Ramblings of a Monkeygirl I laughed, I cried, I fell down…

Climbing, Crossroads, and Family – Joshua Tree Tweetup 2009

I've put off writing my Joshua Tree Tweetup trip report for a while now because I've been struggling to figure out how to convey just how amazing the trip was for me.  This last weekend, however, I put my down, puffy jacket into the wash, and  the smokey campfire smell that has permeated the fabric since the trip has disappeared.  I was saddened by this loss since the cozy smell could trigger so many happy memories, but I took it as a sign that I should sit down and put some words on the page...

Day 1, Wednesday  - Sail Away and Wild Wind

I'd gotten into Joshua Tree around 10:45pm on Tuesday night so once Eileen (@rockgrrl) and Kelly (@voden) rolled into the campsite after 11, and Eileen and I traded hugs, I opted to sleep in my car rather than set up a tent.  I woke up in my rental car a little disoriented and groggy around 6:30am on Wednesday. I slowly pulled myself from my cozy sleeping bag cocoon and tugged on the door handle while rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Immediately my car alarm started honking and hollering, "HELLOOOooOOo Joshua Tree!! I am here!"  Crud. No, not the smoothest of morning introductions to this serene desert landscape.  Ah well, at least I was fully awake and alert.  After a little breakfast and profuse apologies to Eileen and Kelly for my morning serenade, Eileen and I set off for Ryan Campground to wrangle some campsites for the large group we were anticipating.  Luck, it seemed, was on our side, and we managed to find 4 sites right next to each other that gave us a large swath of desert wrapped around the base of a rock formation to call our "home" for the next 5 days.

Eileen and I met up with Kelly and their friend, Rhesa, and headed over to Hidden Tower in the Real Hidden Valley area.  Other than wanting to try Loose Lady, I had not put together any tick list for this trip because I knew our climbing locations were going to be up in the air with all the people showing up.  My only plan was to start on an some easy 5.6s since I had been told repeatedly that Jtree was famous for sandbagged ratings.  So, of course, the first thing I did after being introduced to Eileen's friend, Matt, was to have him belay me as I led Sail Away, a "classic" Jtree 5.8.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the route was a cruise and had a blast with the perfect hand jams.  Had I known it was the "thing" to do, I'd have led it entirely with nuts, as Matt did after I came down. We were joined by Darren (@dloo), Tiffany (@tiffanyroyal), and Randy (non-Twitterer at the time) and many "Hellos" and hugs were exchanged, and the three trouped off to their car to pick up their climbing gear.

Matt and I then both led Wild Wind, a slightly harder, more technical climb than Sail Away.  The crux of the route is a traversing section near the top of the route that required me to convince myself to stretch around a slight bulge and step onto slabby feet. I was still learning how Jtree rock felt, and, at the time, didn't realize that your feet stick to the stuff like glue so committing to the traverse was a bit daunting.  There really weren't a whole lot of gear options in the middle of the traverse, but I found a pocket that fit my yellow Alien perfectly.  Aww yeah, just like Tetris!  I love that cam!!  After I came down from Wild Wind, it dawned on me that I'd just led a solid 5.9, and in Jtree, no less! And, it felt easy!!  Oh yes, it was going to be a great trip.

We all ended the day messing around on Thin Wall.  Matt and I blasted up a toprope route as the sun was setting to darkness while Randy led a nearby trad route by headlamp.  Couldn't have asked for a better end to my  first day of climbing in Jtree.

Day 2, Thursday - Headstone Rock and Hobbit Roof

Looking out from our campsite, it was easy to spot the aptly named "Headstone Rock" that loomed out near the entrance to the campground.  Eileen had told me that the rock had "the headiest 5.6 you'll ever lead" so, of course, I had to try it.  Our numbers had increased late the previous night by the arrival of Jeremy (@jeremyshapiro), George (@sudarkoff), and Marcel, and they were happy to join us on our trip to Headstone.

Once we scrambled up the huge pile of boulders underneath Headstone Rock and I actually saw what the 5.6, Southwest Corner route looked like, I could easily see that Eileen's description was spot on.  The start of the route basically hangs out over open air and a slip before clipping the first bolt would result in you falling out into that air, and, unless they were anchored in, pulling your belayer down with you to the rocks below.  The climb itself goes up the most exposed corner of Headstone, and to add to the fun, the wind was whipping around that corner with gusto and glee.

