MudNCrud Forums
Climbing and ... Climbing => Everywhere Else => Topic started by: Brad Young on February 10, 2016, 10:41:21 AM
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I'm down here in Joshua Tree with Bill; it's our fifteenth week-long, winter trip to climb here over 18 years (we skipped three years when Tioga Pass Resort was open in the winter and he was working there; we especially skipped the year he was up there and barely survived riding a 1,000 foot avalanche down Ellery Bowl while out cross country skiing).
What a great tradition. Bill's a certified desert rat, spending weeks and weeks every year camping, climbing, hiking and, really, living in the desert. I usually take a day or so to slip back into desert rat mode, but I do it every time. Actually, it takes me that day too to slip out of the "fast" life that we tend to live in, and slow down to Bill's pace. It's good for me.
We're on a rest day today, a late breakfast at Crossroads before getting a shower. Four days of incredible weather and abraded hands, and we're spent for a bit. And then four more days. Gotta keep the focus on cracks.
Photos will have to wait until I get home Tuesday (leaving here on Sunday and then spending a few days with Dawsons on the San Diego County portion of the PCT before rolling home).
I've got to admit that, while I love these desert trips, Pinns still captures my highest interest.
See you all at the end of the month.
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Nice brad and very jealous. Enjoy
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Thanks for checking in dude. Sounds like you guys are having fun. clink and I explored the right chasm a bit at Hanging Valley. Nice and cool back there. We weren't prepared to climb up it. We crawled back out and went around and up to where you, Kat and I tried to descend the 3rd class that wet weekend. It was all dry and I was glad I knew the way. We managed to climb all the way back down. clink agreed it was 4th class.
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Yeah, I think it would be irresponsible to call it third class
I just talked to Katie, and it looks like some of her Excursion Club friends are going to join us here tomorrow! Not including her unfortunately.
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Enjoy JT, cool place.
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How are your hands doing? Cherry red finger tips? Any scrapes or cuts?
Well, I'm jealous. Have a great time, Brad!
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I've got to admit that, while I love these desert trips, Pinns still captures my highest interest.
Same here, have fun Brad!
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Today's theme was "how hard can 5.9 get?" But then it is Josh. Like they say: you can lead 5.11 at Red Rocks, or hang on 5.10 at Josh.
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Over 15 years, a week at a time, we two have done hundreds of climbs together now. I wouldn't give up these trips for anything:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1690/24981966232_b26f218b78_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1482/24732476209_0444e52ec6_c.jpg)
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Nice!
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good times
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There isn't any thread for this document, and it's not worth its own. So this thread, one about other-than-Pinnacles climbing and about my own climbing history, will have to do.
I found a page from David Harden's 1999 climbing journal in my desk today while looking for another document. As I read the March 18th entry, now nearly 17 years later, I could feel again the crashing impact and, briefly, re-lived the writhing in agony (yes the phrase has a real meaning). Maybe I should be in a wheelchair. Maybe I'm tough:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1468/25081504004_7b4622c934_c.jpg)
It took me 10 weeks then just to be able to walk again (that is, to barely walk again; much longer to walk normally).
Let's all continue to be careful out there.
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Should have saved this for Easter, burial and resurrection. It could also be a Christmas theme as the Virgin birth may be speculated to have involved a separated pelvis, but that's stretching it.
Glad you're still with us and I will be extra careful. I'm remembering the last bit of rock you were negotiating two weeks ago.
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Glad you made it too.
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Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good
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;D ;D ;D
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My friend Chuck saw the copy of Dave's journal on Flickr and commented.
His comment made me realize that I should point out that the first piece, the one that slowed me down some and then failed, was a really micro, brass stopper. I hadn't intended that it would do much, since its size alone made it basically a body weight placement.
