Joshua Tree Climbing Trip

So I just finished loading up a bunch of my photos from my Joshua Tree climbing trip and the thought of writing all about the trip now seems daunting. I'll just write a bit about the each photo but it'll be a lot more brief than my normal posts and it also means I'll end up leaving out a lot. In short: It was Jake's spring break from school out in Oklahoma, he asked if I wanted to go on a climbing trip somewhere warm, I'd have been crazy to have passed up a trip like that...a few weeks later we were in Joshua Tree National Park climbing for 5 days. It was fantastic. Day 1: Climbing in Conan's Corridor. I got my own rope, it was band new and this was it's inaugural climb, our first climb of Joshua Tree, Gem. Jake at the top and looking for the downclimb. (Normally he doesn't wear a purple wind breaker but it was super windy there and he borrowed mine to wear while he sat at the top and I climbed.)

A cool tree

Wandering around looking for something to climb. Lucky for us Jake bought the GPS guide to finding climbs. Last climb of the day, Touch and Go. It got dark a little faster than we expected when the sunset and I had to climb in quickly growing darkness. I took this picture just as I started to climb. We down climbed with headlamps.

Day 2: We'd borrowed some camp chairs from Alicia and James and when I sat down to eat my oatmeal party I ended up on the ground and the chairs ended up in the dumpster when we left. Sorry Alicia. On the trail to Hemingway Buttress

At the top

Jake on rappel

So we were climbing Overseer and a tour bus let out a whole bus load of Chinese men and they came all the way up the boulders to us and announced, "We are here to cheer you on!" They were so loud I couldn't hear Jake at the top of the climb. They took so many pictures of me as I climbed, I turned around and took a picture of them part way up and they all waved at me. When I got to the top they all cheered and clapped like I was a hero. I felt like I was in some kind of competition and I'd won. It was so much fun.

Day 3: Intersection Rock

We climbed a couple of multipitch climbs at Intersection Rock and "rendezvoused at the top for an abseil" with some Icelandic climbers. This is me waiting at the top for my turn to go down. This water was pretty cool and even had tadpoles in it. I secretly wanted to take a sample of it and look at it under a microscope. Jake wanted to climb this route and I didn't. Lucky for me another pair of climbers had the same predicament so Jake cleaned it for one of them and me and his partner got to sit at the bottom and watch...and take pictures. If you look close in the one below you'll see Jake rappelling off the top. This is the same rappel that I'm waiting to go down in the earlier picture with the pool of water. Pretty sunset...pretty much ever night it was a pretty sunset. Jake making dinner including fancy salads. Our Lady of San Juan candle.

Day 4: Doing laps on Dappled MareWhenever I climb mulitpitches and my partner is out of view, it's always nice when you see them for the first time. You know you're close to the top and you're not alone anymore. This was my first view of Jake on this pitch. We'd take a lot of shot of ourselves and somehow we'd end up with some like this. I don't really get it. I mean, I'm taking the picture so how am I not looking at the camera? It's not like you can catch yourself off guard right? I also think it looks like Jake's shooting me with something. Maybe it's just me that thinks this picture is funny. Jake took the camera next. This above picture cracks me up. It looks like someone photoshoped me in and got the perspective all wrong.

ACTION SHOTS: yeah cool!(Thanks Jake!)Climbing makes me happy!The view from the top. Just rocks and joshua trees as far as you can see.

Another Jake self portrait where if you look close you can find me in it. (check his sunglasses)Jake scrambled up to the very top. The end of the day walking back to the car.

The Subaru is so much better for stuff like this than the Audi was.Another beautiful sunset. The layers of blue mountains looked so perfect we pulled over for some photos.

Day 5: Climbing at Playhouse Rock (no photos) Then one or two more back at The Old Woman. Me at the top of Double Cross, my last climb...looking tired...looking at my beat up legs...and looking at the sunset.

Jake at the top watching the sunset too.

Overall it was a great trip. The weather was great, the camping was relaxing, the food was good, the company was fun, and the climbing lived up to all the hype Joshua Tree gets. I wish I could have stayed a month, I'd happily go back to climb there some more.

Doing Mexican Crack

I headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon before the weekend of snow came and enjoyed an afternoon of warm climbing. I spent the first hour babysitting, but babysitting on the side of a mountain isn't so bad. Where are these boys' mom? Here she is two thirds of the way up Mexican Crack. Jennilyn has her kids trained pretty well to play happily for an hour or two on belay ledges. It does mean that we have to pack them, their snacks, and their toys up to the crag and back again. It was the back again that was actually the hard part because they were both tired and screaming at that point. While they were climbing and I was babysitting I spent a little time practicing my trad gear placement. Mark told me after that these were all good.

This was the view from the bottom of the route where I played with the boys.

