March 11-15: Joshua Tree with A&M

After months of anticipation, it was finally time to meet A&M for a few days of climbing in Joshua Tree. We had a loud reunion at the climbing shop (apologies to the hearing of the other folks in the store) then headed into Yucca Valley for grocery shopping and dinner. Dollar Taco Night was a delicious way to start the vacation.

After consuming a hearty breakfast, we met our guide Seth from Cliffhanger Guides to get the climbing day started. We began with three routes on the west face of Sports Challenge Rock then got on two more routes on Turtle Rock before lunch, a fine way to start the day. In other exciting Turtle Rock area news, the bathrooms had a much less horrid odor coming from them than they did in January when D, S and I climbed there. We climbed the three-pitch Wandering Tortoise - a fun, easy route with a couple of opportunities to get close to your climbing partners on belay and rappel ledges, ending with a long rappel (close to the full length of a 60 rope) to get back to the bottom. Our last route of the day took us back up the path we just rappelled. The bad news was, it was long. The good news was, it got easier as the route got higher. Unfortunately, it started with a fairly tough move for short people, and I whacked my leg pretty good trying to get on – it was a three bandaid repair job! Eventually, I got on and up.

All that climbing worked up a pretty stout appetite, so our next stop was The Rib Co over in 29 Palms for burgers and peach cobbler a la mode. Mmmm.

Wednesday was sent exploring the park, mainly by car, as the temps pushed into the 80’s. We checked out various climbing and camping areas and the visitor’s center in 29 Palms. We wanted to go to the Cholla Garden, but the road was under maintenance, so we headed into town to so a little shopping instead. Found a nice purple winter cap at Coyote Corner that I didn’t need because a) it was 80 degrees outside and b) I have a ton of hats already, but since none of them are purple, I bought it. I did not buy the “bear backpack,” as even I have my limits, but my bear would be way cuter than your child in it :-)

We ate dinner at Pie for the People, where M gave her approval to the NY-ness of their New York Style pizza.

Our first stop on Thursday morning wasSantana’s for the California breakfast burrito, a delicious concoction of eggs, cheese, pico, bacon, guac and, yes, French fries. (FYI, the guac is an add-on, but completely worth it.) Fabulous. We made some purchases from the vending machines on our way out.

Given the forecast, which called for sunny and highs into the 80’s, we decided to chase shade. Given that likely everyone else in the park would have the same idea, we headed a bit off the beaten path, climbing three routes in each of the Belle’s and Sheep’s Pass campground areas. Someone who was staying or had recently stayed in the Sheep’s Pass campground decided to leave the latrine better than she found it.

There was time for one last climb on our way out. (Chalk one up for scheduling the trip during daylight savings time.) We scampered up The Eye and took in the view before walking off the back.

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After one last California breakfast burrito, I said goodbye to A&M as they headed back to Chicago and I got on the road to head east to meet D&S, who planned a last-minute trip to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Driving roughly 1500 miles in three days isn’t exactly my idea of a good time, but it’s worth it to climb with friends.

March 4-11: Heading West Again

I packed up camp Monday morning and started heading west. I still had a week to drive the roughly 1300 miles to Joshua Tree, where my friends A and M would be meeting me the following Monday, but decided to knock off a big chunk by driving to El Paso. Given how strong the headwind/crosswind was that day, perhaps a shorter drive would have been a better idea, because my gas mileage took about a 7mpg hit. Ouch! Talk about pain at the pump! I guess the good news is I didn’t have a leak in my gas tank.

Drove to Catalina State Park outside of Tucson late Tuesday morning. I had hoped to arrive during daylight, but there was a detour, so I got to practice putting the tent up in the dark; I did well. It's definitely easier to put up the tent the warmer it is, since the poles and tent aren't as stiff.

There were a number of friendly and interesting people at the campground to pass the time with, including:

• On the verge of retirement couple who were traveling via motorcyle
• Young couple from Vermont on spring break
• Local guy who played music (drums and flutes) and his friend from BC
• Guy traveling via bicycle
• Guy from Maine

I took a break form driving and explored the park on Wednesday. In the morning, I joined the ranger tour of the Romero Ruins, covering the archeology of the area, which was a large Hohokam village until roughly 1450. In the afternoon, I hiked to the Romero Pools and pack, a nice 5.5 mile trip, albeit a bit hot in the sun with the temps in the 80's. I was glad I decided to change into shorts! I enjoyed a post-hike drumstick at the little shop at the trailhead. Quite refreshing.

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Packed up camp on Thursday morning and headed to Phoenix for some routine maintenance on the car, gym climbing and a hotel room to watch Person of Interest. I made the last leg of the journey west on Friday, arriving in Joshua Tree in the late afternoon. Saw a rainbow as I was driving in and had to stop and take a picture, which unfortunately didn't turn out as well as I had wanted.

There were a lot more people at the Joshua Tree Lake Campground this time, what with spring break and much warmer temps. It was not fun putting the tent up in the windy conditions, but I managed.

Climbing conditions weren't great on Saturday morning thanks to the wind, but R, who was looking for partners on MP, and I decided to give it a shot. We got up three routes on Trashcan Rock before calling it quits for the day when the wind picked up and the sun went behind a cloud. I had hoped to do some hiking on Sunday, but the wind was really too much. I explored the park via car, driving up to Keys View and exploring the Geology Road. 

