Return to Majalca

We really like going out to Majalca when we can.  It is a great escape from the city and gives us a chance to breathe fresh air and stretch our legs on something softer than concrete.

Here is a shot from the road into the park, you can see the road snaking through the valley.

Once we get up into the park we are around 7000 feet elevation and the road drops into the riverbed and winds through the canyon.
Here is a shot of me on one of the boulders we found at the far end of the camping area in the park.  You could call this a highball, we haven't topped it out yet - it is a bit scary when you get up that high.

Majalca Rocks!

We went out to Majalca with the Worleys last weekend and got in a little good climbing.  Here I am cleaning 'Circus Ride' on a tower near our campsite.   More importantly, while we were helping get a truck unstuck from the creek, we noticed a few nice boulders that we hadn't seen before.  Looks like a half-dozen decent overhanging boulder problems that top out at close to 9 or 10 feet up.
Right around the corner from these boulders was a nice looking bolted route that is very high, maybe 15 bolts, and further downstream a few sweet looking cracks.  We didn't have our gear with us at this time because we went downstream to help some guys get their truck out, but next time we know where to go.

Aldama - Part III - B12

This past Saturday we had the opportunity to put down another untouched trad climb just outside of Aldama Mexico, here it is!

The picture below is of us finally reaching the starting point of the first pitch. It took us a good 20 minute walk from Suburban to base in a less then ideal hiking area. Sharp desert plants, tons and tons of loose rocks, and straight up hill while in the sun. Needless to say we were glad for a small rest in the shade before we began the accent.

See the main dirt road? Just below that is another dirt road, although not used as much, or as big. Near that is where the Black Suburban that we hiked from is.

Mike on the first section of the climb.

Top out pics! It was a great climb that was relentless and had a couple of challenging sections. By the end of the 250 ft. our muscels were exhausted and my finger tips were thrashed. Being the first accent of this climb we named it;

B-12

The name comes from the vitaman supplement I had with me that we took, before we arrived to the climb.

Till the next time, climb hard, be safe, and "thank" the God of creation for the adventures we can have in what He has made!

Back to Aldama

We went back to the crag past Aldama last week for the express purpose of learning to communicate in Spanish while climbing. Here are a few pics of Mike leading a nice multi-pitch crack there. We ended up topping out another nice two-pitch crack together off to the right of this one and we hope to go back to finish this route another time.

New Mexico Rocks

On a quick trip up to Albuquerque, Mike and I had a chance to do a little bouldering. Here's some pics of a line we named Relief Supplies. FA by Mike Kelly.

New Crag Circa Aldama

On a tip from a friend, Mike and I went out exploring yesterday to see if we could find this crag off the highway near the town of Aldama. We'd been told about the two-hundred foot splitter cracks just a half hour from the city and with only a five minute walk-up. We almost turned around before we found it because it was really more like 45 minutes out, and it was a 15 minute walk up to the nearest end of the cliff-band. But once we were there, it was great. There's nothing like a little adventure climbing to get you rejuvinated. Click on the images below to see a large version of each one.


Here, Mike is ready to begin the onsight, FA (as far as we know). The first placement is well off ground level, relative to the ranch down below so the whole thing felt pretty exposed. The pic on the right is of us at the top of the climb.




Another summit victory photo. This cliff-band faces east so we were climbing in the shade all afternoon. But once on the top, we were back in the sun. The pic on the right is of Mike checking out other lines to the right of the line we climbed. You can see our line, the wide dihedral crack, off to the left. The hardest part, mentally of the whole climb, was topping out the pillar and then stepping back onto the face for the last fifteen feet. Talk about feeling exposed! Up til then we'd had the dihedral to work with on two sides, sometimes even cramming ourselves into the chimney for a bit. Then we got to the top of the pillar and we were back onto a normal face climb with 180 degrees of exposure.


On the top we found ourselves in an untouched 'forest' of ocotillo and cactus. It was really cool to see the land the way it would be without the imprint of humanity on it. Definitely a landscape that was unfamiliar to me, but I was glad I was wearing sneakers and not my tevas.

Split Rock Topout Flashback

Last summer Mike and I found a tough boulder in the woods at Mt. Major State Park in Alton, NH. The toughest part of this short boulder was the topout, which was mostly blank while the face was slightly overhanging and while we tried in vain to hold onto the tiny holds on the top, gravity kept pulling us back off the lip and onto the ground again. The lip is only about eight-and-a-half feet off the ground so the fall wasn't bad but the video from the top ended up being rather comical watching us fall over and over again.