Taquitz

Well, I never did get my Joshua Tree post done. I got back from the trip and got laid-off the first day I was back at work, which got me a bit off track. Needless to say, the trip was unbelievable. Perfect weather for climbing, but a bit cold at night. I even had to get up at 4am one night and get in the car to warm up. The trip culminated with me leading Toe Jam (5.7)... I got a sweet video of it.

After being laid-off, I got into the gym about 4 days a week and started to get strong, but eventually my money started running short, so I had to move back home to So Cal and get back to work. This is good for my bank account, but bad for my climbing. I don't have a gym very close, but on the up side, I do have a beach 5 minutes down the road.

A little over a month after I was back in Cali, Hugo came down for a trip to JTree with me, but with temps in the 90's... we opted for Taquitz instead. We had a great trip with a couple hick ups, but fun none-the-less. The weather was really cold, so we decided to head to JTree on Sunday after all, but ended up getting hailed on in the desert in May... go figure.

I met Chris in the parking lot at Taquitz when I was there with Hugo, and we ended up exchanging numbers and got back out there 3 weeks later. We met at his house on a Sunday morning at 5:50, which required me leaving my house at 4:30am... ouch. We got up to the rock about 8am and were on Left Ski Track to begin with. It was a sweet climb, with almost vertical terrain, but never left you looking for a hold... they were plentiful. I led the first pitch which went quickly. He led the second pitch and did the "step around" move which really got your attention. I'm glad I was following the first time on that one. I led the third pitch after that which was pretty easy accept for one move above a bolt, which was all friction and had me thinking. Then a traverse to a tree ended the first climb. Then we scrambled up and around the back to the down climb. The book said it can be tough to find the first time... that's for sure.

Next we were going to do Finger Trip, but it was full with two parties waiting, so we jumped on Jensen's Jaunt instead. The book only gave it one star, but I have to say it seemed much more fun than that. He led the first short pitch, then I got the money pitch of the climb, a fun splitter crack with plenty of pro. Chris was up next and as luck had it, he got another "step around" move that was super exposed. He styled it and quickly finished off. I finished the last pitch, and didn't do the off width finish, instead I climbed out onto the face and took the easy route, although the pro on the face was weak at best. Another scramble up and down climb back to our gear to finish off the day.

We got a great coffee in a shop in town and headed home to get a burger. A few minutes out of town, we were talking about the day, when all the sudden, out jumps a doe... slam, crash, tumble... shake off and then she ran into the bush! Crazy... no damage to the car and I didn't even spill my coffee. My first deer encounter, hopefully my last as well. We ended with a great bacon cheeseburger and off I went on my long drive home. It felt great to be climbing again. (Sorry no pictures, I lost my cable to DL my photos off the camera in my move. I need to get another one...)