Bouldering at Joshua Tree National Park

Sometime recently I got the crazy idea to go to Joshua Tree National Park to go bouldering. Usually I do it indoors at Stone Gardens in Seattle, but I have been wanting to try outdoor bouldering for a while now. Since Joshua Tree is only a few hours away from where I live I figured it would be worth the trip.

The morning started out by me waking up late. I planned to get out of the house at 9:00 am, but since I forgot to set my alarm I didn't wake up until about 10:00. I hopped in the shower and got packed. First I had to stop at the grocery store and wal mart, so I could get the things I needed like water and flashlight. I didn't plan on staying late or getting lost, but I figure it is better to be safe than sorry when going to the desert. I did't get out of San Clemente until 11:00, so I was already trying to make up for lost time and I was not even 5 miles from my apartment.

I knew that driving up I-5 on a beautiful sunny day would be bad, so I took another route. This is the only part of the trip I prepared for the night before. Rather than going up I-5 to I-10, which is the simplest way, I drove through the Cleveland National Forest on the Ortega Highway. This got me to I-15, which I could take to Highway 91. Once through Riverside it was a short time to get to I-10. This plan sounded simple enough, but I was not the only person with the plan to get on Highway 91. Highway 91 is also known as the Beaches Highway. Highway 91 and I-15, at the interchange between them, was packed with cars going west to the coast. Why would anyone want to spend a sunny Saturday at the beach? That would be crazy.

Once I got to I-10 I was on my way. I was finally going at speeds that are normal for highways down here and that was going to get me to Joshua Tree in no time. Joshua Tree is located about 100 miles east Los Angeles, just north of Palm Springs. Palm Springs also happens to be in Coachella Valley where some one of the three largest wind farms in California. Turthfully I thought it was kind of distracting to drive through the windfarm, as I was drawn to stare at the many slowly rotating wind mills. They never turned in unison, so I was mesmerized for a short period of time until I passed the farms.

I got to the northern entrance to the park at about 3:30 in the afternoon, far later than I had expected to be there. I made a quick stop in the visitor center to pick up a map of the park and a book on bouldering. With those two things I was able to find the routes in the park.

My first stop in the park was Ryan Mountain Campground. There are some easier routes here climb, so it was a good start. The first thing I learned was how different the ratings are for indoor and outdoor routes. The V0 routes at Joshua Tree are nothing compared to the V0 routes at Stone Gardens. They are much more difficult. I did a couple V0s on the boulders right in the campground and then decided to take a break by climbing some of piles of rocks. From the tops of them I there were some amazing views of the parks. After climbing to the top of the one boulder formations I went to go find some more routes. Here is a short video of my climb up an easier route I found (16 MB).

Once I had my fill of climbing and I was too tired to climb anymore I decided to do that whole tourist thing. I went to Keys View and saw where the San Andreas Fault lies just south of the San Bernadino Mountains. That was a pretty amazing thing to see. It was clearly evident where years of the two plates on either side of the fault coming together had caused the earth to start to rise up.

I drove around a to Hidden Valley Campground and Intersection Rock to see what they were like and I would definitely like to return to those places to do some more bouldering. After taking some photos as the sun was setting I decided to head home. I had planned to stay the night do some climbing in the morning, but I was not looking forward to another 3 or 4 hour drive if there was traffic, so I got on the road and was headed home by 9:30. Luckily the drive back was only 2 hours, so I was home early to get a good night's rest.

I can't wait to go back and boulder and camp with my friends there.