Joshua Tree - Part Two (The Storm)

Continuing on the meeting people groove, I met Kevin and Kim and did my first couple climbs in the park. Kevin led the classic hand crack Double Cross (5.7+) and then I led Orphan (5.9) which started with stemming, then went from a finger crack all the way to a pretty nice offwidth/flare. Good times.

I climbed with a new partner just about every day, doing routes like Super Roof (5.9),The Flue (5.8+), and Pigpen (V4).

Also saw some folks set up a highline between two formations; I got this cool shot from below.



Then came this sunset, foretelling some pretty nasty weather...



And the rain started to come down. And kept going...and did not stop for nearly a week. My new friend Joel and myself hid in our Kiwi friend Diane's tent for the first two days, but when we were told the system was going to last for at least a few more days, all three of us got a ride out of the park and rented a motel room for a couple nights. By the time the rain stopped, it had rained more than it had in the past FIVE YEARS. Pretty intense.



It had snowed in the park! Still a bit of clouds...but then they cleared!



And then it started snowing again. Joel and I hid in a cave. Better not to get too excited yet.



With the next couple days showing some promising weather, Joel and I gave our best shot at routes like Fisticuffs (5.10b), a burly overhanging fist crack, and O'Kelley's Crack (5.10c), which had everything from finger jamming to wide hand jamming. I onsighted the first, but we fell our way up O'Kelley's...and every inch of it was 4-star material.

While we felt a little worn the next day, we decided to hitch a ride out to Geology Tour Road, where 4-5 routes in the guidebook had caught our interest. We met a couple from Vermont, Hilary and Brad, and convinced them it would be a great place to go climbing! Also, to please give us a ride.

We managed 4 routes that day: warmed up on Thumbs Down Left (5.9), then Joel led a wonderful stemming corner called Lightsabre (5.10b). I was up next, groveling my way up Between a Rock and a Hard Place (5.10b), which involved one of the most grueling exit moves I have ever done; a bit like squeezing through a vertical drainpipe with nothing to pull on with your hands or push on with your feet.

We finished up on the imposing Centurion (5.10d)...or more accurately, it finished us up. We were both extremely tired by this point and flailed quite a bit. I had an exciting moment: when halfway up the route, with no more cams to place, all the rest of my cams flipped sideways and were rendered useless. Joel had a hell of a time cleaning them, too, as the rope was pushing them deeper and deeper into the crack.