Moving On: From Yosemite to J-Tree

After Shaun and Ben headed out last Sunday, I took Monday off, and did a lot of laying around in the sun and reading. Tuesday, I hooked up with Hannah, who I had climbed with once before and we climbed the regular route up Higher Cathedral Spire. The route is 5 pitches long, with three 5.9 pitches (all pretty short cruxes), is a lot of fun, and reaches a really fantastic summit, with amazing views. My camp-mates, Dominic and Evelyn were just ahead of us on the climb.

Dominic on the third pitch of Higher Cathedral Spire

Hannah on 4^th pitch of Higher Cathedral Spire

Looking down on Hannah at the 4^th pitch belay of Higher Cathedral Spire

Hannah and Me on top of Higher Cathedral Spire, El Cap in the background

El Cap from the top of Higher Cathedral Spire

After the climb, Hannah and I cashed in the free dinner I won in the Yosemite Facelift raffle. The steaks were amazingly delicious...perfectly cooked and deliciously tender. Maybe I should have taken pictures of my dinner. :-) All in all, it was a great finish to a fabulous day.

Wednesday, I packed up my stuff and, by about 1:00, was on the road again. I drove to Bakersfield, CA, where I stopped to do laundry, stock up on supplies and "camp" in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Thursday, I drove the rest of the way into Joshua Tree National Park, and got a campsite at the Hidden Valley campground. I met a guy named Kevin who had a site a few down from mine, who I ended up climbing with the next day.

Welcome to Joshua Tree National Park - View from my campsite

Kevin, his friend Jose, and I went out to Echo Rock (a short distance from Hidden Valley), and I led Stichter Quits a.k.a. Black Tide (5.7), a nice, somewhat run-out (4 bolts in about 100') slab climb. It was fun...slightly heady, but fun. About the time we got down, Kevin's friend, Dave, showed up. Dave led several harder climbs, and I top-roped a couple of them. The highlight was Heart and Sole (5.10b). This was a super fun climb.

Heart and Sole goes up the slab under the roof, around the roof on the right, then back left above the roof and up the flake. Super cool route!

We headed back to the campground for a bit, then Kevin, Dave and I did a couple more routes, Papa Woolsey (5.10b) and Double Cross ("5.7+"). Papa Woolsey is a tricky face climb...slick rock and small edges. Double Cross is a beautiful hand crack with a tricky start that feels more like a solid 5.8.

Me on Double Cross (“5.7+”)

Friday night, Kevin headed home and Dave's family and some other friends of his and their families came in. I hung out with them some in the evening. They were cool folks. I ended up sharing my campsite with a guy named Isak who is in the area doing outdoor education work. Another guy, Walker, came by, and I made plans to climb with him on Saturday.

Saturday morning, I was late showing up to climb with Walker, so he ended up heading out with another friend of his who he had run into to climb. Meanwhile, Isak's friend who he was supposed to climb with didn't show up, so I ended up climbing with him. Funny how things work out. :-) We did a few routes in the campground area, waiting to see if his friend would show up. Eventually, she did, along with four other outdoor ed people. The lot of us went out to Rock Garden Valley, got a few climbs in, and saw a lovely sunset.

On top of Intersection Rock

Sunset from the top of Young Lust (5.8+) in Rock Garden Valley

Today, I climbed with Walker and we got four excellent routes in before he headed back to LA.

Route List for 10/6-11:

• Higher Cathedral Spire Regular Route (5 pitches, 5.9, Trad) (Led pitches 1 and 5, hung on pitch 2)
• Stichter Quits (a.k.a. Black Tide) (5.7) (onsight)
• Heart and Sole (5.10b) (TR)
• Falcon and The Snowman (5.10d) (TR)
• Papa Woolsie (5.10b) (TR)
• Double Cross ("5.7+", Trad) (TR clean)
• Toe Jam (5.7, Trad) (Onsight)
• Overhang Bypass (5.7, Trad) (TR clean)
• Upper Right Ski Track (5.3, Trad) (Onsight)
• Double Dog Leg (5.7, Trad) (TR clean)
• Young Lust (5.8+, Trad) (Onsight)
• Pope's Crack (5.9, Trad) (TR clean)
• Bambi Meets Godzilla (5.8+, Trad) (Onsight)
• Effigy Too (5.10 a/b, Trad) (TR clean)
• The Flue (5.8, Trad) (Onsight)