Hueco Tanks Mountains

6 Feb 2014--On Thursday, while waiting for our friends Hallie and Donna to join us from back home for a couple days, Cathy and I drove out to a spot called Hueco Tanks, a place where people come from around the world to do rope climbing and what is called "bouldering", (more on that in a minute.).  It is called Hueco Tanks because of the hollows, "huecos", in the rocks that capture rainwater.  This area is in the middle of the desert, so what little rainwater the Indians got here was essential to their survival.



These 1st 2 pictures show some of the Indian rock art we were told to expect to see on our hike, but the 3rd pic shows the only art we could find.  (Cathy insisted someone put that there just recently--haha!)



Anyway, we found some great trails and rocks to climb.



In this 1st pic you can see a couple people carrying what are called "crash pads" on their backs. We thought it was camping gear, but after seeing everyone in the park aside from us with them we asked someone what they were carrying.  So this is where "bouldering" comes in.  Some people don't just climb rocks, they want to challenge themselves even more by finding rocks to climb where you have to support your entire weight with just your hands and arms.  If you look at the 3rd pic here, just above and to the right of Cathy's left shoulder, you can see some white stuff in the crevices of the rock.  That is chalk, used by the bouldering people to help get a grip as they try to climb rocks that are slanted towards them!!!!  I challenge you to try that some day.  In the 2nd row of pics you can see Cathy trying to get a good enough grip to hoist herself, but she never manages to lift that last limb...what I was calling her "anchor leg"!!! haha  She was rightfully afraid that she might fall in the crevice of the rocks and get really hurt, so we gave up and just pressed on.

 

A cactus seemingly growing out of the rock, and Cathy and I heading to the top of the mountain.



The higher you go, the colder it gets!  And they provide chains to hold on to because some places are a bit slippery.



I went a bit higher than Cathy...she didn't want me to, but as my friend Hallie was saying about Cathy on another hike, I was feeling Mountain Goat-ish by now!  haha

 

Always a little scarier coming down than going up.



Doesn't Cathy look like she thinks she's Wonder Woman or someone in this 1st pic?  haha



The end of another great hiking day!