Said my goodbyes to the Homeros crew this morning. What a fun group of people! I had such a lovely time. Met up with Kenny, Charlotte, Derek, and Katelyn from the Red. It was so good to see them again! Ran into some folks from Squamish last season, Neal and Sam, as well as Mystery Machine Michael, who I met at the Ten Sleep Brewery in Wyoming. Made some new friends, Bryan from Colorado, Colum from Ireland, Chino from Mexico, Raelene from Canada, Stefan from Bulgaria, and Peter, Robin, and Bob (the 70yr old legend). It's amazing how the climbing community migrates from place to place. Sure, you'll meet new people, but you're also bound to run into folks you've climbed with before, or seen on the road somewhere at some point.
Derek on Salty Dog (12a) at the Club Mex Wall
Did some single-pitch climbs the first day with Kenny and Charlotte at the Virgin Wall (the only wall that's in the shade all day). Then, Bryan and I climbed Estrellita, a 11-pitch route with the hardest pitch at 11a. It was pretty fun! We moved fast and combined pitches and finished the climb in 4 hours. It felt so great to be on the rock again. I've been unable to climb much since my pulley injury at the Red River Gorge in November. But, now the pain has disappeared and I feel so much more comfortable pulling on holds again.
Derek climbs the Sword with ease!
A few other multipitches ticked off:
Sendero Luminoso (11c) 5 pitches
Treasure of Sierra Madre (10c) 7 pitches
Black Cat Bone (10d) 9 pitches
Poncho Villa Rides Again (10c) 5 pitches
Josh and Colum in the back of Derek and Katelyn's van on the way to the market!
Towards the end of the trip, Derek, Bryan and I went up to Club Mex, to try to pull on some harder stuff. I haven't gotten on a 12a since October, but Bryan and I managed to onsight Salty Dog (12a) and The Sword (12a). What an amazing day! Then after, we proceeded to fall a bunch on British Invasion (12a). Either way, I'm stoked to have gotten two 12a onsights in a day! That's a first for me! The following morning, Colum, Derek, Bryan, Josh, and I went back up to the Outrage Wall to try and get on Celestial Omnibus (12b), an amazing route that's steep and featured with tufas and jugs. I took so many falls on it, but the climb itself was amazing! Burly, but with good holds to rest on. Maybe someday I can come back to it. It was awesome of Derek, Colum, and Bryan to let Josh and I give it a go, since the climb was going in the sun soon, and it was our last day in Potrero. They were so supportive! Such a good crew here in Mexico :)
Bob and me atop Treasure of Sierra Madre, a 7-pitch 10c. Bob led all the hard pitches!
Spent the last evening in Potrero eating, dancing, and drinking Tequila mixed with fresh mangoes and strawberries. I'm incredibly sore from climbing 4 days on, and dancing my face off last night. Potrero has been amazing, the community was welcoming and diverse, and the climbing was varied and fun. With half the crew off to El Salto to climb overhung routes, I venture back to the states to work a bit, and upgrade to a van! May the dirtbag life live on! :)
Bryan and me on the summit of Black Cat Bone (10d) with Hidalgo in the background.