The tent bit me as I put it away on Monday morning. I guess I should be grateful that the tent didn't bite me when it was windy and/or rainy. 

After applying first aid (that thing bled for a while), I finished packing up and met R for some climbing before my friends arrived from Chicago. The weather was much nicer on Monday, sunny with calm winds. After trying one route on Playhouse and deciding that perhaps the guidebook had underrated the climb, we moved over to Beck's Bear. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the somewhat nearby rap rings, so there was no quick ride back down. We made it safely down the rock, but it was time for me to depart to meet my friends A&M, who had flown in that morning from Chicago. Our planned in October trip was finally happening!

March 1-3: Reimer’s Ranch

The Houston Rock Climbing Meetup scheduled an outing to Reimer’s Ranch for the weekend, so I decided to join them. I arrived at the campground (Pace Bend Park) a day early and explored their biking trails. I was able to secure a spot in the improved campground area, which has showers, water and electricity - nice amenities given that I was going to be there until Monday.  I headed into town to get some groceries, but managed to avoid buying the bacon jam.

The Houston group got on the road later than expected, so I climbed with the Austin Meetup for a bit. The upside of starting a little later was that the wall cleared out a bit, so we were able to get on a lot of routes in very little time. It also helped that the routes were only like 30 feet long. I led something for the first time since my King’s Bluff trip in December, a 5.7 on the Dead Cats wall. I got on five or six climbs before the sun started going down and we had to leave for the day. After the Houston folks set up their tents, we headed out to dinner. One dinner turned out not to be enough for one member of the group. So after he polished off his burger and fries, he got a “dessert” of two chili dogs. Very impressive. A burn ban was in effect, so instead of hanging around the campfire for the rest of the evening, we hang around a propane heater. I would have liked to have fallen asleep at midnight, but off in the distance were the sounds of what sounded like boot camp, as someone barked out “1-2-3-1, 1-2-3-2, 1-2-3-3, etc” and screamed at the “melon farmers” (except they didn’t say melon farmers). I guess it would have been annoying if it hadn’t been so odd.

Fueled by breakfast tacos, we headed over to Reimer’s for another day of climbing and fun, this time at the Middle Earth Wall in the north shore area. I lost track of how many climbs I did, but I think it was six. All I remember is I did a lot of climbing and I had a lot of fun hanging out with the group. It was a great start to the month of March.

Feb 21-28: Visiting friends in DC

Took a break from driving and used some of the many frequent flyer miles I accumulated doing my old job to fly to DC, for a week of hanging out with my friend J, doing a little sightseeing and enjoying a week of living indoors. This was the first time I had been on a plane since the beginning of December, probably my longest streak of not flying since 1996. After a slight delay in Houston (replace a computer on the plane) and a longer one in DC (track problems on the Metro), I eventually reached my friend’s house. Her place is really nice, and I’m not just saying that because any place with indoor plumbing seems nice to me. Regarding the Metro, I recall riding it in college on some trip and we were impressed at how much cleaner it was than the T in Boston; those same cars almost 25 years later aren’t looking quite as fresh.

Friday was a lazy day, as we hung out at the house. We ordered Chinese for dinner, but when it arrived, we could not tell the Orange chicken and General Tsou’s chicken apart, but it’s possible they just sent two of the same dish. Whatever it was, it was tasty.

Saturday featured lousy weather, overcast and rainy, but I managed to get off my butt and go running for the first time since the half marathon. It felt pretty good. J and I walked down to Horace and Dickie’s to pick up some dinner, and the line out the door indicated we made a good choice. For the record, the fish platter is more than enough food for two people. Their website listed a Custard Bean Pie as one of the desserts, so we decided to try that. It turns out that a very tasty way to eat navy beans is to combine them with sugar, eggs, flour and such to make a pie.

Sunday was beautiful, perfect for seeing some of the sights. We went the FDR and Jefferson Memorials. Afterward, I introduced J to the fabulousness of Nando’s. Mmmm. I just wish they were all over the US instead of just in the DC area. Peri-peri fries dipped in peri-peri sauce. Mmmm again.

While J went to work, I went sightseeing on Monday. I rented a bike from Capital Bikeshare  and headed to the mall for a bit before meeting my friend D for lunch. (A tasty veggie naanwich.) Resumed sightseeing in the afternoon with the WWII, Korean War, Lincoln and Vietnam memorials.

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After two beautiful days, the rain returned on Tuesday. I managed to finish my run before the rain came, as it started sprinkling just as I was finishing. Headed out to the climbing gym for an afternoon workout, then met J for dinner. The weather was nice again on Wednesday, so I did more biking around the city to see the sights and to meet friends for meals, H for lunch and D and S, who had flown into town for an interview, for dinner.

Caught an early morning flight back to Houston (thanks, J, for the ride to the airport) and realized I had no idea where I parked my car. Fortunately, once we got to the lot, I recognized where I it. It certainly helped that the place wasn’t totally packed and my car has a roof box on it.  After fueling up with a tasty meal at Waffle House, I stopped by the Texas Rock Gym for some bouldering before making the drive west to the Austin area, where I would be meeting some people that weekend to climb at Reimer’s Ranch.