May 29th, 2011
Well, temps hit 100 yesterday. The southwest summer is here and Hueco is cooked to a crisp. The season was fun as always but ticks weren’t outrageous this time around. I set some pretty high goals for myself, perhaps too high? (i.e. Bloody Flapper Traverse – vNINE! What was I thinking?!). And Paul was fighting some severe elbow/forearm tendonitis. The good news, for me anyway, is that I can tell I am stronger now overall as a result of the season and all the training that came along with it. I took a couple weeks off after our last Hueco trip (mainly to loathe in my own self-pity over Bloody Flapper Trvs). And then went back to the woody and put in an impressive campusing session. Maybe I too, like Paul, just need some rest.
Here are some photos wrapping up the Hueco season with our dear friends from Pittsburgh: Jen, Brian and their kids Seb and Oren.
Oren and Seb in The Dark Heart
Paul sending Jiffy Pop, v5
Brian working out Choir Boys Light, v7
Nature Boy Silas
Ranger Boys Seb and Oren
Jen’s big Hueco tick of the ultra classic Dragonfly, v5
Send it Jen!
Silas and his “crib”
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Paul and Seb lacing up
Paul sending Julio and Me, v9
Silas’ first Transformer experience
Seb’s send of Cheapskate, v0
Jen battling El Burro, v3
Brian sending El Burro, v3
Oren
Brian on Notorious D.I.G., v9
Notorious D.I.G., v9
Paul sending Notorious D.I.G., v9
Silas
Sloper training
posted by arr
April 15th, 2011
…and you can expect to see even more. The Pittsburgher’s are coming to the desert this weekend. Stay tuned…
Silas raisin’ the roof
Paul on Birth Rights, v3
Birth Rights, v3
Mia checking out the first move on Manteling into the Tub, v2 / Dean’s Journey, v10
Coffee Achiever, v5
Are you peeing?
Goofy boy
Cowboy
Silas, mama and dad
Familiar drive home
posted by arr
March 25th, 2011
Our webposts have been infrequent lately and our emailing even more so. So if you are one of those poor souls sitting anxiously by your computer clicking the refresh key obsessively, waiting to hear from us (like you, Grandma Marian! :-))) ), I apologize dearly. As most of you know, Paul is neck deep in his spring semester at the UofA. And….it’s Hueco season. Hectic? Very. Let me give you a sneak peek into a typical week in our lives right now:
Weekdays I wake up at an hour in the AM that no human being should ever, EVER be getting up at (unless you’ve got a newborn in your house) and go to work. Paul and Silas go about their day, then Silas goes down for his nap. Paul runs to his computer and bangs away for a couple hours until Silas wakes up. An hour or so later I then arrive home from work and the 3 of us sit down for a nice family dinner. The minute that dinner is over I kiss Paul good-bye and goodnight and he heads out the door to go to class and/or meet with his teammates. Silas and I then go about our evening. I put him to bed, then I go to bed (yes, my bedtime is like 8:30 – LAME). Then sometime in the wee hours of the night Paul arrives back home and then bangs on his computer some more with another cup of coffee and finally, finally comes to bed. And a few hours later my alarm rings and the madness starts again.
So where’s the climbing? Good question. A question that I have to answer daily in my mind between all of my to-do’s because it needs to be scheduled, literally scheduled to the half-hour, into my day. Usually I try to sneak in 1 workout on a weeknight, although trying to get a meaningful workout in while playing with Silas under the woody isn’t typically very successful. Paul usually tries to sneak in 1 workout during the workweek while Silas naps. The weekends we spend home are pretty much more of the above. But the weekends we head to Hueco are truly what is currently maintaining our calm, our sanity and our psyche. Who would have ever thought that a weekend spent playing around on little boulders out in the hot desert could be so powerful? My family is truly blessed to have this addiction in our lives right now.
Here are a couple snapshots of our last trip to Hueco (2 weeks ago):
Me working Better Eat Your Wheaties, v8 again. No progress.
Paul working Crown of Aragorn, v13 again. No progress.
The baby struttin’ his stuff
Rest time
Snack time
Play time
Boo boo
Mama’s playtime: sending Animal Acts, v5
Mia’s turn
And now Tom’s
Paul retrieving our snack container that Silas was playing with – cause throwing toys down cracks is FUN!
