had done previously on the Cadillac Thrills boulder. I was glad I could still get up them, as it's been months since I've bouldered outdoors. (I am pretty sure Trexi was the first climb I ever did at HP40.) We moved over to the nearby V1 problem JB Slab. It probably would have been easier if I had been a bit taller, but I eventually reached the hold I needed, got my foot in the crack and then topped out. Once my heart rate returned to normal, I tackled the hop over a couple of rocks downclimb. (Thanks, M, for talking me through it.) We headed over to Eight Ball (V2) which I had attempted last time I was at HP40, but didn't finish. Same story this time, but I was glad to get as far as I had before. Next up was the Millipede area, sending Chicks (V0) and working Dope (V2), a nice short compression/sloper problem. Once the crowd left the Millipede boulder, we tried the classic Bumboy (V3). M had been working it, but this was my first time. I was pleased with my effort, but it's definitely a project for me. After lunch, we went over to the Ten Pins boulders to hit some V0's to end the day. I was definitely feeling the effects of not bouldering outdoors for months and then trying a number of problems at my project level, so there was no sendage to end the day, but lots of tip scrubbing attempts on variations of Silky (V0). M had been climbing at HP40 since Wednesday and was devoid of skim on most of his fingertips, so he decided to start his twelve hour drive back home. I fired up the camp stove to boil water for coffee while the sun was setting.

A couple of nice college students, W and C, set up camp in the site next to mine and invited me over to enjoy their camp fire. Another camper came over with "boudin fresh from New Orleans" and rolls toasted over the came fire, sharing the delicious sandwiches. Good conversation made the time pass quickly and the heat of the fire meant we all went to bed warm. The temp dropped below freezing, but I stayed warm enough in my tent.

Coffee, oatmeal and a morning fire helped warm us as we waiting for the temps to increase enough to start climbing. Toast made over the camp fire made the wait tasty.  9:15 ended up being a little early, but it wasn't unbearable. W, C and I headed over to the Ten Pins boulders for some warm ups, undeterred by the frozen waterfall in the downclimb. (Fortunately, it didn't get in the way.) Breaktime went down pretty quickly for all of us. The last few moves on Silky proved to be more challenging, as it transitions from nice pockets to slopers. All the work I put in the day before paid off as I sent it on my first go on Sunday. Next up was a hike over to the Out of Box Area to try a couple of V2's, Sure Thing and Orchid. C led the way, getting up Break Time pretty quickly, with W following. I got about halfway up, but got a case of the Elvis leg and hopped off. I took a rest while the guys worked Orchid, then gave it another go before lunch. This time, I got the high right foot I needed (don't ask my how, all of a sudden it was just there) and topped it out. The guys said my send was "burly;" I was pretty pleased by that. I gave Orchid a couple of tries, but that send will have to wait for another day.

Break Time

More Pix

After lunch, another small camp fire and packing up our campsite, we headed over to the Spirit area to get a few more climbs in before the temps dropped and/or the sun set. I got up Television (V1) then did some more work on The Stranger (V2) but am still stuck at the same place as before. We called it a day as the temps and sun continued to drop. I grabbed a Buffalo Rock ginger ale for some post-climb refreshment before driving to Atlanta to spend a few days with my brother and his family, leaving HP40 with sore muscles, raw fingertips and great memories.

The Climbs

Dec 30
Trexi V0
Unnamed V0- on Cadillac Thrills boulders
JB Slab V1
Eight Ball V2 proj
Chicks V0
Dope V2 proj
Bumboy V3 proj
Silky V0 proj

Dec 31
Breaktime V0-
Silky V0
Sure Thing V2
Orchid V2 proj
Television V1
The Stranger V2 proj

Dec 11-14: King's Bluff, TN

The big road trip won't begin until after the holidays, but I was able to get out for a short and jam-packed trip this past week to King's Bluff in Tennessee to climb with R, a woman M and I met this summer at climbing camp in Arkansas. The weather was perfect for climbing, highs in the 40's and 50's with the rock facing the sun, so we took full advantage. The Bluff is about 30 minutes from R's house; I have to drive more than that just to get to a gym here in Chicago! Of course, to get to King's Bluff, I first had to drive the 470 miles from my house to R's, but I had nothing else to do on Monday, so why not.

