Work has been crazy (in a good way), so it’s been really hard to relax. Every night I am thinking, even dreaming, about what I have to do next. So when a friend invited us to join him for a birthday trip to Joshua Tree National Park to climb, it seemed like the perfect weekend getaway to unplug. And it was.
Joshua Tree National Park was a lot different than I expected. When we agreed to go, I really had no idea that it was the freakin’ desert! Nothing wrong with that, but dang it was HOT. And to top it all off, the climbing was very weird. I’m talking about first clips that were 30 ft high and 30-minute scrambles to get to the crag with Class 4/5 approaches in some cases.
Overall, these conditions made for a more relaxing weekend because we decided to just take it easy. We climbed around the Lost Horse, Hidden Valley, Split Rock, and Jumbo Rocks Areas. But really, my biggest take away from the trip was the landscape and small creatures (including a tortoise!) we got to see along the way. Also, I am really thankful we didn’t run into a tarantula or rattlesnake…