After Headstone, we all decided to head over to The Blob in The Hidden Valley Campground Area. Some people went off to do The Bong while Randy, Eileen and I played on Hobbit Roof. In a display of utter awesomeness, Randy led Hobbit Roof like it was nothin'.  Wait, did I say awesome? Yes, AWESOME.  I flailed on the lower 10d slab section (I missed the easier hold for us short people and kept trying a long, iron cross sort of tall-person move) but managed to pull the roof after a couple tries and a squished and crunched left hand.  Eileen managed the slab section with ease and was also successful at pulling the roof. Kelly and Matt found us after they finished with Super Roof nearby, and both of them gave the route a try in the dark while lit up with headlamps.

We all headed to town after that to eat at Crossroads Cafe, because, really, what trip to Jtree would be complete without a visit to Crossroads.

Day 3, Friday - Hemingway Buttress and Space Station

Our numbers had swelled significantly over Thursday night with the addition of many, many more people.  I was in a bit of a frenzy in the morning, running around hugging people left and right and stopping by to say HI and GOODMORNING to everyone while they were eating breakfast. It took a long time before we were all settled down and breakfasts were finished, but eventually we decided to check out Hemingway Buttress in the Lost Horse Area.

As soon as we arrived at the base of the crag, George racked up to lead White Lightening, and I headed up Dung Fu.  The route was way more fun than it looked, and I quickly reached the cave at the bottom of the chimney section.  Rather than deal with massive rope drag, I decided to belay Eileen up to the cave with me, and  I had her trail a line so we could belay up Marcel and Darren as well.  Soon we had a little party going on in the cave with the four of us.  Eileen then led the chimney section of the route, which I had a ton of fun following.  Have I mentioned that I love chimney routes?  Once we were all up at the top, Eileen set up a top rope on a 10c (I'm not sure which one) while I set a top rope on White Lightening.  I spent most of the rest of the afternoon belaying people up White Lightening.

At the end of the day, Eileen, Jeremy, Rick, George, Marcel, Nina M., and I were going to meet up with the rest of the group at Gunsmoke, but we were disappointed to find out we were too late.  Eileen then had the brilliant idea of checking out the sunset from the Space Station in Chimney Rock at the Hidden Valley Campground instead.  Getting up to the little cave required a little easy soloing and, in the end, only Eileen, Jeremy, Matt (who met up with us in the campground), and I went up.  The sky was gorgeous in shades of purple, magenta and blue and bruise-dark clouds.  It more than made up for missing out on Gunsmoke.

Day 4, Saturday - Touch and Go, Heart and Sole

Saturday was the last full day of climbing, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let the day pass by without climbing with Katie M, something we had both promised to do.  We all trouped out to the Echo Rock Area, and I had my eye on Touch and Go, a "classic" dubbed, "one of the best 5.9 cracks in Joshua Tree."  Katie and I chatted with a couple of climbers who had just finished the route to ask about the descent. "Oh, just walk back and there's a third class walk around the backside". huh ok, sounded like it was no problem at all.

I headed up the route and felt pretty good, but at one tricky spot I felt less than solid, and I think Katie could tell.  I could hear her quietly remind me to breathe and that she was there and she had me.  When I'm in the middle of a route, and I start to feel sketched out, I tend to stop, put my head to the rock, and breathe to get a handle on my fear and shake myself out of the headgames.  It's part of why I love trad climbing so much - the necessity and ability to control your fear.  It's normally me alone in the middle of the rock, and it's a point of pride that I can do it on my own.  Hearing Katie softly remind me that she was there, however, calmed me in a way that normally doesn't happen when my belayer shouts up from below, "You got this!!" or "You can do it!"  I appreciate those comments, don't get me wrong. They help to psyche me up and get me going when my spirits are flagging, but rarely do they, on their own, calm me down.  Now maybe it's just that it was Katie, or maybe she just had the perfect touch with me (yes, I can be pretty prickly sometimes), but as soon as she said something in that soft, supportive voice, my shoulders came down from where they were threatening to crawl into my ears, my grip relaxed, and I was fine.  Funny how that works sometimes, no?  After that, the climb was a cruise, and I made it to the top with no falls.  I brought Katie up and then the real fun began.

