Kenton and Sarah gearing up for Double Cross

On May 30, 2025 I made another trip out to Joshua Tree this week, this time to climb with Derek and his family. It was a wonderful morning chasing shade near Intersection Rock, catching up with these close friends, searching for lizards in the dark nooks and crannies between the boulders, and struggling my way up another few moderate climbs. No matter how many times I climb at J-Tree, I always feel I'm being challenged, even on the "easy" stuff.

We climbed Double Cross, said to be one of the most popular climbs in the Park, followed by trips up Sexy Grandma (a tricky arete) and Dogleg (a hand crack with a really tough start).

The day finished with a car tour all the way through the Park to the southern end. Along the way we saw new sights to me: a white cactus "garden" (Cholla Cactus Garden?), and a grove of trees/bushes that looked liked oversized seaweed (Ocotillo Patch?). It was worth the extra driving time to see these things!

Double Cross (5.7+) - It was an ominous start to the day when I slipped ten feet up and fell to the ground while trying to do a much harder variation left of the actual start. Duh. I then moved to easier climbing on the right which, 15 feet off the ground, traversed back left into the hand crack. I needed all the larger gear brought (doubles up to 3's) for this route, and I would have felt even more comfortable if I had brought along a #4 but had not done so. After the start the climb turns into a rather straightforward hand and fist crack.

Sexy Grandma (5.9) - There are two cruxes on this climb. The first is making the moves just below the first bolt to get from the left to the right of the arete. The second comes halfway up the higher face. At the first crux, I worked my left foot up carefully in the crack on the left of the arete and placed my right foot in the dish on the right wall, then traversed to the right wall and started up the arete. The second crux is a sequence of tenuous face moves on shallow dishes and small bulging footholds using open hand pinches/palms. The climbing eases up after this.

Dogleg (5.8+) - A very very hard start, I pulled on a piece of gear to clear the starting moves. Are there holds missing? Derek was able to start farther to the right than I did and traverse back left into the route. After the start it is a pretty routine hand crack to the top, but not easy for sure! The descent is a rappel off the opposite face of the rock.

May Joshua Tree and Tahquitz with Will

 

Will and Kenton at the top of Space Walk

May 25, 2025

Will and I took a break from our family vacation to spend a morning climbing at Joshua Tree. We climbed three routes in the Hemingway area, after reading online and in the guidebook that this area provided "lots of shade". We had a great time climbing, but this cliff line faces northeast, and there was plenty of sun during the morning hours when we were there. Our first climb (Feltonian Physics) was in direct sun. For the second and third climbs we went farther right and around the corner to the north which was shaded. There were only a handful of climbs here but we were able to stay cooler. I was happy to get Will onto some trad routes. He was happy they were easy enough that he could avoid jamming to a large extent.

Feltonian Physics (5.8) - The hardest part of this climb for me was an awkward mantle into an small alcove at the top. I felt very crunched up, almost claustrophobic. This was almost certainly the wrong way to do the move.

Space Walk (5.8) - Tricky start, easy traverse two-thirds of the way up. This climb was shorter than Feltonian and overall felt easier.

Head Over Heals (5.10a) - We did this on top rope and did a variation that finishes in the same place that Space Walk does. I had to cut feet on the rail at the roof before moving my hands farther left to make a high right heel hook. From here I grabbed small edges for both the left and right hands above the lip, then cranked hard aiming for the crack way above (it is better just a few inches above its bottom).

May 26, 2025

The next day we left even earlier (around 5:30 AM) to drive to Tahquitz. Our first mistake was not realizing we needed a "National Forest Adventure Pass" to park at Humbert Park. These are sold at the gas stations in town, which didn't open until 7 AM. After this brief setback, we racked up at the car - I didn't want to haul a pack to the base, although I realized later on that doing so would not have been a problem: the descent route puts you back where you started. Our next mistake was thinking that we would be walking along the main hiking trail for 10-15 minutes before encountering the climbers' access trail. We pass the climbing trail and hiked for a good 10 minutes farther before realizing this mistake and doubling back. The hike up (and down!) the climbers' trail is a good quad burn for sure. Once at the base, we didn't have much trouble locating our objective: Fingertrip.

Fingertrip (5.7+) - I ended up doing the 5.8 variation on the first pitch to avoid the big traverse with loose rock discussed on various trip reports. This was very straightforward. On the second pitch I located tricky-to-see traverse by looking at a Mountain Project photo. I extended draws here and after the traverse to avoid rope drag. After this traverse the climbing heads up into an arching corner. I linked pitch 2 into pitch 3. At the top of the corner is a section of solid undercling but with only smears for feet. Past the undercling it is through an overhang and then easy climbing up to Lunch Ledge. We simul climbed the last 10 feet to this ledge so that we would both have the most comfortable belay in this portion. The last pitch first climbs through some large blocks, then I moved right to the 5.6 variation and followed a slabby small-fingers ramp/corner crack to the top. 

Will approaching Lunch Ledge on Fingertrip

We followed another party on the Friction Descent - this would definitely not have been straightforward to do without another group showing us the way. There are some very steep sections where it is certainly not obvious which way to go at first. 

At the top of Fingertrip