Joshua Tree Nov 2016 Part 2

So none of the climbs quite resonated with me like they should have. I used to be super psyched to have climbed a 5.9 in Joshua Tree (the land of the sandbagged ratings). Now it feels like I should go back and lead it for it to be meaningful. People really grow in different ways, don’t they? Objectives change, people deciding what makes happy changes.

That being said, my favorite route in the Cathouse was Hello Kitty. It felt like there were always jugs for your hands when you wanted one, and all the feet were balancey and sketch. It was a good climb, and what it turned out to be the highest difficulty rating that we climbed the whole trip.

We went over with my bouldering pad to check out the JBMFP bouldering area. The sun was quickly setting but I managed to pick out and climb the worst climb in the entire park: Pig Fucker (V1). I dutifully ripped just a little bit of skin off of my right hand, enough to make me decide I should reevaulate how much moonlight bouldering I wanted to do. It took me a folded up bouldering pad, but I also was able to climb Unnamed route (V0) on the Yabo Roof Rock as well as a twofer.

That evening we slept in the dry lake bed in BLM Land where we made Pasta with meat sauce and polished off a whole bottle of Jack Daniels.

We set up a tent this night because of the forecast of rain (in the desert!). This is the first time I slept in a tent in the last 6 times I went camping.  It turned out to be quite nice. The tent kept in the warmth, kept out the dust, the rain, and wild coyotes. I don’t know if I would set up the tent every time, but it was fun this time.

The next morning we made onion breakfast burritos. We had a ton of onion left over, and with the end of the trip looming, we decided to bite the bullet on that one.  Kai headed home, and Robin and I headed back to the JBMFP area where we scouted out False Up 20 the day before.

I climbed the downroute (I even placed two cams to protect it), and set up the route on top rope for us. It turned out to be a super clean line. I was really excited to be able to squeeze in a super classic. It took a little bit of skin off my right ankle, but that just adds more fuel to the flame when it comes to buying high top climbing shoes. I failed a few times on the lieback, but it felt right when I got it. That was one of my favorite routes of the trip, maybe because I set it up.

Then we headed over to Mikes Books (5.6) which Robin led. It was easy, it felt safe, and it was long enough to take my entire 60m rope. It was a perfect route to end the trip with.

I can’t wait to go back to Joshua Tree, if not just to get onto Double Cross. I’m not sure when. The next 5 weeks is going to be a flurry of thanksgiving, finals, trip planning, and finally my trip to Thailand.

Routes we Climbed:

Fat cats (5.7) (Cathouse area)
 Siamese (5.8) (Cathouse area)
Chicken Pox Leave Bad Scars (5.8) (Cathouse area)
Nine Lives (5.8) (Cathouse area)
Hello Kitty (5.9+) (Cathouse area)
Pig Fucker (V1) (JBMFP Bouldering Area
Unnamed (V0) (JBMFP Bouldering Area) (On the Yabo Roof rock)

The second day we climbed

False up 20(5.9) (JBMFP Bouldering Area)
Mikes books (Intersection Rock)
Descent route (V-easy) (JBMFP Bouldering Area)