There was enough daylight left for a dash up the three-pitch Sun Devil.
The crux pitch looks like this.
But this picture is Patrick from August, aka "Hillbilly Sharma."
We had an excellent dinner at Palace in Santa Fe, along with some groovy live music. Then there was the leap-year lady who thought I had misled her. That's just one of the problems with "Persona #2."
With the Watermelons on fire, we hit Questa Dome on Saturday. I treated Eric to a Chile Works breakfast burrito and vintage views of the Rio Grande Gorge. After a diversion into Taos for World Cup Espresso, getting snaked on a parking spot by an aggro art-gallery woman with lawn chairs and some general funk, it was time to climb.
Maybe the sweetest puppy I've ever met.
I wanted to climb something new to me but I forgot the book at home, so Eric got his wish to sample the mega-classic Question of Balance.
A view along the approach, which is an epic slog by New Mexico standards.
Following P1.
Persona #2 strikes again: I let Eric lead the next three pitches since they're all classic and I'd already led them. On P2.
P3 is just a really classy Puta Madre. Start with some traversing slab moves from the belay and smear to a corner with some small gear.
Then get ready to take a step of faith above the small gear.
I didn't mean to sandbag the roof. Does one earn epaulettes for a trifecta of on-sights?
To the top!
Vagaries and vicissitudes prevented any escalation of our shenanigans, but a good time was had nevertheless. After burritos and a tour of a cave dwelling on a cliff, during a quick trip to sample the pocket and face climbs at the Overlook I overheard, "Put your clothes on!" Puta madre, the climbing there turns me on.
A hose in my Honda exploded on the way to Albuquerque. Any further fun was in question. But an incredibly kind couple from San Felipe Pueblo, Ben and Erica, helped us get supplies for a late night quick fix around Santa Fe. When the quick fix failed, Ben pulled an identical hose from a Honda of his own and brought it to us! I feel inadequate as a human being and I hope to be lucky enough to return such a favor one day.
Monday, before Eric's flight into that long, wet night, we had time for a bitchin' hike: the Northwest Ridge of the Thumb.
1,000 ft of fun.
Mmmm, exposure.
Views of other adventures across the way
You wouldn't like it.
Do you really want to stop for a picture here!?
It's still fun after it gets easier.
Summit beers temporarily cured me of a lingering case of givin'-a-shit. Thanks for the visit, Eric! Come again any time: we don't have down seasons here! And now you can look forward to ski season for the next few months; like Lynn said to Katie, "Yay!"