Bienvenido a Mexico

Ahhh...we finally made it. After six days of climbing in Indian Creek, we left with a van full of red sand, new scars on our hands, and great anticipation of our next destination. Leah and I were hardly prepared for the next leg of our journey, three days of driving, sleeping just off the interstate, and eating whatever we could find at local gas stations or restaraunts. We noticed a major temperature increase in these two days and the landscape began to change into cacti and many different species of trees and plants we have never seen before. We decided to cross the US/Mexican border in the morning to give ourselves more than enough time to deal with logistics and headaches in another language. We crossed a bridge in Laredo, Texas, breifly talked to some border patrol people in broken spanish and geared ourselves for the "real" border crossing. Twenty minutes later while driving down narrow one ways, listening to street music and looking around, we realized, "hey are we in Mexico?" It turns our we were, no tourist visas, no vehicle registration, no passport requests, hmm.... We turned around to seek out all of these things ourselves a little confused. An hour later, we were back on the road to Potrero Chico.

Just outside of Monterrey, Mexico we started our drive towards the high mountains of Potrero, pointed out to me by a friendly gas station attendant. "Look towards the mountains you are going to visit"as he pointed to the limestone peaks with a sparkle in his eye. A couple of hours and a few u turns later we pulled into the campground. To our great surprise we had the entire canyon to ourselves and four other American climbers for the next three days. The first day was a bit of an awakening to the new style of climbing, no more secure hand jams and placing your own protection whenever you feel insecure. Sharp limestone holds, huecos and pockets that you can sometimes stick your entire arm into and critters like millipedes, spiders and snakes that join you on the walls. However after a few days of getting used to the rock, I realize that the major thing to focus on is the language barrier. My portuguese is very rusty and although it has been handy a few of times, for the most part the Mexicans just smile and apologize that they do not understand. I feel the familiar insecurity of not being able to connect on a simple level through basic communication.

Leah is planning her flight back to Canada on the 23rd and I have come to the realization that I will be alone, without my favourite chica and climbing partner. Soon the rock chapter of the trip will come to a close and the coast will draw the Previa closer. The surfboard has been biding her time on the roof rack through the desert, soon she'll be greeted with those familiar salty waves.

The beginning

Finally, it is all coming together. After months of dreaming about the van, loaded with all of the things I need to climb, surf, relax, and enjoy life on the road it is reality. Driving, driving, driving. For the first week it was all I did. First a little "out of the way" interview in Canmore, Alberta. hoping to have some sort of job security to come back to for winter in Canada. After a short and sweet dinner/interview in Canmore I make my way to Squamish over the next couple of days to pick up my right hand lady, Leah.

After greeting eachother like excited little girls we set out for one last Squamish climb before we got down to business and finished all of our last minute errands. We set out early the next morning for City of Rocks, Idaho. At the border we did our best to smile sweetly at the patrol officer. "How many of you are in there?" he asked while trying to peer into the back windows of the previa determined to discover a hideaway. We gave him our story and our purpose puzzled him, rock climbing is something not everyone understands, so he flagged us over to homeland security. After a brief visit with an officer we were sure of as the "new guy" and some funny questions we were released into the US. The next few days were a driving saga not much to report from the interstate.

When we finally arrived at the City of Rocks info center two days later we were greeted with a darkening sky, rain and promise of more on the way. Leah and I made an executive decision over sandwiches in the parking lot and decided to keep the momentum going and drive to Moab, Utah to escape the rain. The next day we arrived in Moab in one of the heaviest precip. storms I have ever seen in the desert. Yet another forced rest day. We used it to gather supplies for a three day trip to Indian Creek, land of splitter sandstone cracks. The beauty of this place never ceases to amaze me, the rain brings a breath of fresh air to the area and the green seems to jump out of the landscape. The sun came out for us on our first real climbing day (it finally happened) where we met a group from the American Alpine club at Supercrack buttress. They were more than accomodating and were hosting an event where international climbers came together for a week of hosted climbing in Indian Creek. This means, after we both lead a nice warm up, we have more top ropes than we need to feel the familiar Indian Creek exhaustion we have been seeking.

Over the next two days Leah and I made our way to the top of a tiny tower and did some single pitch cragging until our hands bled and our beer and ice supply dropped to a risky level. So here we are in Moab on another rest day. The sun is out and doing errands in town is difficult however our bodies tell us to rest as there are more days in the sun to come.