After a few days in California, Becca and I headed south to the state of Nuevo Leon, in the northeast of Mexico, to do some climbing, linking up with our friend Eric. We started in El Salto, an amazing limestone climbing area surrounding the lovely (and tiny) town of La Ciénega de González, up in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains. All the climbing is within walking distance of town, so instead of renting a car we caught a ride into town from the airport and then enjoyed exploring on foot.
The day we arrived in Monterrey it was foggy and raining, and it was dark by the time we made it out of the city and up into the mountains. The one road into La Ciénega is steep, narrow, and winding, and the thick fog, awful visibility, and many hairpin turns sure made for a memorable trip into town. We could only imagine the mountains out the window.
Waking up the next morning, though, we had beautiful weather, and just enough lingering fog to give the steep limestone ridges and gorges some definition. We spent our first few days exploring a couple of the different crags. One of the most spectacular spots was La Cueva del Tecolote (Tecolote Cave), a cave high up the wall of the canyon through which the Río Santa Catarina flows.
A panorama showing the stunning view while Becca works on Nosferatus 5.12c at La Cueva de Tecolote
Serafin, the beloved local dog who is so ugly she’s cute.
Becca carrying her pack through waist deep water on the way to the cave. While the hike is dry in a typical climbing season, this year has been fairly wet, so most of the intermittent watercourses are still flowing, meaning that wading was required to access several of the crags.
Looking up into Tecolote Cave from top of a super cool 5.10, El Culo De Merlin
Eric in “the ultimate butt shot” taken at one of the tufa rests on Huiratica 5.13a/b
Eric climbing in the smaller cave near Tecolote, on a route called Tu Felicidad 5.11d
Becca in a nice rest while unfortunately off route on super classic Nosferatus 5.12c
On Christmas Eve we took a rest day, and Becca and I walked up La Boca canyon in the late afternoon for a nice view of the surrounding mountains and back down the canyon.
Neat limestone textures above La Boca Canyon
Becca and I on our rest day walk
Our time in El Salto went by super quickly, and before we knew it there was only one more day of climbing left. After sending some of our other projects at other crags, including my first 5.12, we headed back to Tecolote for a final day.
Our last view down the canyon of Río Santa Catarina before hiking back to town on our last day.
Once again, we piled into a cab, this time with some new friends, and drove back towards Monterrey. Becca and I visited El Portrero Chico for a few more days of climbing before heading back to the US.