I hadn't climbed outside since the climbing camp at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in July, but was eager to get back on the sharp end and lead. We started with Anchors Away (5.7), which I led with a couple of takes, then successfully top-roped. Not a bad way to get back in the saddle! Next, I led two 5.4's cleanly, and one of them I didn't even need to stick clip the first bolt. Try not to be too impressed. I led another 5.7 with a take or two to end the day. The fun continued with a holiday party with R's tennis friends; good times, great people and fabulous food.

More pix

After a good night's sleep, we were back at the bluff for an afternoon of climbing. R's friend and fellow tennis player J joined us. I led three more routes, two of them cleanly, and top-roped a fourth. As the sun set, we drove to Climb Nashville for R's lesson and more climbing. It was fun to get on some harder stuff and just climb. Afterward, we went to a birthday party for another one of R's friends (mmm, chocolate cake), which was followed by a bonfire in the birthday girl's back yard. 

We eventually crawled out of bed, fueled up with a good breakfast and headed back to the bluff for more climbing on Thursday afternoon. We kicked it up a notch and started with a 5.7 (Beginner's Luck) which I led cleanly. It was my last clean lead of the day, as I had to work the 8's that followed, but got to the top. The climbing continued that evening back at Climb Nashville. Was bummed I wasn't able to do the 11c/d I had started the night before cleanly, falling at the same place twice, but given how much I had been climbing, I wasn't too displeased.

We continued our trend of starting each day later and later, but we still managed to get up early enough to make another afternoon trip to the bluff with R's friend M. It was a high gravity day for me, but it was still fun. Well, except maybe for Jurassic Raccoon; none of us found that enjoyable. R worked her 5.9 lead project Wired for Sound and got to the top. Yay! 

There were no parties or gym climbing on Friday night. We headed back to R's, ate dinner and hung out in the living room reading.

Food Find - Herr's Horseradish and Cheddar potato chips. Lots of horseradish. Not for wimps.

The Climbs

Dec 11

Anchors Away 5.7 b lead proj, tr
Sporting Doylies 5.4 osl
Learning to Crawl 5.4 osl
Unnamed 5.7 lead proj

Dec 12

Seismic Activity 5.5 osl
Demolition Zone 5.5 top
Captain Hook 5.7 osl
Blanket Party 5.8 lead proj

Dec 13

Beginners Luck 5.7 osl
Community Effort 5.8 lead proj
Mr Green Jeans 5.8 lead proj, tr1f

Dec 14

Little Fox 5.5 proj
Jurassic Racoon 5.7 proj
Wired for Sound 5.9 proj

Beta Test: New Tent

Picked up tent more suitable for cold-weather camping from REI. Decided to do a test setup last night and it did not go well. After much struggle, I was finally able to get the tent fully assembled. It was very, very hard to get one of the tent poles in the last grommet and I strained my left thumb and wrist a bit doing it. Disassembly wasn't much easier. It's a very nice tent and it looks like it would keep out the rain, snow and blowing sand, but if it takes that much effort to put up and take down, it's not going on the trip. I'm going to see if it's just a particularly tight one or if there is some trick I am missing, but if that's the way it is, it's going back. More later.

15 Nov 2012 Update: The good folks at REI suggested getting the tent wet, then setting it up. The fabric is stretchier when it's wet (hence the two grommets for the tent poles), so it's easier to put together, then it can stretch while drying. Fortunately, the condo basement has plenty of space and a handy utility sink. It was indeed much easier to set up the tent wet, and now that it's been up for some time, seems to be much easier to assemble dry. Yay!