With just over a week to go before our plane home we faced the potentially dull prospect of driving a thousand miles across Texas. The first leg of our trip out of Houston had been a bit of a grim three-day sun-blasted chore, and we were determined to break up our return journey to make it more enjoyable. Adding three of the State’s most renowned climbing areas, plus its biggest National Park, only extended the route by another few hundred miles so we set Hueco Tanks into the Sat Nav and fired up the podcast playlist.
Hueco Tanks is arguably the most famous / best(?) bouldering in the States (and therefore the world?) – just as the US route grading system (YDS) was developed in Yosemite, so the cutting edge activity in The Tanks gave birth to V grades for bouldering. We’d visited towards the end of our Route 66 road trip and discovered that it’s also home to some stupendous roped climbing.
There’s a permit system in operation for the State Park, to limit impact on the ecosystem and the sacred sites and petroglyphs of indigenous peoples, but whilst it might seem a faff it’s actually pretty straightforward – we were able to book camping and climbing permits at less than 48hrs notice, and the upside is that there are no crowds (certainly not on the routes). The Campground is absolutely charming, with sites positioned immediately next to the rocks, each with individual sun-shelters.
Most of the route climbing is on the west face of North Mountain, a two hundred feet tall wall of syenite porphyry rock (like granite but with little or no quartz in it) plastered with huecos (holes) and best viewed painted red by the setting sun.
Not quite such great weather the following morning, overcast and breezy, but warm enough to climb. We did Fox Trot, a 200ft 5.9+ following a stunning “hueco ladder” for the first half before things thin out a bit and you’re glad of a few small wires to supplement the once-every-20ft bolts towards the top.
We followed up with Malice in Bucketland, 5.9…
(here’s another team on the route later)…
… and Alice in Banana Land, 10a – both routes we’d done on our previous visit but no hardship in repeating world-class classics (and there aren’t actually that many routes). Dusk was falling by now and any temptation to grab a final twilight ascent was discouraged by sharing belay duties with a mother and baby Javelina (Mum was quite large!)
Next stop Big Bend National Park, on the border with Mexico, which is deliniated by the Rio Grande (where a “big bend” half-circles the Park). We’d missed some rain over the previous couple of days so were blessed with the Chihuahuan desert in bloom, with a backdrop of the evening sun glinting off the Sierra de Carmen mountains over the border.
A magnificent sunset over the Chisos Mountains (part of the NP)…
… picked out the Rio Grande as a pink ribbon….
… and cast the ocotillo in silhouette.
Next morning, from the same vantage point, we could watch paddleboarders and kayakers making their way lazily downstream…
… and horseriders criss-crossing the river (seemingly oblivious to its status as one of the most patrolled international borders on the planet!)
Roadrunners (but no sign of Wile E. Coyote)…
… and a flowering Ocotillo.
The Rio Grande is a pale shadow of the mighty river last seen slicing its way through the basalt of New Mexico, an illustration of the amount of water extracted along the way, so it’s something of a surprise to see it disappear into the 1,000ft deep Boquillos Canyon.
We weren’t the only ones enjoying the late November sunshine, basking on the banks…
Helen was even tempted into taking a swim.
Perhaps the USP of Big Bend is the juxtaposition of water (the Rio Grande), desert (the Chihuahuan) and mountains (the Chisos). These are the remnants of ancient volcanic activity which have left a ring of cliffs and pinnacles around a central depression – now home to the NP Basin Campground and Lodge. The latter hosts a restaurant with decent food, a great hazy IPA on tap, and stunning sunset views.
The highest point in the Chisos (and the Park) is Emory Peak at 7,825ft, a good 6,000ft above the Rio Grande and an attractive option for a walk on a warm day. About 11 miles for the round trip with 3,000ft of ascent, gets you some fantastic views of the rest of the Chisos and far across the Chihuahuan Desert into Mexico.
It’s a pity that there’s no climbing on the impressive array of pinnacles ringing the summit.
Another day’s drive east brings us to Enchanted Rock – Having missed out on Enchanted Tower in New Mexico we were determined to get at least one dose of enchantment on the trip! It’s the largest granite batholith in the USA, though rising to a height of only about 400ft above the surrounding countryside it’s hardly giving El Cap a run for its money. It’s hugely popular with tourists, walkers and families on a day out, to the extent that you have to book a permit for a two-hour arrival slot (don’t worry – once you’re in you can stay until nightfall).
The sun had decided to take an early Thanksgiving holiday, but the northerly wind was putting in a double shift to make up – it was freezing, so we joined the throngs to wander up to the summit. There’s a bit of an Uluru feel to it (though it’s only a third of the height) but the distant views and remarkable oases of life in a rocky environment bear comparison.
Having put off climbing as long as possible, with no sign of it getting any warmer, we headed along Echo Canyon to the Orange Peel / Throne Rock area.
Most of the climbing is either on vertical steps on the main dome or large boulders that have splintered off, so they’re generally not that long (50 to 100ft) and a bit jumbled and hard to navigate around on first acquaintance, although a colour-coded set of climbers trails go a long way to help. We found ourselves at Orient Express, a bolted 5.9, and decided it would make a good YECTOYD.
Fun, and definitely not trivial (particularly in the cold).
We’d watched another team (top picture) do Jack Knife, a 5.5 up a corner crack, and decided to follow suit before giving in to the elements and calling it a day.
Back at the simple but spacious Oxford Ranch Campground the chilly temps were the perfect excuse for a campfire. An evening on a Texas ranch, listening to the fire crackling and the sound of coyotes howling, eating beans ‘n rice under a canopy of infinite stars. Living the cowboy dream!
Haze Y’All! Yee Ha!
The weather bucked its ideas up for the final day of our trip, ironic as we were heading for the south-facing solar-collector of Reimer’s Ranch (duvets and thermals to shirtless in 24hrs!). This is Austin’s premier climbing area, a few hundred limestone sport routes scattered along the banks of the Pedernales River.
It’s a pretty spot, and a lush green oasis in comparison with much of the parched landscape of the rest of Texas. You approach via the “Climbers’ Canyon”, actually a narrow, shallow ravine…
… arriving first at the tufa-strewn Sex Cave sector.
A bit further left, the moderate routes and easy access of Dead Cats makes it one of the most popular areas – not helped by it being the start of the Thanksgiving holiday week.
The routes are somewhat vertically-challenged, maybe 30 to 40ft, partly compensated by the rock quality, which is very “Euro-Limestone” with odd bits of flowstone and tufa. You can tick plenty of routes. Lots of “Cat” theme names including Rolly Polly Coco Kitty.
Plenty of polish too – Hello Kitty was nails (claws?) for 10a! A bit more tranquil on T-Roofic and Arbor Walls. T-Roofic Direct gets 11a and 4*s and is worthy of both.
A clip stick is a very useful accessory – Cliptomania, 11a, had 2 bolts in 30ft. We managed to forget ours somewhere in northern Arizona so a bit of improvisation was called for!
Not a bad final day, with about a dozen routes between us, and Helen closing her account in style with a couple of 5.9 onsights, including Arbortrary:
Time to tear ourselves away, as the countdown to lift off has already started over at Houston Mission Control. Hopefully we WON’T have a problem!
RockAroundTheWorld 