Cochise Stronghold Mayhem

check out these photos!Adventures in Southern AZ

Today I found Jesus

in Nogales, Mexico. By the way, that is pronounced "hey-sus" for those of you who don't speak Spanish. Jesus was the man who so graciously offered to show us around Mexico and lead us from place to place for the price of a small tip(sarcasm). I'll get to that a bit later. Suffice it to say, today proved to be one of the more interesting of my trip, both for the people encountered and for the adventures that were had as we left Bisbee intent on spending a day in Nogales Mexico.

Bed and Breakfast Balcony in Bisbee

I awoke this morning to a fresh cup of OJ and a hall's throat drop thanks to the kindness of Gary and the woman who owns the awesome bed and breakfast where we're staying. Gary chose the place after reading about it online and before learning (and this is true) that it was the site of a mass murder in the 20s, another murder in the fifties, and a place where over 27 people have died! That said, it is actually remarkably quaint and really captures the spirit of Bisbee's copper mining past. I'm still alive (one night down) as are my compadres, so wish us luck! The town itself is set amongst beautiful red hills and was designed before development and zoning laws required a more organized approach. As such it is flush with narrow streets, tiny alleys, and homes perched precariously on the hills around the town. The feel of the place is that of the many Mediterranean towns I visited in the Marines, though there are quite a few more retired grateful dead fans hanging around here!

Some of the landscape of southern Arizona

Breakfast consisted of some locally roasted organic brew, assorted fruits/muffins, and a great conversation about financial responsibility/freedom and America's foreign policy problems. If only our nation's leaders would listen to the conversations that we have over coffee and beer, eh? After breakfast we made our way towards the town of Nogales. The scenery enroute was absolutely stunning and we were greeted with towering cliffs, rolling hills, and fantastic ranches reminiscent of Spain's countryside. Upon arriving in Nogales, AZ we parked the car at the local Bank of America (thanks to Gary, our local B o A associate for working this out w/ the branch manager) and walked over the border into Mexico.

The walk into Mexico is quite easy and we encountered no opposition from the heavily armed and heavily fed agents manning the gates. Perhaps this was due to the Mexican western shirts Gary had purchased each of us prior to the trip?? Now to find a bolo tie..

Bolo Nation

Upon walking into the town we were immediately BOMBARDED by folks offering us women, drugs, you name it. I was expecting some pestering from local vendors, as this is fairly common overseas but this was absolutely over the top. I don't want to get too much into it but I will say that the overarching feeling was that these people were desperate and were willing to pester us relentlessly if it meant the possibility of a few dollars. The markets we encountered were very run down and it seemed that most of the wares were the old remains of some past time when goods were flowing in and out with more regularity. Gary had been to the town twice in years past and made a comment that the feeling of the place was off..the stores were almost exclusively manned by men and we saw very few women/children around. There was no sense of happiness, no music, nothing that we expected. It was quite the eye-opener and it really drove home how blessed we are to live in the U.S. In fact, I'd say it was my most sobering "overseas" experience yet..bear in mind I've been to Africa,Iraq, etc. and this place just felt bad.
This was clearly the result of zero opportunity for jobs in-country. Don't even get me started on the futility of trying to monitor the rugged border region that we drove through..

The first and last "market" we visited

Church in town

Anyway, we eventually found Jesus and he led us to a restaurant called La Roca where we enjoyed a fabulous meal of sea-bass tacos and ceviche, wonderful guacamole, and a free margarita thanks to Jesus' friend in the market (he gave us a "coupon" for free drinks that consisted of some words scribbled on a tourist map of the city). In return we gave him a $3 "tip" and he decided to wait outside the restaurant for us, intent on showing us all of the best places in town and "making sure nobody messed with us". This routine grew tiresome particularly when we realized that shrugging off Jesus mean bombardment from a thousand other "tour guides", drug peddlers, etc. Our stay in Nogales ended up being rather brief owing to these factors and the depressed feeling that was all pervasive. We walked back into the U.S. with sighs of relief and thankful hearts for our status as Americans.

My date looked a little green...I know, that was bad

A site for sore eyes

Upon leaving I had to confront that fact that some sort of infection/fever is still keeping me down. Two  hours, stops at a walk-in clinic and a Wal-Greens, and 50 bucks later I popped the first round of my z-pack and we headed back to Bisbee. I am now sitting in our room eagerly anticipating tomorrow's adventures as we head to the Cochise Stonghold to climb the fabled domes that grace that grougeous landscape. More on that soon.

Ciao,
Mike

Dear North Carolina,

View from a cliff in Mt. Lemmon

I am writing to tell you that I think I’ve found someone else. Despite our 10+ year relationship and the numerous good times we’ve shared, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to move on. I didn’t come to this decision lightly; in fact, the decision came as  a surprise even to me. I guess you could say it started with the offer of a good salary in CA, and was cemented after sunny t-shirt climbing in Red Rock with Kate and Stuart in January. You’re just too cold in January, and I think the sunny climate here will help me feel more loved.

Love,

Mike

That is said in jest. In fact, I don’t know that I could ever stop loving North Carolina. I am even missing it this moment despite the wonderful winter weather I’ve been having here in the Southwest. That said, I am eagerly anticipating my move to this part of the world.

