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.