My sanity
posted by arr
March 13th, 2011
Last week Paul had a conference to attend near Dana Point, CA so we decided to make a small family road trip out of it. Silas got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time…or any ocean for that matter. He was terrified at first (I think the sound of the waves scared him), but warmed up to it fast until we couldn’t keep him from bolting toward the water every chance he got. We stayed in a campground on the beach – quite relaxed and surfer-like. And then swung though Joshua Tree on the way home for some bouldering.
Silas’ first day at the ocean. Poor baby isn’t impressed.
Later that night at the beach – warming up to it.
Ok, maybe this could be fun
Squeal!!!!!!!!!!!
This is fun mama!
And so is this!
Makin’ a break for it – back to the waves
with Dad
Silas’ second day at the beach. Certified beach bum.
Paul’s conference location. Whoa.
Rides of the conference attendees. Whoa.
Relaxing at a restaurant on the coast in Malibu
The view from the restaurant
Life is good
Joshua Tree, CA. Grabbing mama’s sunglasses while she’s busy climbing
Silas stretching his chubby legs amongst the Joshua Trees
Paul making quick work of Chili Sauce, aka The Moffatt Problem, v7
My turn
Silas under The Headstone
My baby
The Meadows Boulder
Wrapping up the trip with a J-Tree sunset
posted by arr
February 14th, 2011
When we heard that our tour was going to be 2 hours long the motivation level dropped. We had scheduled to go to E. Spur and work on our projects, (April’s) Better Eat Your Wheaties, v8 and (Mine) Crown of Aragorn, v13. Luckily, our new friend Corey was able to take over the tour and guide us for the rest of the day! Waaahooo.
After a good session on the projects we were feeling adventurous and ready for something new and unique. I’m not exactly sure how the decision was made but in a few minutes we were making the long trek to the top of W. Mt. to seek out what some call the best v7 at Hueco, Best of the West!
Baby is napping. Quick, time to climb!
Starting Better Eat Your Wheaties, v8
Beginning to release
Baaam!
Stuck!!!! For the first time!
Working Crown of Aragorn, v13
Tom working Meat Maker, v5
April at max reach on Best of the West, v7
Best of the West, v7
Tom compressing Best of the West, v7
Corey sending
Sending. The best v7 at Hueco?
Cute boy
Cute climber baby bum
Posted by pjv
January 31st, 2011
Finally, we made our first trip to Cochise Stronghold yesterday to climb. Routes? NO! Of course not. We heard there were a few boulders including what some call “The Midnight Lightning” of Arizona. A Bob Murray climb called The Fire Pit Problem, v8. After sampling the limited number of easier climbs (about 3 of them) we setup our play area at The Fire Pit Problem and went to work. Here are a few photos of our adventure.
Leaning Crack, v3
The Fire Pit Problem, v8
posted by pjv
January 10th, 2011
A few pics from our last trip in December right before the holiday. No sends of our projects yet – we’ve picked some hard ones this season! Time to up the game for 2011.
posted by arr
December 17th, 2010
…for Hueco. Here are a few belated photos from a previous Hueco trip a couple weeks ago. We’re headed there again this weekend, tying to maybe squeeze in a send or two during this busy time of year before the close of 2010. Wish us luck!
Moving into the v2 portion of McBain, v8 April’s project
The playpen goes to Hueco!
Baby likes rocks too
Bleeding Brothers, v12 Paul’s project
Tis also the season for bambino bundling
Winking Jesus, v7 Not April’s project
Warming up on the Mopboys wall and keeping Silas out of trouble
Mama, you bundled me so tight I can’t look to the right!
posted by arr
November 12th, 2010
Last weekend there was we made an opening in our schedules and took the familiar journey along I-10 to our favorite climbing spot. The mission was simple: sample some climbs, choose our next projects and return home, psyched to train and prepare for our sends. Along the drive home it seemed like we sat in silence for hours. April turned to me and said, “What are you thinking about?” I said, “The moves on Bleeding Brothers (v12), how about you?” She said, “Bloody Flapper Traverse (v9) of course.” Awesome! Now we’ve got motivation to train.
He’s getting the hang of it
McBain, v8 Another potential project for April
Silas showing me some shorter climbs that I haven’t tried
posted by pjv
