Winter/Spring 2014 was a little busy in the non climbing arena for me - TWO trips to Paris! However, I was able to squeeze in a two day trip to Joshua Tree National Park. JT Park is a spectacular national park topped off with the most assessable rock climbing there is...period! There is something like 5000+ established routes in the park and since being "wilderness" there is a lack of bolts.
Having done a guided Intro to Rock Climbing Course a few years back (January 2010) I still had not been back to this amazing place to climb. Ivy brought up the idea since she was already down in that neck of the woods.
I loaded up the Taco and drove down the night before arriving so that we could enjoy two full days of climbing....
With all the campgrounds inside the heart of the park first come first serve and no cell service meant I had to search all camp bulletin boards to find Ivy. I eventually found a note indicating she was camped in Ryan campground around 11pm.
Tuesday March 11th 2014:
I awoke to a gorgeous spring desert morning. Temps while in the sun where perfect long sleeve conditions with a light breeze. However, move in to the shade and the temperature combined with that light breeze was down right cold.
First up was Toe Jam (5.7) at Hidden Valley Campground. This was a warm up route for both of us and it was over before it got good!
Next up was the famous route Sail Away (5.8) at the Real Hidden Valley. Without a doubt this was a super classic route and for good reason. It was solid for the grade and just amazingly fun!
The second half of the day was spent over at the Hemingway Buttress climbing Prepackaged (5.10a) and White Lightning (5.7). We finished the day over at Trash Can Rock but found nothing of interest there and called it a day.
Wednesday March 12th 2014:
We awoke to another stellar day however the breeze was blowing a little stronger and it was decided to try to stick to routes in the sun.
First up was a drive over to the Split Rock region to climb Invisibility Lessons (5.9) for some reason. Ivy had been wanting to jump on this route for some time so we took a look. After a very strong lead by Ivy I followed. It was incredibly stout and to say I hung on the rope is an understatement.
We then did a little hiking around the Split Rock region just to warm up from being in the shade for too long.
Our second half of the day was spend over in the Lost Horse Region climbing the classic Dappled Mare (5.8) a 3 pitch climb in the SUN! I got to say, I really enjoyed this climb and the downward traverse on the second pitch was not as bad as I though it would be. The views from the top were just amazing! I really enjoy the contrasting tan rocks to the deep blue sky mixed with Joshua tree forests.
This place is just amazing and I very excited to many many trip back in the Winter/Spring 2015!
