Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Joshua Tree has a reputation as being one of the best places for rock climbing in the world. It is well deserved. We did a LOT of climbing while we were here, trying to take advantage of the amazing climbing, and we only just scratched the surface. There is a lifetime’s worth of climbing here.
B joined us again for a bit of climbing. We’re kinda jealous he’s living so close to this area and will be able to climb here as often as he wants! But we know there’s a lot of great climbing awaiting us in CO as well.
We went out to the Indian Cove area and climbed a route on Pixie Rock as the sun set.
We climbed a route up Intersection Rock in the Hidden Valley Campground area, climbing up to a ledge and then from there all the way to the top. From there we rappelled back down to the ledge and then on to the ground.
Quail Rocks was good for doing a little top-roping one day.
Finally, we climbed the multi-pitch Fote Hog route on The Sentinel in the Real Hidden Valley. This route had some crazy exposure on a traverse and an overhang that was pretty reachy even though it had great big holds. The rest was a very enjoyable route with amazing views. From the top we walked off the sloping south side and back to the base of the rock.
Here are some additional pictures of touring around the park:
The Joshua Trees are so neat. There were so many more than we expected, and there truly are “forests” of them. Some are pretty straight, with few branches. Others are full and large, having more of a normal tree shape with lots of branches. These are those that have bloomed often and thereafter branched. And others are just weird looking!
Barker Dam, built by cowboys to water their cattle:
San Andreas Fault Zone overlook (windy!):
