Rough & Ready

I love the climbing community because, in my experience, you can show up anywhere and there will be awesome, gracious people ready to take you out on an adventure, and it was no different in Las Cruces, New Mexico. 

Josh, myself, and our new friend Trent, climbed into his open-air jeep and traveled some off-roads to the Rough & Ready Hills where volcanic tuff--a brittle, light, porous rock--makes this area the second most popular to the nearby Organ Mountains. 

There are over 40 routes in four different crag areas, many of them still in development which made this excursion particularly exciting. For a warm-up, I led this 5.9 slab route, "Blood, Sweat, and Steers" on which I actually broke a sweat, not just because the desert sun was beating down on us, but because the crux was height dependent! 

At first, giant flies made resting spots of our legs and I felt like a horse kicking my feet around as I belayed Trent and Josh, but it didn't take very long for the sun to move over the hillside throwing our Reddi-Wip Area into wonderful shade.

This little crag pup is Fiona, and she photo-bombed our picture! 

Some rain started to trickle in on us, so we packed up and headed out.

Tomorrow, my friend and I will be summiting one of Colorado's fourteeners, and I could not be more stoked to share the adventure!