Morning view at the Rock Ranch.


Today was the first day climbing at the tanks, and thanks to some friends made along the way, we got to go in with a guided tour of certain areas of the park you can only access with a guide. Thanks again Jackie!
While waiting in line at the front gate to the park, I recognized a van with British Columbia plates, and upon further investigation found not one familiar face, but three! Israel, Tim, and Moses. Otherwise known as the 'Crushers of Squamish'. Three more faces you might be seeing a bit more of over the next few months. With the yearly migration of climbers going south in the winter and north for the summer, it's almost impossible to go somewhere without seeing someone you met in some remote part of the world doing the exact same thing, climbing.

Now I give you today on the East Mountain and the East Mountain Spur.



Ended up that 2 friends of mine from Squamish, Jackie Sequeira and Cody Cox, Happen to be down in Hueco for 2 weeks climbing with some of their buddies from Austin, two of which stomped David and I's asses in foosball last night in the barn at the Rock Ranch.Lucky for us, Jackie happens to be a guide at Hueco Tanks, and managed to get us access to the 'guided tours only' sections of the park with the rest of their buddies on a day where we probably wouldn't have even been able to get in at all due to the fact that we didn't have any reservations, and the first come first served availabilities were gone long before we arrived. Headed out for a quick warm-up in the east mountain, followed by a long and equally as enjoyable session on the classic 'Moonshine roof', which has some of the most amazing features I've seen on a rock! Huge, easy and fun moves to this large prow feature running the entire length of the roof that you pretty much bear hug until you decide you're ready to try and top out. Every movement feels even better than the last, so just pick a problem and go, there's no way you won't enjoy it!

After that, we trekked down to the east mountain spur and put in a good, serious session on another of the many Hueco classics, The Egg. this line has got one of the most ridiculous, yet fun start's I've ever encountered. Jam your right knee into a hole that it shouldn't fit in, then use that and two horrible undercling slopers to pull your bodyweight off the ground. If that's not enough for ya, the first move is to fire with your right hand about 4 feet out and up from where you're hanging from, with one knee and one hand, on the bottom of this bulbous chunk of rock. Then comes the tension. Lots and lots of tension while you traverse on non existent slopers with an ever-slipping toe hook only to come to the crux of the problem, hand/heal match and move into a shoulder wrenching series of gastons and laybacks, only to pop off because you're too tired from a full day of bouldering at Hueco Tanks. That's how it goes though! If ya can't get strong at Hueco, ya might wanna take up ping-pong, which is also conveniently offered in the barn at the Hueco Rock Ranch!

All in all, it was a pretty good first day at the Tanks! I'm excited, at least. I leave you now with the sun setting behind the east mountain. Not a bad day at all!

Here's a few 'drive-by' shots of a long day on I-20 west...

Rumbling Bald, day 1.

Well, it would appear that during the winter, there is absolutely no point in the day where the north face of Half Moon gets direct sunlight, so that perfect landscape shot I've been building up for the past 2 days is a no go, at least till summer, when I'll be 3000 miles away. Anyway, here's the best shot I ended up getting of Half Moon, followed by a few extras from the Rock Bridge and Creation Falls, all in the east gorge.







and here's one of this evening's sunset from atop Chimney Rock. I've got a sequence of shots to piece together into a panoramic, but until I get photoshop, I'm only going to give you one of the 4 frames, and believe me, the other 3 REALLY set the picture off!

Got up to the East Gorge this morning for sunrise, only to find out that there's not going to be any sun on the Half Moon face until sunset. I'll be returning this evening, seeing as I made a promise to give you a good shot of the Half Moon, but here's one of the foggy gorge while you wait.

Ran into some familiar faces from Squamish and Hueco here in Kentucky on Thursday. Ended up having another Bulldog session with them, and it looks like both our crews are pretty much headed in the same direction, so these faces might be popping up on this page from time to time.



Over the past few weeks at The Red, we've started to develop a routine to climbing hard on the weekdays, and resting up on Saturday and Sunday, when the gorge is packed full of the weekend warriors. To pass the time today, we headed up into the east gorge to check out Sky Bridge, Half Moon and Chimney Rock. Here's some shots of each, minus Half Moon. Gonna start the day tomorrow with some sunrise shots of that, and those'll be much better than any I got today.







And here's one of the many nightly activities... punching the fire. Next trick, juggling coals...

Went up to 'The Zoo' wall today. Didn't get to many amazing shots, but then again I spent more time climbing today than taking pictures, which is good for me, but bad for you. For that, I apologize. Here's 2 anyway. Although my intentions for the shots were merely for scenery, if ya look close enough, you'll see climbers. Should give ya a good idea as to the size of everything.

Got an early start this morning and actually went and checked out the gorge for the first time from the scenic highroad. Here's a few shots, but there's definitely more to it than I've seen. Should be getting some pretty good one's over the next few weeks.





After that, it was time for a hearty breakfast from the Shell station, then off to Left Flank. We were still able to catch the early morning light, which made the 10 minute approach rather enjoyable, then started the day on two of the most pristine lines at the crag. To defy the laws of tradition, and To many puppies.







Rain day tomorrow. Guess it's time to get a pack of cards or something...

Rain day yesterday. Not a whole lot went on, but I did manage to get this shot.

Grand Opening of First Ave Rocks last night. Didn't get off work till late, so I missed out on the comp, but I was right on time for the after party!







October 18th is right around the corner, and although I'm twiddling my thumbs in anxiety just waiting to head out of here, I find myself trying so hard to get in as much of this city as I can before leaving again. Here's a few that I'm more or less posting for myself, for when the roads get lonely and home seems so far away.

Houston... Is really hot! Really really stupid hot! In fact, I wouldn't recommend anybody going down there between the months of June through October, unless you're going to climb at Stone Moves, the local indoor gym. The people there are extremely nice and the problems will put you in your place, quick! Wish I had some shots of the gym to share, but I was to busy getting shut down by every V-3 in there! After a 4 hour struggle, David and I managed to walk away from Stone Moves with one V-3 and one V-2 under our belts. Final thoughts, Climbers in Texas are strong!

So here's everything that has nothing to do with climbing...







Silly suburban kids and their silly rituals





Funny how I go to Houston and only take pictures of the sky. Oh well, water bouldering up at Little River Canyon tomorrow! Time to go see if I can catch the belly dancers...

Over the past two weeks, I successfully managed to disconnect myself form the world and avoid any internet correspondence, and I must say it was easier than I thought! The fact that I had no say in when the internet would be turned back on played a large role in my success, but I still feel as if I've accomplished something worthy of being mentioned.

With the net working again and that whole charade well in the past, I find myself eager to blog but not so enthused with giving back stories and structure to each photo, so with no further ado, I give you a collage of memories...


Small trip to North Carolina involving a tunnel and a whole mess of attempts at double exposures.







Next up is a lazy day spent with good company at several refreshing locations.







Up next we have a foggy valley sunrise and more progress from first ave rocks.









And finally we have the 4th of July weekend. Skating, drinking, wakeboarding, swimming and a whole lot of not sleeping.













... and that should have us all caught up, so sleep well children, for with tomorrow comes another chance to manifest a glorifying sense of reality, and then capture that glory through a 17-55mm lens.