The real deal-sealer was picking Ben up in Vegas and making the trek down into Phoenix where we enjoyed a fantastic meal with his grandparents. It’s always a treat to spend time with the family and loved ones of people you love and this visit was no exception. Ben’s grandparents proved to be wonderful conversationalists and we had a nice time eating grapefruit from the tree in their yard, and listening to their tales of life in the southwest from the 50s-the 70s. Early this morning we left Phoenix on our way to pick Gary up in Tucson...

The ride to Tucson from Phoenix

    We pulled into Tucson on a beautiful 60 degree sunny day, grabbed Gary, and some green tamales te and made our way to Mt. Lemmon, a place that quickly made its way to the top of my favorite places I’ve ever been. Driving up the mountain you are immediately greeted by HUGE Saguaro cacti, a fantastic species that is more impressive in real life. Gary informed us that the cacti don’t even grow “arms” until they are eighty years old, thus the feeling was one of driving through a weird, unique ancient forest of sorts. 

We had plans to hit up a sunny crag known as “ridgeline” as we were told that its south facing walls are comfortable even on the coldest of winter days. As we climbed up the mountain we were greeted with a ton of snow that had us doubting how comfortable we were going to be. Turns out our fears were unfounded as we found the crag to be so warm (despite being at 7,000’) that we were able to climb in long sleeved t-shirts. 

Hiking back to the car

Atop "Ridgeline"

Gary atop Ridgeline

Another view from the crag

          We quickly dispatched a few classic sport routes before heading back into Tucson for Mexican food at a dive bar (The Iguana)and are now enroute to a  BandB in Bisbee, Arizona. The next few days promise to be a load of fun as we explore the Cochise Stronghold, Nogales Mexico, and a number of interesting towns and places in between. Stay tuned!

Getting ready to rap off

Ben leading the way

J-Tree Videos

Ringing in the New Year w/ a fat slice of humble pie

Happy New Year!!

Young Stunners

I’m sitting here in Kate’s apartment preparing to spend an evening on “the strip” in Vegas, eagerly anticipating the in and out burger that I’ve been told is one of Vegas’ best kept secrets. Right now my thoughts are focused on the past six days, most of which were spent enjoying the wonderland of rocks known as Joshua Tree.

Joshua Tree National Park is a climbers’ paradise and is widely regarded as “the place” to be in cooler months, as the Mojave Desert’s climate tends to offer up warm temperatures during the day and bearable temps in the evening.

Stuart, Kate, and myself had planned on hitting up Joshua Tree for New Years eve, figuring that we could enjoy a few days there before returning to Vegas where Stu and I had grand plans to climb some of the long traditional routes in red Rock Canyon just West of the city. So it was that Friday afternoon we loaded up Kate’s truck and headed to J-Tree intent on proving ourselves at one of America’s crown jewels of climbing…

Kate Following Boussonnier

A few hours later I was about 40’ up an easy climb hanging on a piece of gear whimpering and feeling sorry for myself. Unfortunately my strep throat had returned with a vengeance and the Dayquil and amoxicillin cocktail I’d consumed had yet to kick in. Uncertain if the shakes were from my fever or my fear, I slowly made my way to the top of our first route and wondered if I was going to enjoy climbing at this place. A rather technical (a.k.a don’t fall) down climb through a chimney ended the day and we headed back to Jumbo Rocks intent on celebrating the coming New Year with some good beer and a meal around a campfire. I won’t get in to too much detail about that evening but I will tell you that the three of us mastered the art of the auto-tune and are looking to sign a record deal w/ Lil Weezy or T-Pain in the near future.

On our first morning in Joshua Tree we awoke to a beautiful light that we came to learn was the norm in the high desert. After a fantastic breakfast Stu and I drove Kate to the J-Tree Saloon so that she could watch the Alabama/Michigan State game. Stuart and I made our way back to the park and spent the afternoon bouldering in a place known as the outback.

This ended up being a great call, as we were able to focus on enjoying J-Tree’s climbing rather than worry about the beat down that had been handed to us the day before. On the back-end of the day Stu and Kate climbed a classic route at trashcan rock while I met with a potential future employer to discuss specifics about a position in the area. More on that later…

Our final day of the weekend proved to be the highlight of the trip. We made our way out to a cliff called the thin wall and climbed a number of classic routes there (see the photos below) before heading out to climb the classic “Sail Away”. This route was fantastic offering up great exposure, wonderful movement, and engaging climbing on a spire-like feature. The climb was the perfect way to end a wonderful New Year weekend.

Kate atop Sail Away

I intended on providing ya’ll with a much more interesting post, but figured it was better to get this out (a week later) rather than keep you all waiting. I have more to write soon, though I’ll need a good night’s sleep and a strong cup of coffee before that happens. In the mean time I hope everyone is doing well.. Keep your eyes peeled for my next post, J-Tree Part II: When Red Rock Weather Stinks.

Me Leading Sail Away

Kate following a route on ThinWall

Blog on the way..In the meantime, check out these pictures!

Howdy Folks,


I am generating a blog post that will strive to capture the past week or so. That said, it's taking some time so I offer these links as a sort of  appetizer and hope they will inspire you to read the blog post that should be up in the next day or so. I hope all is well wherever you are.

New Years Eve and Initial J-Tree Visit

Joshua Tree- Part 2ttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=600294&id=572250523&l=32e17b2059