Out of Hueco and Onto Joe's Valley

I reached the end of my Hueco Tanks trip last week and escaped the decadent vortex that is El Paso, Texas. January offered good temps while I was starting to get into shape, but February was unusually warm this season. The hot weather made it quite difficult to get any hard problems done. Unfortunately, my first season trying the famous power endurance line Martini Right ended in failure. After getting this line in two parts I was ultimately shut down on the link. It was still quite an honor to get to try this iconic boulder problem that has a reputation for making even the strongest climbers pay their dues. I was happy to put in my first season of hard work on this beast. It left me with a hunger to come back stronger next year to give this rig another try. One day I'm going to send this thing so long as the park doesn't close down the cave. El Techo did not go as well. This one was a bit reachy for me and offered up an extra challenge. All the moves went down though proving that even for a short fella it is still possible.
    I noticed that Hueco Tanks can ironically have a lot of distractions that I fell into. The food is so good but seems like it is all cooked in lard. Even chicken burritos kind of leave you feeling like crap because of the tortillas fat content. They also have really good pasteries that taste great but really weigh you down for that next climbing day. The popular camping area, The Hueco Rock Ranch is sort of the "animal house" of this bouldering mecca. Staying here one can find that you end up drinking heavily a bit too often i.e. every fucking day. All these things combined get many climbers into bad habits and, like me, you find that too much of this stuff can lead to you getting weaker the longer you stay here. But damn what a good time. I think next visit I will go in December when it is colder and stay in the park where you can keep to yourself and hopefully drink less and eat a bit healthier. If anyone is planning a trip there that would be my recommendation. Keep yourself in control, it will be boring but you will climb way better as a result. Fun times but lesson learned.
   I have moved on to Joe's Valley, Utah. It is nice to be free from the regulations and distractions and have a plethora of great sandstone at your disposal. Isaac Caldiero put out a great guidebook that will get you around the area to the best problems. This guidebook has been very useful in locating the good lines and even gives some beta for those who are interested. You can purchase the book for $30 at the local grocery store called the Food Ranch. Which by the way has butterfinger donuts, just saying. And, no, I haven't been eating them, I swear...
    I've been enjoying my stay here and plan on staying another week or so before continuing west to Moe's Valley to get another chance at my project from last season. It will likely be too hot by the time I get there to try it but you never know. I'm hoping that southern Utah will get a late cold spell in April. I guy can dream right? In the meantime I feel like some sending might go down here as it is supposed to be cold this week after the next snow storm hits. I'm really looking forward to some sunny 30 degree days. Ah...friction.
    In case anyone wanted to know my ticklist from Hueco Tanks in the two months I spent there here it is:
Barefoot on Sacred Ground v12
Schwer Gustov v10/11
Wonderhole Dyno v10
10-10 v10
Theater of the Absurd v10
Julio and Me v9
Glas Roof v9
Choir Boys v9
Dragonfly low v9
Paleazoic v9
Big Nose Milley v9
Something Different v8
Ultra Mega v8

There is more but I can't remember. These are the ones that stick out in my mind. I doesn't seem like very much for 2 months but I'm getting back in shape so you do what you can. Feel like all this steep crimpy stuff definately tightened up my game a bit. I'm excited to test the new skills out here in Joe's.