My first visit to Hueco Tanks was over New Years 2025. I had spent Christmas in Joshua Tree with my family, and Hueco Tanks was "on the way" back home to Estes Park. I joined Nate Beckwith, who had been there numerous times before. We were there for five days, on a two days on, one rest/work day, two days on schedule. This trip was actually the first time I had ever bouldered outdoors (trad climber me is terrified to get too far above the ground without a rope; admittedly I've had a roped fall in the past that led to a serious injury, making me wary of coming down hard on that leg). But due to the roof nature of Hueco bouldering and an ever-present bouldering pad mountain, I felt pretty comfortable playing around on most problems. I also found it quite humbling. V1 seemed hard and the heel hooking, knee-barring, and climbing overhanging roofs horizontal with the ground was quite foreign to my body. I ended the trip feeling pleasantly sore, frustrated by my feeling of weakness and my nonexsistent skills to climb overhanging terrain, humbled by others' strength and willingness to boulder high above the ground, and motivated to do some more focused climbing training over the winter. My goal is to return someday and get to the top of some problems I worked on but could not do.

The following page gives photos from the week of bouldering at Hueco Tanks. Overall this was quite a unique experience and I would gladly make the 12 hour drive from Estes Park and come back again.