The two pieces that blew the rock out were bigger and "good" in that they were well seated in the crack. I commented to Ron and Dave about the tiny, tiny little hairline through the rock near where those two pieces were. But then I realized I had to either use them as pro or back down. In hindsight, maybe backing down would have been better ::)
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I just wanted to post up and say that Geoff and I had a fantastic time up at J-tree with Brad, Joel and Bill. Even with frigid winds Brad was able to direct us to a crag where it was possible to climb in t-shirts the first day. The second day found us on Dappled Mare, a 3 pitch 5.8 that was an absolute blast.
At camp we were able to sit at the feet of Brad and learn the ways of a desert rat. Thank you Sensai. I am proud to say that he gave both of us a desert rat grade (drg) of 4.9 out of 10. Really high marks for a first timer. He told me specifically that as a lawyer, first impressions are very important. So if he had time to reflect on that grade and possibly post on this forum a different grade... say a .9, just to ignore him. It's the first impressions that count.
Even with the cold weather, a fantastic time was had by all. Good enough that I would like to make this an annual event. Possibly bring my 5th wheel... I can't imagine what that would do to my drg.
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Those desert rats have holes through all their layers. So to get above an 8 you have to get skin contact scratching your ass when the temps are in the teens.
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At camp we were able to sit at the feet of Brad and learn the ways of a desert rat.
Thank you Sensai. I am proud to say that he gave both of us a desert rat grade (drg) of 4.9 out of 10.
So I guess you were unable to snatch the choss pebble from his hand chollahopper :lol: :yikes:
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...I am proud to say that he gave both of us a desert rat grade (drg) of 4.9 out of 10. Really high marks for a first timer....
I finally stopped laughing enough to respond to this.
While it is true that Caleb and Geoff started out OK (although they never reached even a Desert Rat Grade of 4 mind you), they eventually plunged to a truly, embarrassingly low score.
They showed up with a ton of enthusiasm, but, at least in Geoff's case, not enough clothes for nights in the teens and low twenties (I bet that that won't happen again):
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/659/32545231761_86653ed9d2_c.jpg)
And great attitudes, willing to learn from the only 10/10 desert rat I've ever known:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/288/31824737454_f0981b4b2d_c.jpg)
When on their first day we woke up to 35 mile per hour winds and butt-ass cold temperatures, I took them to the only (only!) spot in Josh that is always sheltered and warm (Corral Wall). They got right into business:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/650/31824735764_64b7285eca_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/599/31824734444_54231f8a62_c.jpg)
And later in the trip (their last day) they did one of the must-do, iconic Josh climbs (at least if one is camping in Ryan Campground): Headstone Rock:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/280/31824742174_9190fc703c_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/371/32545323611_222d4e5c28_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/694/32545327851_acba668109_c.jpg)
But see, the thing is, they both made a major, major faux pas, right in the middle of the trip and right in the middle of the desert. A sniveling act of cowardice that was so major, so extreme, that they plunged to a Desert Rat Grade of (gasp, sigh) LESS THAN ONE. Bill and I disagreed at first (he gave them a 0.9 D.R.G. and I gave them a 0.7 - we eventually settled on 0.8 as their end Desert Rat Grade).
And that's it. From low to basement in three days.
I sincerely hope they do better next year 8) 8)
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Remind me NEVER to go to the desert with you. :nono: :biggrin:
By the way...news flash - Pinnacles is a virtual desert. :yikes: :thumbup: :ihih:
Remember that when you hear the echo of my drill floating on the breeze in Red Rocks this weekend :lol:
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You know squiddo just rents a house in town.
Just saying....
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Remind me NEVER to go to the desert with you. :nono: :biggrin:
Too late. And you survive in the desert pretty well.
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You know squiddo just rents a house in town.
Just saying....
Then why even go in the first place?
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What was the major faux pas? Something like this:
[url]http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1758033/Who-took-a-dump-on-top-of-Headstone/[url]
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What was the major faux pas? Something like this:
[url]http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1758033/Who-took-a-dump-on-top-of-Headstone/[url]
No, taking a dump on top of Headstone would be way beyond cowardly. That would extend to absolute heresy.
