It seems like it was just yesterday that we sold our home, along with nearly everything that couldn’t fit in a 1997 13′ Scamp trailer and a Honda Element. Shortly after, we took to the road full time. Now here we are, finishing up year eight of this atypical retirement lifestyle.

We lost that first Scamp to an accident in Deming, NM in 2019 and replaced it with a brand new model.  A couple years later, we sadly said goodbye to our 2010 Element, which was racking up the miles, and upgraded to a slightly larger tow vehicle, a 2018 GMC Savana cargo van. Encouraged by the increased tow power, we then sold the Scamp and upsized to a 16’9″ K-Z Sportsmen Classic. We’re now fully self contained, living luxuriously with a shower and composting toilet, a larger bed, more headroom, and greater storage capacity. Maggie aptly refers to it as “The Mansion”. It’s a little heavier, but the van pulls it easily. We find it’s perfectly comfortable for senior travelers like us.

The past two winters were spent in Hueco Tanks area, where the climate is palatable for 4-5 months of reasonably comfortable living. The boulders provided us with excellent off-season power development during the short winter days. We’ve rarely experienced the crowded conditions now common to several world class climbing destinations there. We attribute the lack of crowds to a well managed reservation system. It works out nicely for those of us who are chronic planners.

In past summer seasons we’ve spent a fair amount of time climbing in Maple Canyon, often working as volunteer camp host while there. We’ve decided this year to permanently retire from that type of “work” for the foreseeable future. This frees us up to explore more remote and isolated climbing areas instead.

Thus begins our Tour of the Obscure!

We parted Hueco and headed north to The Tunnel near High Rolls, NM in early April. Almost immediately we were welcomed by Tracey and John Hymer, who gifted us a guidebook to the region. These folks have put up the majority of the routes here and act as guardians of this amazing, unique limestone bluff. It’s secluded enough that we rarely encountered another soul during the three weeks we inhabited this area. It was an excellent place to begin a return to route climbing shape.

The last week of April we wandered north to Diablo Canyon, west of Santa Fe. The challenges of the steep basalt in Solar Cave helped add to our early season route fitness and provided us with more opportunities to use our full body strength, i.e., kneebars! After a couple of weeks the sun baked us out of the area. Luckily we’d been accepted by a handful of locals during that time, who introduced us to a newer crag southwest of Santa Fe.

El Camino Cave has been our happy home for the past month now. The climbing is extremely remote, as in, miles from civilization with desert-dirt roads that are often impassible after a substantial rain. The andesite rock is chossy as hell and looks somewhat like Dante’s version of it. However, the industrious locals have done an excellent job of development here. There are about 40 routes total, ranging from 10+ (only one) to 13+. The majority of the routes are in the 12+ to solid 13 realm.

While most of the climbing is overhanging to extremely overhanging, there are sections of technical vertical stone that provide difficult cruxes with extremely small crimps. Not typically our strength, this technical terrain forces us out of our comfort zone. The ratings feel solid for the grade, verging on sandbag, but fairly consistent within the crag. Most of the draws are fixed cables or chain, however, it pays to carry a few extra draws the first time up a route since random bolts in less steep sections frequently lack permadraws.

Many of the routes have extensions which can be a little confusing without a local’s help. The extensions often provide additional and extremely challenging climbing after pitch one. Plan for a full-on adventure if you choose to tackle most of the upper pitches here in the Camino! The handful I’ve attempted so far have have reminded me of ass puckering trad climbing days of yore. Not super psyched to return to those epic days anytime soon. Overall though, we’re enjoying our time near Santa Fe and will most likely return in the not too distant future.

Next on our agenda is a short trip north to El Rito for some fun cobble climbing. I’ve done most of the routes there years ago, but Maggie has yet to experience the vibe. From there we’ll pass through Colorado for a short stop in the always lovely Lander, Wyoming. Here we’ll share our years of climbing experience through a couple of fun clinics at the International Climber’s Festival. Come join us July 13-16, if you get a chance. Funds go to support the Lander area climbing community which has some pretty spectacular cliffs surrounding!

From Lander, we’ll head northwest to Twin Falls, Idaho, to meet with folks in that climbing community. The plan is to share our knowledge of the Colosseum area, which we developed in 2012-13 before it became inaccessible due to a change in landownership. It’s currently up for sale, undergoing another potential ownership change. We’re hoping to strategize with the local climbing community regarding the possibility of reacquiring access to this incredibly amazing treasure.

Our plan is to spend the second half of our summer and early fall – July through October – in the Columbia River Gorge near Portland, Oregon. A couple of small crags in that region have caught our attention, so we’ve decided to check them out during our Tour of the Obscure. Neither of us has climbed in that vicinity, so it’ll be an adventure. We’re hoping the humidity will help our extremely dry hands stick to the rock surfaces.

Our fall and winter plans are still open. We may head east to spend time in the Obed, Tennessee which we both enjoyed during a short trip in the fall of 2014. Another option will be to return here to Sante Fe for late fall and early winter. Maybe we’ll meander down to Socorro as a possible winter option. Old Mexico is also on the table.

Suffice to say, all those who wander are not necessarily lost. In our defense, being occasionally lost is a preferred lifestyle. In summary, as we begin year nine, we’re happy, healthy and living fully in the moment. The future is uncertain and that’s the El Camino Real of the Odette family.

Namaste, Charlie

A couple things: 1. Although we’re not professional photographers, the pictures we take and use are, well, ours. Friends and readers are welcome to repost them on Facebook or other personal social media accounts, but please ask if your intention is to use them for any sort of business or product promotion outside of our established relationships. We post photos taken by others with their permission, which you should also obtain if you wish to use them. 2. The ads on this site show up because we’re too frugal to pay enough to make them go away. They’re not necessarily for anything we endorse or support.