By the second week of January Wes, Ann and most of our MN friends’ vacation times were up and they all returned home. Kyle and I were still excited to spend time in Joshua Tree so we stayed. Along with us were Jake and Kat. We met them climbing back in MN where we used to boulder at a gym together and occasionally run into each other at outdoor crags. Jake and Kat were living out of their van as well.
To split camping costs, we shared campsites. Most nights before this Kyle and I stayed on public lands for free. Joshua Tree National Park has several campgrounds and is so large, it made sense to stay in the park rather than drive in and out for miles each day.
Most mornings went like this: Wake up, make coffee, go outside for yoga and stretching. Then we’d make breakfast and head over to see what Jake and Kat were up to. Some days we would climb together, other days we’d go our separate ways and hang out in the evenings. Jake and Kat were big on bouldering so they inevitably talked Kyle and I into joining them on a few outings.
Kyle and I normally rope climbed outdoors and had only bouldered outside occasionally. Joshua Tree is littered with boulders and some days were particularly windy so we were more than happy to stay closer to the ground.
Bouldering
One particularly windy day Jake, Kat, Kyle and I walked with bouldering pads through the desert to the Satellite boulder. It was a taller boulder with a few bigger moves that Jake and Kyle were excited to try. Luckily there was a wonderful traverse problem right next to this. Kat and I set up pads on the traverse and got to work. We took turns figuring out the hand and foothold sequences. Once the guys tackled their problem, they came over to see what we were working on. The traverse was particularly deceiving. It looked harmless but the handholds were tiny crimps and the footholds were below you and a bit undercut so hard to see. We all had fun taking turns and making progress!
One morning Kyle and I tried our hand at the classic Pig Pen boulder. The problem starts in a crack underneath the boulder, like a mini roof problem. Kyle and I both attempted the start under the boulder a few times and it was incredibly difficult. Finally I gave up and started the problem from the vertical section on; it was still incredibly difficult. Together we figured out some sequences and were able to string a few moves together. It is not often you find a crack climbing boulder problem. Most boulder problems feature dynamic, big movements on face-holds. This problem called for crack climbing technique.
We rounded off our climbing in Joshua Tree National Park with bouldering on the classic problem ‘Gunsmoke’. Gunsmoke is a 60 foot traverse, long, low-ish to the ground and very fun! Kyle and I both got our personal bests. If we were to return to Joshua Tree, this is one of the first climbs I would hop on.