Free AirBnB? Heck yes. All we got to do is take care of Luna. Was it worth it? Sort of. Four days in Joshua Tree for no cost was pretty awesome, but it would be constrained a bit. We couldn’t spend too much time in the park, but we’d be staying a few minutes from the West Entrance. We decided to go for it and see what we could pull off.
On our first day we waited for a party of three on Double Dip to finish up, but they were taking forever. When Stichter opened up, we opted to jump on it instead. I made it a fun and playful romp, experimenting with alternate moves, and generally slip-sliding my way up, taking plenty of falls on really improbable moves. The Canadian party who just finished it finally realized I wasn’t sketching, but was actually goofing my way up, and called me out as a mountain goat. Emma cruised it. A really fun, satisfying classic.
The next day we headed to Funky Dung on Hemmingway. Something 5.8 sounded perfect, and this one seemed really intriguing. And we got a near-epic shit show. It was fairly easy climbing to the intimidating roof. A #4 stuffed back in the upper crack kinda protected it, but if you came off there you’d probably hit the sloping ledge below. Insecure hand traverse to a heel hook around onto the arete. Quite tricky. Then easy offwidth to the top.
While I belayed Emma I was experiencing a bit more rope drag than expected, and then suddenly it completely locked up. Emma, stuck under the roof, with a bit of slack, no uptake, and no communication, cautiously attempted to traverse out, and ended up pendulum swinging around onto the arete. She continued up the arete with a huge loop of slack. At this point we finally met up, as I self belayed back down towards the roof. The rope had slipped between the two inner lobes of a .5 cam, and was seriously jammed in place. Neither the rope nor the cam would budge. Cutting the rope was now on the table, so lame! It took close to an hour, but I managed to free it eventually, and we were on our way. Two and a half hours on a single pitch adventure, and we were over it. The rest of the day was dedicated to chilling out.
Since Emma missed out on the crux of Funky Dung she wanted to give Psycho Groove another go. So the next day we hit up Playhouse Rock. My plan was to hustle and move as quick as possible so we could fit in a second climb, which led to a mildly dramatic sequence of events. I missed the first good pro, placed a dodgy C3, and then missed hidden feet, but just attempted to push through. Predictably, I slid off, watched the C3 pull out, but managed to twist myself around in midair and skate down the undulating rock face. At the bottom a bulge forced me to pitch forward and fall the last three feet onto hands and knees, luckily in a pit of sand.
I brushed off, took a breather, and headed up again, this time finding a solid cam and using the hidden foot to easily clear the section. But as I rushed through the crux I also missed a critical foot, and pitched off for a medium sized whip. More proof that sometimes hurrying actually costs you time. Emma followed and smoked it, with a clean flash. We celebrated, then threw the ropes and rappelled. And still had time for Dress Rehearsal. Which really is so much fun.
On our last day of the trip we headed over to Echo again. Penny Lane was a pretty chill modern slab route. One thin move, but plenty of bolts. I actually think Emma should lead this one next time, it’s just that well protected.
We’d finished so quickly and Double Dip was open, so we decided to finish on it. This route definitely deserves it’s stars! So much fun. This one is heady, varied, and so cool. Loved it. We did the walk-off. Was pretty easy, but I think we went the long way (farther to the right). I’d be curious to try down climbing through the boulders past The Trough to cut it in half. This is a great route, and might be a new favorite.
Stichter Quits
5.7 – 115′
with Emma
This thing is fun.
Funky Dung
5.8 – 120′
with Emma
9.8mm fits between inner lobes of .5 X4…
Would love to do again so Emma could do crux, maybe back clean, or two pitches?
#4 at the crux, #5 might be better.
Psycho Groove
5.9 – 110′
with Emma
Don’t go fast, LOL. Plenty pro and feet down low.
Dress Rehearsal
5.7 – 70′
with Emma
This one is super fun.
Penny Lane
5.8 – 100′
with Emma
Clip and go, 8 bolts? Safe and easy.
Double Dip
5.6 – 140′
with Emma
Takes a #3 or two. Really fun, some spicy step-ups.
Try more direct walk off next time.
