After returning from the Heuco trip I was itching to get back out on another road trip. Fortunately, my good friend Jessica was looking for someone to go to Joshua Tree with her that weekend! After a day of deliberation, I was able to catch up on my school responsibilities and didn’t have work so I had no choice but to go.
We were also able to easily convince Tom and Mike, friends I had met in Hueco, who were in Tempe for some Cartel coffee, Four Peaks beer, and South Mountain bouldering, to join us! So thursday after class we drove to Joshua Tree (300 miles) and set up camp. We awoke to a brisk windy morning, cooked up some breakfast burritos on the camp stove, and set out to boulder.
Energy was high and after warming up we tackled some classic Joshua Tree problems such as “Stem Jem”, “Thin Lizzy”, and the “Bachar Crack of the Desert”. We weren’t expecting to do any crack climbing so our hands got a bit torn up from the overhanging hand and knuckle jams, but it received a majority vote as the favorite climb of the day! After a long day of bouldering, we met up with yet another good friend, Al, who we originally met climbing in January at J-Tree. We all got together for a fire and dinner that evening and went to bed happy and full hoping the forecast for snow in the morning would be wrong...
I woke up on the ground in the middle of the night to a cold persistent rain, and headed to the car for a dry but uncomfortable sleep. In the morning, I awoke to Joshua Trees doing dances, covered in snow and a frigid wind which offered us a perfect opportunity to go enjoy some coffee in town and warm our frozen and torn hands.
The weather looked bad for the rest of the day, so we made the decision to drive out to Vegas for the night (Al and his girlfriend had a place for us to stay) and climb at Red Rocks the next day! We made sure to hit the casino that night, with the intentions of winning money for new shoes, ropes, gear and crash pads... but better luck next time.
Red Rocks is incredible! The views are astonishing and the rock, an Aztec Sandstone, begs to be climbed and offers everything from big wall climbing, to sport climbing, and even bouldering! The big wall multi-pitch climbs looming in the distance were calling my name, but due to work and school obligations the next day, I could only gawk at them. We spent the day sport climbing at The Gallery which was amazing! Considering a night of drinking everyone was climbing strong and we got on some great routes such as a sweet bouldery line called “A Day in the Life”, and a beautiful overhanging line called “The Glitch” which was fulfilling and an awesome end to an incredible weekend of climbing!
We said goodbye to Tom and Mike until next time (hopefully soon) and cruised back effortlessly to Phoenix with thoughts of good friends and climbing on our minds.
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