The Eternal Question: Will the Wolf Survive?

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday

So I was supposed to leave Seattle at 8:30am on Saturday December 7th. The plan was perfect, I had all of my camping and climbing gear stuffed into one large duffel and a backpacking backpack, and had arranged an early morning trip to the airport. Then, early that morning at 4:30am I got a voicemail from American Airlines informing me that my flight had been cancelled. What. Apparently there was a major icestorm in Dallas and they had to cancel 1400 flights going into or out of DFW that day. I ended up eventually getting a new flight to Monterrey about 36 hours later, but in the meantime I felt suspended like a ghost. I wasn't supposed to be in Seattle. I felt like the universe had split and I was the poor sap stuck in the version where I didn't get to go to Mexico. It was very odd.

Anyway, I did eventually make it to Mexico on Monday morning and started setting up my tent and getting ready for the days ahead. The weather was a bit chilly but Potrero was beautiful as always =)

Except for that ugly new tower...

Tuesday and Wednesday

My friend L. was also scheduled to arrive on Saturday evening shortly after I did, but her flight was canceled as well so her new flight was really late on Tuesday night. Her flight was booked kind of at the last minute and she hadn't done a lot of research on the area so she seemed really relieved and almost surprised when I picked her up at the airport on Tuesday night no problem. We stayed up late drinking and chatting and looking up at the stars.

On Wednesday we woke up a bit late but decided to do a few single-pitch routes on the Mota Wall so that L. could get used to the sharp limestone here. After a few of those I convinced her to try doing Will the Wolf Survive with me, a fun and interesting four-pitch romp in Los Lobos canyon. We ended up doing the first two pitches until we ran out of energy and daylight.

Like a boss.

After the climb, I convinced L. to go out and try a pizza place in Hidalgo which I'd never been to before. So we went, and it was actually some of the most delicious pizza I've ever had. It was incredible! I really highly recommend this place for any travelers coming here.

Luigi's!

Thursday

Thursday morning, yet another friend (A.) arrived at the airport, and I picked her up and we headed straight back to Potrero after a short stop for breakfast. I was partly frustrated that L. and I hadn't finished the Wolf, and it's a pretty fun and interesting four-pitch romp in Los Lobos canyon so I suggested that A. and I just do that for the day since our time was limited. So we did, and this time we made it to the top =)

Wolf Summit

I should mention that I felt bad that I was sort of ditching my other friend to climb with my second friend, but L. found someone who wanted to climb Treasure of the Sierra Madre with her so she ended up having an awesome day as well. After we met up at camp, we went out to this house in town known for it's ginormous hamburguesas. Funnily enough, we ran into three other climbers who came out as well and the six of us ate and chatted together before heading back to camp =)

Friday

The next day, despite the fact that I'd already climbed the previous two days, I thought it would be a good idea to make A. do Estrellita with me. It's a pretty fun/awesome 11-pitch route that has a variation that goes at no more than 5.10b, and even the 5.10b pitches are easy. Plus you can link several of the pitches. She was nervous about doing such a long multi-pitch, but I assured her that we would be just fine. We linked some pitches and swapped leads and made it up in only about 4.5 hours. We could have been much faster actually but we were taking our time for water and snacks between pitches and we didn't link everything that we could have. Regardless, we made it to the top and enjoyed the view and the lonely palm tree at the top =)

The iconic palm tree.

After we got down, we took L. to the airport and then stopped for enchiladas and campechanas at La Estacion, a local Hidalgo restaurant, then we headed back to camp and hung out with the other climbers there. I should mention that I love the vibe at La Posada, all of the climbers are really nice and friendly and fun to chat with at night. It's a really great atmosphere, and there are always some interesting characters, but in particular we were amused by a guy who was really tall and really liked backgammon =)

BONUS MUSIC VIDEO