Their treacherous act was bad, but not that bad.
You see, they came to Joshua Tree expecting the desert. And understanding that they had up to 10,000 climbing routes to do to have lived complete lives. In spite of all of this knowledge, they quit climbing early on their second day (after only two nights and two days in the desert). They gave up climbing time on a three day trip to... well, there's no polite way to say it:
They drove into town to take showers after just two nights. :P :-[ :o
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That's a good one! Which leads to a fun question. What is the longest you have gone without bathing and why? I did a week on a red rock trip. My partner did not want to go into town.
I shared this with another climber friend who laughed and said their record was for over a month on an expedition.
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Brad Young
Grand Master
Posts: 4185
Re: Desert Rats: Joshua Tree in the Winter With Bill
« Reply #20 on: Yesterday at 06:47:20 PM »
Quote
Quote from: Yo-so-mighty on January 31, 2017, 10:34:11 AM
...I am proud to say that he gave both of us a desert rat grade (drg) of 4.9 out of 10. Really high marks for a first timer....
I finally stopped laughing enough to respond to this.
So, Caleb(Yosomighty) is pedaling fake news.
Caleb had called me to say how ecstatic he was with getting his version of events posted while you were continuing your JT climbing trip.
Geoff froze his ass off. He has just purchased a legit jacket and is going to get a certain turtle neck layer next.
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That's a good one! Which leads to a fun question. What is the longest you have gone without bathing and why? I did a week on a red rock trip. My partner did not want to go into town.
Twice I went at least nine days/eight nights with no bathing and little cleaning: two different Grade VI El Cap routes (Excalibur and South Seas) each took that long. We took baby-butt wipes and they were helpful.
I usually embrace the desert when I go there. Sometimes I'll take a shower after five or so days. Bill stays out in the desert a lot, for literally weeks at a time. He'll go long periods without finding a public facility, wasting time, and wasting water.
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My first sabbatical I spent a month in the Valley and never took a shower. I did jump in the river a few times, sometimes fully clothed as an easy way to do laundry. I was told that poaching showers does not lower ones dirt bag status.
As far as dealing with cold, I am starting to figure out solutions to this. As many of you know I can live in a puff jacket, when not moving I get cold quickly. If I am moving I am fine, but once I stop I feel a bit of a chill in minutes. One thing I have recently discovered is compression tights and shirts. Typically I do not like tight fitting cloths so I was surprised to find I really like these. Up here in Wa I pretty much live in these. I find myself taking my jacket off at work and around the house. I even go outside on occasion without a puff. The advantage over normal long johns is freedom of movement and when being active the compression clothing wicks moisture. The tops come in white and I have been slowly replacing cotton tees with these.
Compression clothing used to be expensive and is still a bit more than cotton, but there are a bunch of cheap brands out there now and these can be found on Amazon for 12 to 15 dollars apiece. Tops you can get in long sleeve or short sleeve. I have worked outside in these when it was cold and wet, the fabric wicks moisture and does not bind up like traditional capilene or polypro.
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clink - I believe your inability to post a proper picture may have just been surpassed by your inept quoting :lol: :lol: :lol:
Thanks for the rec Mr Mud - we'll have to check into those.
It looks like the weather is already starting to warm here.:biggrin:
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I take baths. All of the water is used and not wasted.
BTW this was the reason Brad was inspired to name our route Bathing Beauty.
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I take baths. All of the water is used and not wasted.
I saw that coming from afar - we all know how expansive the views are in the desert :frown: :frown2: :eeeek:
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That's a good one! Which leads to a fun question. What is the longest you have gone without bathing and why? I did a week on a red rock trip. My partner did not want to go into town.
I shared this with another climber friend who laughed and said their record was for over a month on an expedition.
3 weeks on a Denali expedition (+ or - a few days).
