As my friends were boarding their plane at Midway to fly
west, I was getting into my car to go the same direction. We would end up
arriving within five minutes of each other at the hotel that afternoon. The Hi
Desert Motel is still a fabulous dive, with actual keys for the room keys and a
“cleaned for your protection” paper band across the toilet seat. Throw in free wifi, fridge and
microwave in every room, and you’ve got a pretty good deal for $50ish a night. I mainly
booked a couple of nights in the hotel so I could watch “Person of Interest”
since it’s not a streamable show, but this week’s episode was a rerun! Oh well,
it was nice being in a place where the bathroom was attached to the living
quarters for a couple of days.
It was too late to climb on Thursday (the downside of
escaping the Chicago winter is that if you stay in the northern hemisphere,
the days are only warmer, not longer), but it was just the right time for some
dinner, which ended up being the garlic pizza at Pie for the People. Delicious.
Friday was a climbing day, but not before we loaded up with
a tasty breakfast at the Crossroads Café. The in-room fridge and microwave came
in handy, as my portion of eggs, potatoes, biscuits and veggie gravy was enough
for two meals. Having loaded our stomachs, we next loaded the car and drove
into Joshua Tree National Park. First stop, Echo Rock,
to do Double Dip. Next up was Stichter Quits, a
classic 5.7. While we were on that route, we had the distinct displeasure of
overhearing the conversation between the couple that hopped on Double Dip after us. He
was an experienced climber, she wasn’t. The fact that she didn’t even know how
to tie in didn’t stop him from deciding to climb the route. I guess the fact
the she said yes when he asked, “Do you know how to belay was enough.” They
were still alive when we left, though, thank goodness. Our last climb of the
day was The Sound of One Shoe Tapping, S’s first 5.8 lead in Joshua Tree.
Mexican food sounded good after a long day of climbing , so we stopped off at Santana’s afterward for nachos and other goodies. I
then spent the rest of the evening “doing my hair” (cut and bleach) while
watching a Cold Case marathon on TV. Exciting Friday night!
On Saturday, we decided to make the long (90 minutes-ish)
hike back to Mental Physics, a classic 5.7. We aren’t the world’s fastest
hikers, and a few stops to verify we were indeed on the right track added more
minutes to the journey. As we were getting close to the final scramble, we were
passed by a group of young, fast-moving climbers who beat us to the base of the
route. Given the size of the group, we decided to hike back rather than wait. A
bit of a bummer, but we explored the area as we journeyed back to the car. I took advantage of the early finish to set up my campsite (ah, light and warmth), then we tried scoping out some routes in the Rattlesnake Cove area (we were on the right path, but hadn't gone far enough). We had an early and delicious dinner at The Rib Co in 29 Palms - fabulous!
Petting Snoopy
We decided to beat the crowds on Sunday by climbing some routes in the shade. Cold, but we had them to ourselves. We all warmed up on Easy Day (well, we needed to move into the sun away from the climb to warm up fully), then climbed Give a Mouse a Cookie which was next to it. 5.4 to 5.10b was quite the jump, but we did it. S was feeling good and thought there was a sport route on the other side of the rock that looked like he could do. After confirming that it was indeed a 5.12b (Satanic Mechanic) he decided to give it a go anyway. It didn't go down, and was followed by an epic scramble, a lost leatherman and D getting attacked by the flora while belaying. We tried to find a more reasonable route once we were all back on the ground, but it was getting late and the rocks in the area were pretty packed, so we hopped on a couple of boulders in the Turtle Rock area to end the day.
The temps were nice on Monday, but since we opted to grab Walk on the Wild Side when it was still in the shade, we didn't benefit from the sun's warmth. S did a great job of leading, especially given that he could barely feel his fingers and toes. D and I followed, and the three of us shared a cramped anchor at the top as we tied both ropes together for the rappel. (The first pitch was quite enough, but someday, we will do all three pitches.) It was pretty late in the day by the time we all got back on the ground, hiked to the car and ate lunch. but we had just enough time to scamper up Southwest Corner on Headstone Rock. Only bummer of the day was that the restaurant was out of the apple pie we had been dreaming about all day for dessert. Well, that and the fact that D&S had to fly back to Chicago the next morning, but that was Tuesday's bummer. I had a great time hanging out and climbing with my friends and am looking forward to meeting up with other friends on this adventure.
Smiling after a great long weekend climbing
The Climbs
Friday
Double Dip 5.6
Stichter Quits 5.7
The Sound of One Shoe Tapping 5.8
Sunday
Easy Day 5.4 1st pitch
Give a Mouse a Cookie 5.10b 1st pitch
Monday
Walk on the Wild Side 5.8, 1st pitch
Southwest Corner 5.7
