Las chicas chillin in Hueco Tanks.
Hueco Tanks is arguably one of the best bouldering areas in the world. Located in the Chihuahuan desert, 30 miles east of El Paso, Texas, this 860-acre park is an extensive outcropping of sun-baked syenite porphyry boulders with over 2,000 established problems ranging from V0-V15. Every winter, from November thru March, climbers travel across the globe to this isolated island of cratered rock for its warm, dry climate and large quantity of quality climbing in condensed areas.
Read the rest of Abbey’s article here!
And check out the photo gallery here!
March 23, 2010-Cholla cactus at sunset.
The desert is all about sand dunes and silhouettes. Cacti make crazy shapes against big, empty, desert skies, and sand dunes put everything into perspective, from big life decisions to tiny details. Since I’ve never spent much time around dunes, they’re kind of a novelty, and quickly becoming an obsession. They’re especially beautiful after a blustery day. Check out some photos from the dunes!
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Peach tree in the yard, Hurricane, Utah.
With some rare spare time, I’ve been reading a book on the art of observation, with all these really cool photography exercises. So after a relaxing day in the sun yesterday, I took photos of this barely blooming peach tree in the backyard here in Hurricane. I tried to express how the peach tree makes me feel, which sounds kinda cheesy, but whatever. The exercise reminded me of something the New London Day photo editor said, “Take photos that make people feel something.”
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March 9, 2010-Jorge's Jeep windshield after plowing through a muddy puddle on the sand dunes, Utah.
I grew up on the East Coast, and we never drove cars the way desert locals here do. Sure we were crazy, we’d steal a car and drive to a New York City club for the night, but that was different. Here, skidding is practically a way of life–you know, driving forward with the wheels turned? Yeah, that’s fun. Especially in water. Especially when you’ve tried to avoid skidding your entire driving life. Here, people rally the red dunes, where the sand is soft and the dunes are steep and there are no limits to push. The engine smokes, passengers hit their heads on the ceiling, everything bounces inside this metal box with a gas pedal, and it’s cool! You can even roll your car here without too many worries. So they say.
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March 6, 2010-A place to buy bolts in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Yesterday I made the 10 hour trip from Boulder to St. George, alone—a pattern that’s increasingly normal. In the past week and a half, I’ve spent about 35 solo hours in the car. And you know what? I kinda like it! I guess I’m not that hard to amuse. I don’t need constant conversation, or music, or even NPR, an obsession that’s recently become as necessary as morning coffee. Audio books definitely help, but even in silence I’m pretty happy just cruising the countryside, taking it all in. When I notice quirky, photo-worthy sights, it’s usually miles before I can find a place to turn around, so I often don’t. But this trip I made the effort to stop, turn around, and retrace my tracks at least once. I snapped a few photos, but they just don’t capture the loneliness of these places. Anyways, here are a few pics from the journey.
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Four year-old Billie Jean, an Andean female at the National Zoo, is believed to have given birth to the twins over a 24-hour period while denned in a secluded section of her indoor exhibit; one cub was born at about 8 a.m. Jan. 14, and the other was born at roughly the same time Jan. 15. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute.
I miss the Zoo, but still get these awesome updates about what’s going on there, and there’s ALWAYS stuff going on there. This week they’ve announced the birth of two Andean bears! We’ve been watching the cub cam since mid-January, and when Billie Jean finally got up, we could see these two small brown, blobs–bear cubs! The cam just went live, and these healthy little ones are growing fast! Check out the bear cub cam and photos.