The benefit to a sub zero environment is the lack of smell and you body oils do not emanate.
It was only until we got to the landing strip where the temperature raised to a balmy 40....or 30 that our body oils started to thaw, PHEW!! There were some smells, i.e. farts, but that's a different story.
I did do 1 week in the valley in college, no bathing. My poor partner almost wrenched when he rolled over to m side of the tent and go a whiff. No, no more of that, I'll jump in a river.
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Red Rocks now. A dozen new routes so far (some multi - pitch). For Bill's birthday today we both got spanked on a 5.10c offwidth to hands (damn physical). We got other routes done too-I led a 5.9 off width that left me gasping (but I got it clean). I've never seen barrel cactus so plump - the shorter ones are almost as round as bowling balls.
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Ah, now you are at a real climbing venue. With civilized routes.
There you could do 2,000 routes and still have more to go.
Enjoy!!
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Ten pitch, three star 5.8 today. That's too many days in a row. I'm spent. We'll do a few sport routes in the morning and then I'm heading home (to see all of you great people soon).
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What was the route Brad? 10 pitch 5.8 sounds about right for RR.
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Dark Shadows. Temps were perfect in the shade.
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They drove into town to take showers after just two nights. :P :-[ :o
All I know is that Alex's would not flunk that part. He could spend two weeks in the desert without a shower and then we'd have to force him to take a shower when it got so bad that we couldn't stand him any longer
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Dark shadows was fun. Get the ropes wet?
Amazingly steep.
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...get the ropes wet?
How would the ropes get wet? The start is on the creek, but it's a big, flat, dry boulder?
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Saturday, my daughter Laura and Mila did a day trip to JT for bouldering and a hike up Ryan's Mountain.
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Saturday, my daughter Laura and Mila did a day trip to JT for bouldering and a hike up Ryan's Mountain.
Ask her how high the cairn on top of Ryan has gotten (I think I recall it being about four feet high of stacked rocks).
And who is Mila?
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How would the ropes get wet? The start is on the creek, but it's a big, flat, dry boulder?
I think he meant if you didn't finish and instead were to rap. Final pull is magic to keep all the rope bits dry. I was a magician ;/)
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I think he meant if you didn't finish and instead were to rap. Final pull is magic to keep all the rope bits dry. I was a magician ;/)
I get it.
I can see you grinning too as you magically manage to keep the rope out of the creek (watch out for getting hit in the eye by the end of the rope though - ask Rob about our emergency room visit when his got hit).
It seems a shame though not to finish that one. Although pitches 1 - 4 are fantastic, pitches 5 - 9 stay very good, pitch 10 is fantastic, and the mini summit where the technical climbing ends is magical.
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Interesting Brad- there in a few weeks perhaps check it out
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Mila is my future sister-in-law . Laura is living at Dave and Mila's home while she is going to school.
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At Pinnacles, Clink put up a new route and named it "Joaquin the Dog." The words don't have any real meaning, but they fit; they have a certain ring and they're funny together. It's a good name.
Red Rocks has its equivalent. Up on The Brownstone Wall, an hour and a half approach from the car. This multi-pitch route carries one of my favorite route names in Red Rocks:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/703/33438810475_97ab8615fb_b.jpg)
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Ah, yes Brad. Us mortals just did the 1st few pitches of Dark Shadows. Doing the entire route would be cool.
I think we had a dinner reservation at the house we were staying at....Squiddo know it.
I have not gotten up to the Brownstone wall, Squiddo has.
Cool to see you on those routes as they bring back great memories.
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Ah, yes Brad. Us mortals just did the 1st few pitches of Dark Shadows. Doing the entire route would be cool.
I think we had a dinner reservation at the house we were staying at....Squiddo know it.
I have not gotten up to the Brownstone wall, Squiddo has.
Cool to see you on those routes as they bring back great memories.
Done a few on brownstone but not enough....
