The new year came and so far, has been off to a perfect start! Wonderful temps, good company, and a plethora of the finest quality boulder problems in North America. Each morning, I crawl out of 2 sleeping bags, exit my canvass cocoon, and sip on a thermos full of coffee while I watch the ice on my rainfly melt and get sucked right back up by this thirsty texas air. We've gotten a routine down of cooking a hardy breakfast at the front gate while we wait our turn for the park ranger to give us the go ahead for the day. Once in the Tanks, we follow the schedule we made the night before as best we can, but each turn leads to another distraction that always seems to become a priority. If we're lucky, we'll actually make it to 3 of the problems we had intended to get on, but no one seems to have any complaints about adding more projects to the ever growing agenda. The top of each boulder seems to have the perfect view of the next big project, and once the top of that one is reached, yet another pops up in the distance, drawing you to it like a moth to the light. It's really quite the vicious circle.

Today I am taking a break from the ordinary and actually resting in hopes that 24 hours will bring new skin to my fingers and recharge the rest of me so I can start ticking off some of these ongoing projects. My to-do list has gained quite a bit of girth, and I'm afraid I might have to start a whole new sheet soon if I don't focus on the task at hand instead of wallowing around in the excitement of finding something new. There just seems to be to much out here. To many quality lines to get lost in. I've got all the time in the world, but I'm afraid that it's not enough. I can see myself having a hard time leaving this place in a month, but I guess you have to leave yourself something to come back to. That, and leaving Hueco Tanks, Texas for Bishop, California isn't exactly a situation I'm going to lose sleep over. I'm certain that when the time comes to pack up and watch El Paso fade away in the rearview, I'll be completely satisfied with what I've accomplished. Hell, I've been here almost 2 weeks and I'm already satisfied!

I'd like to thank Les and Dave for the shots of me.