Another trip to Red Rock that almost didn’t happen. Of course rain was involved, but we were also dealing with car issues at the last minute too. But we weren’t going to let the prospect of some awesome sandstone go. We rented a car, shifted our plans forward, and charged ahead.
Getting in front of the rain made for a punishing schedule, but we pulled it off. Things were a bit more rushed, and we were a bit more tired, but we were rewarded with two amazing climbs. Waterboys was the hardest climb we’ve done together, and we both got it clean! And Great Red Book felt like a return to the joyous climbing on Utah sandstone that defined my early years.
The scenery and the rock wasn’t the only new thing this trip as well. Emma was rocking a Connect Adjust as new kit, and we experimented with the Beal Escaper to get down from Waterboys. We weren’t about to lug another rope and blocking seemed like a recipe for a stuck rope. Of course our rope got stuck anyway, but now we’ve got a secret weapon for two-rope rappels. And we got stuck rope practice. So win-win.
My impressions of Red Rock from my trip in March included so much knobs, and slab, and chimneys, and friable rock. But we hardly encountered any of that at all. Waterboys was funky down low, but it quickly became angular and polished. And the final pitch was almost 100% jamming. A bit of face climbing on Great Red Book, but it’s funny that Emma’s first trip to Red Rock hardly included any face or knob climbing. We wouldn’t have traded it for anything, and Waterboys was truly an epic route up an incredible corner. In fact, basically every pitch we climbed was a left facing corner, lol.
After the rainy finish to our last climb, we spent a vigilant night in the campsite as storms continued to roll through. Strategic packing and unpacking, cooking while the wind took a break, and hanging out in the car. We hustled to save our neighbors tent as it almost blew away. Good thing too. The next day they recounted their day of struggling to find the route they wanted, getting caught in the rain, and dealing with a dead battery in their rental car. So glad they didn’t have to come back to camp and discover their tent was halfway to Vegas.
Of course we weren’t ready to call it yet. Red Rock was done, but we could still climb at Josh even if it was wet. So we headed south at Barstow and grabbed a spot in Hidden Valley. We then boulder hopped into a thunder and hail storm, reveled in the dramatic conditions, and then splashed our way back down into camp. We were pretty done at this point with dealing with the wind, and so we opted out of cooking and swung by town for hot sandwiches from the Dez and some gin from the bottle shop. We then had a mellow night in the park.
The next morning presented another situation we were feeling done with: cold weather climbing in Joshua Tree. To keep it simple we were aiming for something nearby. Looney Tunes, on Rock Hudson sounded perfect to us. But as we approached, we realized it was still in the shade. But Outhouse rock was right next to us, and Strawberry Jam was in the sun, so we gave up and changed our plans.
And we got Jammed. Maybe we were tired from our trip, maybe we were soft from climbing sandstone. But this route roughed us up. I noticed something was wrong when I started slipping out of the hand crack. I chalked it up to sweaty hands from being overdressed in the sun, but I think maybe they just were really tricky and insecure jams. Emma cleaned the last piece and called it. Completely understandable, given the situation. We were hoping for a nice finish to our trip, but instead we got a Joshua Tree 1970’s sandbag. It really highlighted the comparison between the two areas we visited on this trip, soft, and hard. But all things considered, we’re really glad that we’ve been able to call Joshua Tree our home crag for the last several year.
Strawberry Jam
5.9 – 70′
with Emma
Standard rack.
Kinda hard, insecure.
Rappel anchors could go either way.
I rapped to the east, rope pull was difficult.
Didn’t look like to the west would be better.