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Well I'll be damned.
Usually I call Bill about our J Tree trip and all he says is "pick a date and I'll be there." Not this year.
Wow.
He's scrambling to figure out what to do. With work and with travel. His 30 year old daughter has been a nun in an Eastern Orthodox convent in Boston. She's very spiritual and so he wasn't so surprised when she became a nun six or eight years ago. But now it's "has been." She found the perfect man, dropped out and the wedding is on February 4th. Obviously she'd like him to be there.
Wow.
I told him he absolutely must go. But I have trouble seeing Bill getting on an airplane voluntarily. But he's got to.
I may not have a Joshua Tree partner....
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yowza!
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Congrats Jim!!!
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Congrats Jim!!!
I had to quote you so that you can't retro-edit it (not that retro-editing is your style anyway).
I still can't believe you picked that name out of probably a thousand others that you could have chosen. :out:
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super powers
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Well thank goodness. Bill is going to Boston. He's not happy about the flight, but he knows he's got to be there.
Luckily there's a certain Mudder who now lives on the east side of the Sierra....
So the trip is on. But damn, Dennis, I'm still blown away that you "knew" only an hour after we'd made arrangements! >:D
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8)
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Sep 13, 2017 - 12:41pm PT
Joshua Tree has a unique version of the Yosemite Decimal system. In order of difficulty, the sequence of the grades is something like this:
5.10a, 5.10b, 5.9, 5.11a, 5.10c, 5.11b, 5.10d, 5.11c, 5.12a, 5.11d … Beyond that it’s even more screwed up, but all you need to know is that it’s gonna hurt.
I would like his commentary on the grades preceding 5.9 too.
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...I would like his commentary on the grades preceding 5.9 too.
And it's a long Joshua Tree tradition that the first and last eight feet of a climb don't count toward a rating.
I got shut down on two 5.10a routes this last trip. Geoff was kind enough to suggest that holds had broken off one of them on which I simply could not figure out the moves (it could be true that holds broke off too). Meanwhile I walked a 10b and cruised another 10a.
Late on the trip I led a 5.7 that was solid 5.8 (actually it was loose, but I mean that the first eight feet were definitely 5.8 ). That same "5.7" start was also the start to a "5.9+" face climb and was the hardest part of the route!
It's getting worse and worse there. But it's actually all perfectly fine if one just accepts that there isn't enough documentation of the routes (guidebook authors don't have time to do 10,000 routes and, to my knowledge, few people report/comment to those authors; and yes, each time I go down there I submit notes to Randy Vogel about every route that I did). And so, yeah, the ratings are all over the map.
Love it ;)
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it is all 5.7 till you die
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When you learned to count it was 1,2,3,7,11.
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somethin like that
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Just spent a week in Josh with my older daughter Katie (she asked me to find a week to spend climbing with her!):
We did lots of climbing, some short stuff, some close to the road, and one route way out in the North Wonderland that took 2 1/2 hours to approach (the last 1/3 of a mile of this approach, to Grey Giant, was a mix of class three, four and even some class five; Katie thought it was nothing unusual).
We stayed in Ryan Campground. One long tradition when staying there is to walk over 150 yards and climb the Southwest Corner of Headstone Rock. It's often done at the end of the day, a warm down of sorts. Given it's location, the rock and climbing quality, it's a real Joshua Tree classic. I did it 20 years ago and so it never occurs to me to do it again (I'd rather have a beer in camp and watch others top out).
But when Katie asked if we could do it? Well, of course, I'd be very happy to do it again. We did a bunch of other climbing and hiking that day (including a four mile hike out to the now-closed Lost Horse Mine) and then climbed Headstone in the last of the day's sun:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40693359163_5656055875_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47607182102_5c2d902402_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/33782483588_4034e2f499_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40693409543_51462a319e_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46744282625_f4a87750e7_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/32717311317_fb205ea634_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46935911104_2571462b01_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46935970904_cafe0fd1ce_c.jpg)
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Perfect
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awesomeness
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~sweetness~
I don't know who's luckier, (although I know your response) dad or daughter.
