Joshua Tree Halloween

I went out to Joshua Tree with Chrissy and met Tim in a parking lot outside the park. No camping accept Jumbo Rocks and not many sites there. A quick set up at 12:45am or so and then a few beers before crashing.

First we hit Echo Cove. The plan was to climb some easy routes and set up a TR for Chrissy. I led Chute Up(5.2) and couldn't set up a TR due to the angle and nature of the climb, the rope was getting stuck. Tim led Helix(5.2) and set up a TR on The Sound Of One Shoe Tapping (5.8) and W.A.C. (5.8) and I did both. The were slab face climbs and pretty stout. Climbing these hurt Chrissy's bad ankle, so we headed to Atlantis Wall in the Lost Horse Area. I led Solar Technology (5.6) and Tim led Men With Cows Heads (5.5), both fun routes that were mostly face climbs with cracks to use for Pro. We bit Tim farewell and headed back to get the fire and beers going. After discovering a mouse got into the great apple pie we left on the table, we made a fire and had pasta for dinner. Bed early to get ready for more climbing.

Sunday we ate and packed up, then headed to Trash Can Rock. I led B-1 (5.1), which is funny because of the sand bagged nature of the ratings there. Chrissy made it up, and then we had a fun JTree scramble off the rock. I then led Walkway (5.4R), which had an unprotected crux about 10 feet off the ground. The move was fun and the climb went easy. Chrissy made it up without issue and I lowered her down to spare her the walk off. Chrissy's ankle was done, so I led Tiptoe (5.7+) which got 2 stars in the book. It was a face slab climb with one place for a tiny cam, then 3 bolts. It was thin and challenging, but I sent it in style. After that we packed up and headed home. Another great trip to my favorite climbing destination.

(pic to follow...)