This past Thanksgiving I was able to return to Mexico for a week and climb once again at my beloved El Potrero Chico. It was a really amazing trip – I accomplished my long term goal of climbing Time Wave Zero - a route with a whopping 23 pitches, 2300 feet and 5.12a rating! I convinced a wonderful Norwegian girl named Hanna to take me up – I knew I needed someone slightly stronger to lead the toughest pitches of the climbs. Still, we linked pitches the whole way up and I lead half of them. Climbing for 12 hours straight in the hot Mexican sun is such a crazy ordeal and the sensation of touching solid ground afterwards is just amazing.
Other highlights of the trip were taking a day hike to “La Mesa de la Mula” with an old timer EPC veteran Frank Sarat. We hiked by a magnificently old oak tree (“Centenary Encino”) that was surprising to find in the middle of a desert. Beyond that we explored the mines that produce a mineral used for making bathroom tiles, among other things. Then we took the old donkey trail towards Monterrey that was used before the age of cars. It was an insightful tour of EPC history.
While at Potrero Chico I made the time to do some major updates to my pet project potrerochico.org. Its now a very popular tourist site for the area and during the high season gets about a 1400 hits per month. I have really enjoyed giving back to the Hidalgo/Potrero area through the creation of free online info on visiting the area. I’ve put a lot of research into it.
Finally, it was amazing to see tons of old friends including Hexar, Mara, Yugene, Lucy, Ali, Bere, Miguel, Cesar, Ana, Diego, Dario, Carlos, Maria, Gallo and Luly!