This was the view from the top of Mexican Crack. Well these are the anchors. I forgot to leave the camera at the bottom. This is the view from the top. Very nice. It's amazing the difference there is between the two sides of the same canyon. One was warm and sunny and full of happy climbers and one was cold and snowy and covered in ice.Here's a picture just for you squeemish folks. I've always liked the look of blood on chalky hands, even though my hands aren't so chalky in this picture. This was only one of the 5 places I was bleeding from when I came down. My mom told me a few days later I have disgusting looking hands from all my climbing. I think some of my climbing scars are permanant so it's too late to stop now. Then Mark went up this 5.12 route that I will probably never even attempt. I learn a lot just from watching him climb so I'm not complaining.

THE END

I "heart" Arizona

I got to escape the snowy cold weather in Utah for a sunny weekend in Arizona! It was so much fun! Alicia wanted some help making the drive down to visit her family with her two boys and I was more than happy to be the second driver/minivan maid in exchange for so much fun.

Never has such a long drive seemed so short. We got to drive over the Hoover Dam, eat a lifetimes worth of gummy bears, and somehow the stars aligned and everyone's bathroom breaks coordinated with gas and meal breaks...except once. I did take a hilarious picture of that but at the risk of ruining my friendship with Alicia I'm not going to post it on my blog.After spending a day swimming there was a surprise baby shower for Alicia. It was so fun! Good people, good food, good times, and lots and lots of loot for baby Zoe. I like the snow and all but I must say I wouldn't mind being able to blow bubbles and read my book on a lawn chair in the backyard year round. We had a Valentine's Day party and did some other fun stuff I didn't take pictures of.

My last day there Alicia's parents took me out to see the Superstition Wilderness. They must have known how much I would love it. I wish Alicia and the boys could have come along but while I was out there all I really wanted to do was look out the window so it was fine. It was hard enough to stay in the car and not run off down the first trail I saw but maybe I'll get to go back some day.

They took me out to lunch at Tortilla Flat. (Arizona in the winter is really full of old people as you can see from all the flip up sunglasses in the picture above.) In the restaurant we ate at the bar to avoid a wait. The saddle bar stools got kinda uncomfortable after awhile but it wasn't something you do everyday. We got sasparillas so it looked like we belonged at the bar. The entire place is wallpapered with dollar bills so we made one to get hung up somewhere. After lunch we took an awesome dirt road out to see Apache Lake. It was gorgeous. The road and the lake.

Alicia's mom was telling me that this is called a cowboy cactus because cowboys would fall on it and get impaled and die. I didn't listen too good because I impaled my arm 2 seconds before taking this picture. It was the third cactus that got me that day. Hopefully if I ever do come back here again to go hiking I'll be more careful around the vegetation.

I couldn't get enough of this landscape! I was taking so many pictures out of the car window I almost made myself sick. Look at those clouds! It couldn't have been more picturesque. Someone got her shadow in this one...Alicia's parents were so nice and such great hosts while I was there. I couldn't thank them enough for the awesome day and the super fun weekend. My last night Alicia and I went with her boys to a cool restaurant where you can eat outside and make smores at your table. It was nice to be outside, especially at night. It was also really sticky.

I think I like Arizona. (Or as Quinn says it Arizoooooona) I was sad to fly back home to Utah and back into winter. I wouldn't mind going back again. Thanks for inviting me along Alicia. I know you think I was technically doing you a favor but it was more than worth the drive.

Adventures at lunchtime

Much like the kids who say recess is their favorite part of school, one of the things I like best about my job is taking breaks to walk on the trails behind our building. The Bonneville Shoreline Trail runs just above us and I can walk from Red Butte Canyon to Emigration Canyon when I can get away for long enough...and when the weather is nice. Today however I found that it's not just the weather that needs to be nice, but the trail conditions as well. This isn't the first time I've returned to work from an afternoon walk covered in mud (or soaked from falling in the snow, or sweat from running back, or even just really jittery from barely missing stepping on a snake) I've yet to learn my lesson that when the trailhead looks like a waterfall or an ice skating rink at the beginnning, it's not going to get any better the further I go up.

The ice covered trail above is the entrance and the one below is a waterfall as the entrance trail hits the Shoreline trail. This was as good as it got along the Shoreline trail today...not good. Things get tricky at this spot due to the construction of the new Natural History Museum. This sign was new since the last time I came this way....does it seriously say "habitat restoration" and "building construction" in the same sentence??? I'll spare you any jokes about how BYU people are smarter than U of U people here...it's not my style, but come on...

Close calls at the climbing gym

This little worn down carabiner with the super sharp edge turned an everyday fall at the climbing gym into a close call for me. As someone else said when I told them about it, "That would've broke you into pieces only the kings men could manage to get back together." I'm glad I was just at the gym and I'm glad I climb with such experienced people. RIP blue rope, better you than me.