Ok, walk back and it's a third class, right? Hardly.  Katie and I wandered around on the top for a while trying to figure out how to get the hell down.  We finally shouted down to Eileen for some pointers, who was kind enough to start coming around the back of the rock to help get our stranded asses down.  Eventually we realized that we'd have to downclimb a chimney and a bouldery bit, and then another chimney... hehe well daaamn, if this was the Jtree equivalent of third class, I'd sure hate to see what a fourth class descent looked like.  Katie and I were having fun though - it was an adventure!! - and really, you could pretty much count on us getting into a bit of trouble like that.

Once we were successfully reunited with our gear at the base of the route, I looked up and realized that I'd climbed another solid and sustained 5.9 with zero falls!  Wait, is this trad climbing thing getting easier? Possibly. Was I happy about it? Hell yes.  Even better, however, was that I got to share the climb (and descent!) with Katie.  Shared memories of fun and adventure with someone I've been so very lucky to become friends with this year.  These are the things that makes trips like this so amazing.

After that, we headed over to the base of Heart and Sole, which Rick had led and set up as a TR for the rest of us.  Fun and tricky slab climbing combined with a finger crack lieback, warm sun, and the cheers of friends when I flashed the route.  Life doesn't get much better than that.

Day 5, Sunday - Gunsmoke

My last morning in Jtree was a mix of dragging my feet because I didn't want to leave and packing in a frenzy because I wanted time to try out Gunsmoke before I left. I could not, would not, leave Jtree after my second trip without at least seeing the classic traverse. Everything tossed back into the right bag, climbing and camping gear handed off to Jeremy and George who would take them home for me while I went on to Chicago for work, hurried but heartfelt hugs to those not coming to Gunsmoke with us, and a fast drive over to the Barker Dam Area.  Ah, finally... Gunsmoke.

I've never bouldered with a large group of friends before and I'm beginning to see its appeal.  Lazy morning sun, friends spotting you while others shift the crashpad around, shouts and cheers and words of encouragement - successfully getting through a section, while totally your own muscle power and climbing ability, is still a group effort and it just feels good that way.  I fell off about a quarter of the way through the long traverse at a reachy bit but have no doubt that someday I'll be able to send the whole thing. Maybe it'll take years and years, but I'll get it.

After only 45 minutes on the wall, I had to race out of there to catch my plane in Palm Springs.  I gave everyone a fast hug, picked up my shoes, and ran back towards the car. On my way out I saw Katie and Rick heading towards Gunsmoke, and Katie and I collided in a tacklehug.  I was really sad to say goodbye to both of them, but time waits for no monkey so I hurriedly gave them my love and hugs and ran away to the car.

Reflections
I'm sure you've noticed that most of this trip report has been mainly about the climbing and less about the socializing and getting to know people.  Despite all the words above, I'm still having a hard time describing how meeting everyone felt to me.  I've explained how cool it is to be able to meet people from our Twitter climbing community and feel comfortable with them right away in my previous posts about it, but this was just on such a larger scale that it blew me away.  I have snapshots of memories tucked away in my brain that I hope never to forget.  Nights in the town of Joshua Tree eating mediocre Indian pizza and amazing Crossroads Cafe food with my new friends, seeing the gorgeous sky from Space Station with Matt, Eileen and Jeremy, sharing stories around the campfire with everyone, playing pool with Darren at the Jtree Saloon, snuggling with Katie on the crashpad to keep warm by the fire, the look on Teri's face after I threw a marshmellow at her (nevermind that I just met her, it just felt right!), seeing Marcel's gigantic smile after he flashed Heart and Sole... none of these bits and pieces mean much to anyone else, I suppose, and it'll probably just sound sappy and over the top if I try to put how I feel into words.  Maybe it's enough to say that I went to Jtree expecting to have fun and meet people but came away feeling like I'd just made a new family.  I miss everyone and can't wait for the next Tweetup.

Thumbnails are all clickable and take you to my Picasa gallery  of Jtree pics

Larger photos are courtesy of Darren Lui and can be found at his Flickr Gallery.

Photo of me on Touch and Go is courtesy of Eileen Ringwald and can be found on her Photo Gallery.