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^^^
Pretty obvious answer to me ;)
I just re-looked at the photos I posted. Looking at the last one, my automatic response was: "God, look at those legs!"
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Nice photos. Looks like stellar weather.
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Nice photos. Looks like stellar weather.
Yes, great weather. Especially after what's been a long winter :)
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Ah, Joshua Tree. Where a 5.7 face to crack route has a solid 5.9 inch and a quarter crack crux.
Love the place.
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it is 5.7 your just old and soft
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it is 5.7 your just old and soft
No, but both things are true (it's 5.9 and I am old and soft).
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:D
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Snow flurries this morning in Red Rocks campground. I’ve never seen that before!
We all got in two fantastic climbing days. Today will NOT be a third.
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Well...?? How was the first two days?
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Well...?? How was the first two days?
David got in (among a bunch of climbing), one five pitch route which was new to him. This may not sound like a big deal, but since he’s been climbing at Red Rocks since the early 1980s and has done hundreds of routes there, he was quite pleased.
Caleb had his mind blown by his first Red Rocks climbs, was tickled to onsight a 5.10c roof and is now probably ruined for Joshua Tree (not everyone can see the incredible beauty and fantastic quality of J Tree climbing once they’ve experienced the candy store of Red Rocks routes).
Joel got in a ton of pitches and got a lot of winter time cobwebs wiped away.
I got in a five pitch, 5.7 ultra-classic that I had never done before (new to all of us except Dave). I also finally got to meet and climb with the legendary but elusive Jeremy, who demonstrated that yes, he really can run it out with not-common insouciance.
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the legendary but elusive Jeremy, who demonstrated that yes, he really can run it out with not-common insouciance.
Yep, he certainly collided with some type of large evolutionary block.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53589993255_757a0fa92d_b.jpg)
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I thought you met Jeremy the day we (he) finished Pay Dirt by running it out.
I know you were there - unless we're talking about a different Jeremy.
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Kat was talking today about the time we did a little hike on the PCT near Walker Pass so I looked up the pictures.
It came about because Cruxluv is getting ready to attempt a PCT through-hike (she and Kat still talk occasionally).
I was reminded that you and Vicki and T joined us at the Alabama Hills almost 9 years ago to the day (end of March 2015).
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOEr76wS4RBpytTaHfsNgHsSz1wqaO9fLoBhXYCwgwIY7Vtnl4KagEGywEoA3S1WCQB7PY4lLZtQpdyMa7fyaYGhdw2ykHeXNg2o4_rW5m8_dCDxwsMWwgavub1U0Zxs3lL2_tlcnr6l0tGx84rsbjz=w1105-h598-s-no-gm?authuser=0)
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Snow flurries this morning in Red Rocks campground. I’ve never seen that before!
We all got in two fantastic climbing days. Today will NOT be a third.
Nice! Though it sounds like you stole my weird weather luck. The missus and I will be out there in a couple weeks. Current forecast for us is 70° and sunny. But we'll see how that changes over the next 2 weeks. I tend to attract funny conditions when I plan an adventure.
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I thought you met Jeremy the day we (he) finished Pay Dirt by running it out.
I know you were there - unless we're talking about a different Jeremy.
Not a different Jeremy, but a different Brad. I wasn't there the day Pay Dirt was finished. I knew of Jeremy, and may, maybe met him in passing once. But it was fun to actually climb with him - especially on an obscure and poorly described route that turned out to be quite fun (and from which I scored two - not one, but two - nearly new #3 Camalots which had been left behind as a rap station).
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If Caleb's wish to make this an annual group Red Rocks trip works out, I'll have to start another thread. This was a great beginning and I've got to get back there more this year (since I'll have even more free time coming up).