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| Taking a Photo at Bilbo Buttress |
The morning after Christmas I hopped back in the Car and went for a 3 day rock climbing trip in Joshua Tree National Park.
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| The road to the campsite at Indian Cove |
" But only the frame of time and space,
An empty floor, a vacant wall,
And on that blank no line to trace
Movement if we moved at all. "
Excerpt from The Voyage by Edwin Muir
It started a few months ago when a few of my friends from the rock climbing gym indicated that they were going to go to Joshua Tree for an outdoor rock climbing trip. I just felt so comfortable and excited by the prospect that I invited myself on the trip. Sure, things got hairy a few weeks ago when I hurt my rotators cuffs and cut my overall arm strength by half. They convinced me that it would be fine anyway just to go and check it out.
Getting a reservation in Indian Cove is quite difficult. Joshua Tree is a popular destination, especially during the winter, and Indian Cove is one of the few spots where you can get a reservation. Most other places are first come/first serve and it can be quite a gamble driving 3 hours out of San Diego just to not get a spot. Scott knew a guy who made a three day reservation and this whole group tagged along under that pretense. But, sometimes groups get flakey, and Scott and I got along almost the entire trip without seeing anyone else. We had an entire two campsites to ourselves when we were prepared to cram in just under the space limit by sharing a two man tent.
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| The bathroom amenities. This is not the Ritz. |
We embark from San Diego at 9am December 26th 2013, arriving in Indian Cove at 12 noon. Scott doesn't yet feel comfortable having me lead belay him to set up a toprope so we checked out some bouldering problems. His plan was to wait for some more experienced, less injured climbers from our group to show up. The rock was hard, textured, and abrasive. It was hell on my hands. The first boulder I climbed tore a little hole of skin off my right middle finger.
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| The first bouldering problem |
Dinner, a long campfire, and sleeping bag padded sleep quickly followed.
The evening was cold, and two or three nights during the night I felt myself shiver in my zero degree sleeping bag despite wearing my sweats.
December 27th 2013
Scotts Camping gear is amazing and extensive. Not only did he have multiple pads that made camping more comfortable than it had any right to be, but he had plastic origami cups that laid flat and a jet boil that boiled our water for breakfast.
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| Origami Cups and Jetboil. |
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| Breakfast Oatmeal! |
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| The Campsite! |
Our campsite at lot 98 was right next to Apparition Wall. Scott really got to use his Jammies, but we decided that 5.10 crack would be too hard on the hands I already beat up on boulders the day before.
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Crack 69 on Spider Wall about 70 feet right of momma spider
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So we went over to a face behind campsite 71 about 70 feet right of Momma Spider on Spider Wall called "Crack 69". We thought the numbering was incorrect for a long time before we realized that crack 69 was on the opposite side of the mountain as campsite 69. The people that named it must have climbed the face on the Camp 69 side then crack climbed down "crack 69" on the camp 71 side. Or maybe they just wanted to name that crack something a tad bit naughty. Scott felt comfortable leading a 5.5 (of course) and we practiced the 5.5s to 5.9s from the toprope. I felt pretty proud of myself because there was a friction portion of this climb. As a gym climber, I relish the friction climbs when I can because that is one thing you only get to practice outside.
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| Scott Checking out the Vogel Rock Climbing Guide |
We then headed over to the Southface of campfire wall to a climb called "The Picnic". It was a 5.6 with some challenging footholds. If you are scoffing at the ease of these climbs, remember that you have to start somewhere, and I am recovering from injury. I also needed to build my confidence outdoors. Its hard to tackle a 5.9 outdoors when you've never finished a climb without falling. Scott in the meantime was daring himself to attack this 5.11 and then decided not to.
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| Campfire Wall |
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| Base camp at Campfire Crag |
For lunch we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Bread always makes me want to take a nap, so I was always sluggish after lunch.
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| The camp at noon |
We had dinner at a resturant called Red Lotus for dinner in 29 Palms. It was less cold this evening than the evening before. Regardless, I wore a cashmere sweater to bed under my UCSD sweatshirt. I left the sleeping bag partially unzipped, and I stayed toasty throughout the night.
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| The Road from Indian Cove to 29 Palms |
December 28th 2013
We woke up, broke down camp, and headed out to climb with the intention of just driving back home by the time we were ready for lunch.
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| Packed up camp and loaded in the car. |
The first face we went to was Bilbo Buttress where I climbed the huge handcrack Debbie Does Donuts (5.6) with extensive tape gloves and Scott did Val De Mello (5.10b). You can tell at this point that I am really walking up the point scale.
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| Selfie at the Base of Bilbo Buttress while Scott Rappells. |
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One Good Selfie deserves another, at Bilbo Buttress
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| Bilbo Buttress. Debbie Does Donuts is right over the lip of that front mound. |
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| Scott Rappelling Down Bilbo Buttress |
Then we finally made it to Jamies Rock out behind Group Campsite #1. You see, I wanted to do this route because there was a 5.9 with a 5.7 variant called Easter Overflow. That resolution is just perfect for me. It turned out to be amazing because after a few false starts, I was able to do the 5.9 just fine. You know, since it was a 5.9 start and a 5.7 end, it might be safer just to call this route a 5.8. I'll get on vogel right away about that.
We left midday without ever catching up with Scotts friends.
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| Scott at Jamies Rock |
In Summary....
This trip was fruitful. I climbed 4 routes successfully on my very first trip to Joshua Tree. I also did some challenging rappels and learned how to break down a sport anchor setup. Scott also gave me dome demonstrations on how to setup an anchor without bolts.
I am totally excited about the idea of doing this again. Climbing indoors is no substitute for climbing outdoors, and now that I've gone outdoors, I realize that hitting real rock is the end goal.
