On February 24th, 2022 we loaded up the brand new Toyota 4Runner for a trip down to the Pecos River on the border of Texas and Mexico for a weekend of rock climbing at the Continental Ranch. This was our first trip with the vehicle and we were excited to see how it would handle the harsh southern terrain. Spoiler alert - the G.O.A.T of SUVs was everything we hoped for and more! As well, we can't talk about the trip without giving a special shout out to Randy from Austin Ascents who guided us for the weekend. For those interested in making a trip down south The Continental Ranch Roundup will be taking place October 7-10, 2022.
Following a stop in San Angelo on Thursday night we left for the ranch early Friday morning, took some back rounds from the north, which avoided Comstock, and arrived at the gate where we met Spencer before starting the hour drive to the camp site. The landscape was quite unique and rugged with lots of wild life including deer, goats, and birds. By early afternoon we had arrived at camp, made some quick introductions, and in no time we were scrambling down a grade three decent into the canyon where we were met with beautiful emerald pools.
For an interesting read on the Pecos River and its history from the time of Spanish conquistadors to outlaws of the Wild West check out Legends of America!
Once we had proved our chops, passed the safety exam, and Kristin crushed a 5.9 we headed over to "The Butt" where there is a nice 5.12a titled cleavage. The afternoon was spent working the route, getting used to the sharp limestone, and enjoying the pristine landscape. To find a place with as little traffic as the ranch as seen is truly unique and it was even more special as we had the entire place to ourselves. Spencer would bag the send on his first go the next morning.
Rather than setting up a tent on the hard ground we opted to sleep in the 4Runner and enjoyed what Fox referred to as the "four season" of camping. When in doubt act like real vagabonds and sleep in the vehicle and save the energy that would have been dealt with setting up and breaking down the tent. Saturday started off slowly as it was a bit chilly with lots of cloud cover that would eventually burn off. Once again, we scrambled down into the canyon, turned right this time, and made the beautiful hike along the Pecos to Painted Canyon. During the warmer months people will relax in the water near a set of rapids, enjoy a cold beverage, and soak up some mother nature between climbing the moderate routes that scatter this section of the canyon.
A delicious dinner was grilled over the open fire for the second night in a row and we had some good laughs before calling it a night in advance of our last day on the ranch. The descent into the canyon would be different than the first two days and unlike anything any of us had ever done to get to a crag A hundred foot ladder that required tying into a rope was required to get to the canyon floor followed by a short hike to a wall with "Mr. Access", a 5.7 we would warm up and climb to exit the canyon, along with the classic "Tomahawk", 5.11, that was the best route I got on all weekend. The style was different than most the other slab routes we had been on and offered several fun moves around the arete, a couple no hands rests in large ledges, and an enjoyable runout to the anchors.
The sun was out in full force by the early afternoon so we made another run up Mr. Access and walked along the canyon edge back to the trucks. Driving out of the ranch was enjoyable as we put the four wheel drive to the test on "Robby Gordon Mode" through moderate terrain and had a deer run along side us for quite a while.
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