Silverbell Ringin'

It is hard to beat a Friday afternoon bouldering sesh. It doesn't matter much that the Silverbell Boulders leave my hands resembling the leftovers from a rabid heyena's midnight snack or that I always burn myself out on the lower boulders before getting to the hard stuff up top-- this place is great. On Friday Trevor-- a long-lost brother now living as an economic refugee in Utah --was back in town, temps were down in the low 80's or maybe even high 70's and the sun was out. One day, sooner or later, I'll get out to the Silverbell Boulders and crush all of my as-of-yet-unsent projects. Until then, though, the joy is in the process and (admittedly) in documenting the process. Stick around to the end of this video to see Dustin floating across The Rails, Silverbell's uber-classic V6-- beautiful stuff.

The Marana Lights

There are many bizarre and often unexplainable phenomena in our world. UFO's, Yeti's, the Loch Ness Monster and even the chupacabra. In Texas I grew up hearing about the mysterious Marfa Lights. And now, there is another strange sight - the Marana Lights. Thursday, July 2nd the Marana Police Department was called about "wierd lights rising out from the rocks" on a rocky hillside just outside of city limits. It was here, on a small parcel of undeveloped (but rocky and beautiful) county property, that neighboring residents witnessed the unusual lights starting shortly after sunset. Three police officers dutifully responded, hiking the cactus and cholla choked hillside in the dark, their flashlights barely lighting their feet on the steep hike up. And when they finally reached the otherwierdly glow on the hillside, what they found was even more horrifying than anything they could have imagined, and certainly these three brave officers will be having blood-curdling nightmares for years as a result of the horrid and feral beasts they encountered swarming around the light. The creatures were grunting and barely clothed, doing some kind of ritual dance involving a rock face and a powdery white substance that can only be assumed to be some kind of stimulant absorbed through the hands. THIS is what the officers, lucky to have survived the encounter, saw and photographed.

Yes, the cops really were called, and they hiked up the hill to investigate. After their inital round of "EVERYONE UP AGAINST THE ROCK!", once they realized we meant them no harm, they were funny guys and slightly amused by us. After making sure none of us were felons they trekked back to the car, and even wishing us well, telling us to "have fun climbing your hills!".

We ended up having a great night of bouldering, as you can see from this short video. Unfortunately in all the video we took we didn't get footage of any sends, but the video does capture a little bit of what is so cool about bouldering at night - the cool dance of shadows on the wall, crisp evenings hanging out with friends, and trying hard on fun problems. Next time we'll get some sends on film, but until then, here ya go -