Joshua Tree Quickie | chossclimbers.com

Illusion Dweller.

Shirley’s company event and a stay in an uncharacteristically posh (for us) resort. People watching at the hotel: khaki shorts and paunches; screaming little banshees; baseball caps and polo shirts; golf playing and gambling…one man’s idea of middle class nirvana is someone else’s hell on earth. Over the course of 4 days, we do manage to eke out about a day and a half of climbing in JTree. For all my bitching about the lameness of the place, we somehow have a ton of fun every time we go. This time we climb Count On Your Fingers (5.9, ho-hum), Illusion Dweller (10b, excellent), North Overhang on Intersection Rock (5.9, 2 pitches – don’t let the looks of it from the road fool you – it’s not that good), Solid Gold (2 pitches of “10a” excellence in a small package), and Loose Lady (fun 5.9 pitch). All the hits of this outing were recommend by our friend Andrew and we should not have deviated from that list.

Pics

Starting up our first JTree route of the year, Count On Your Fingers (5.9) in the Real Hidden Valley (Jan. 2016).

Higher on the same pitch (Jan. 2016).

Real Hidden Valley from top of Count On Your Fingers pitch (Jan. 2016).

Shirley topping out on Count On Your Fingers – last move is the crux on an otherwise 5.7 route (Jan. 2016).

Top of Count On Your Fingers with the splendor of Real Hidden Valley…not Mali, but it’ll do for a weekend (Jan. 2016).

The Sentinel formation – home of the classic Illusion Dweller route (Jan. 2016).

Starting up the beautiful Illusion Dweller (5.10b) on The Sentinel in Real Hidden Valley (Jan. 2016).

Illusion Dweller.

Shirley low on the Illusion Dweller pitch (Jan. 2016).

Shirley about midway up (Jan. 2016).

Illusion Dweller.

Although the invite from Shirley’s colleagues to go play golf, watch the game, and do a bit of gambling sounded incredibly exciting, we nevertheless ended up in JTree for a ½ day.

Into the short crux near the top of Illusion Dweller (Jan. 2016).

Shirley at the belay anchor of Illusion Dweller (Jan. 2016).

Views of Joshua Tree on the hike out from Real Hidden Valley (Jan. 2016).

Unknown climbers on North Overhang (P2) on Intersection Rock (Jan. 2016).

Close-up of the leader on the crux moves (Jan. 2016).

Same party topping out on North Overhang (Jan. 2016).

Leading pitch 1 of North Overhang on Intersection Rock (Jan. 2016).

Intersection Rock – wonder where it got its name?

The (only) 5.9 move on pitch 2 of North Overhang (Jan. 2016).

Shirley topping out on Intersection Rock (Jan. 2016).

On the hike to Solid Gold in Wonderland Of Rocks area (Jan. 2016).

Uncle Willie’s Health Food Store (Jan. 2016).

South Astro Dome from the approach to Solid Gold. That streak is not Solid Gold (it’s a 2-pitch 5.13a).

South Astro Dome and a cactus garden beneath the Don Juan Boulder (Jan 2016).

In the thin of it on pitch 1 of Solid Gold (Jan. 2016).

Past the technical crux (still facing the mental crux though) on Solid Gold (Jan. 2016).

More pitch 1 action.

Shirley on Solid Gold.

Blowing it at the last clip would probably feel about as long as that proposed Perth-London service on Qantas. Solid Gold – quality in a small package.

More Solid Gold action.

Thin edging.

Fun.

Views from pitch 1 of Solid Gold (Jan. 2016).

The 5.8ish mantle some ways out from the last bolt (Jan. 2016).

Shirley arriving at the first belay (Jan. 2016).

Starting up pitch 2 of Solid Gold. A very different flavor than pitch 1 – singular bouldery moves separated by perfect rest stances (and a fun slabby topout).

Looking back at Shirley from the lead of pitch 2 (Jan. 2016).

More pitch 2 fun.

Leading pitch 2 (Jan. 2016).

Shirley at the pitch 1 belay on Solid Gold (Jan. 2016).

Shirley on the summit of South Astro Dome (Jan. 2016).

Shirley hiking out past the Don Juan Boulder (Jan. 2016).

Shirley, Don Juan Boulder and South Astro Dome (Jan. 2016).

Hiking in to Houser Buttress in the Real Hidden Valley area (Jan. 2016).

Starting up Loose Lady (5.9+). It took me about 2 hours that day to properly select the climbing outfit – note how the colors of the shoes tie together the blue and and purple hues (the slight clash here is of course by design) of the jeans and t-shirt with the deep yellow tone of the undershirt. This does not “just happen”, OK?