Winds of Change

The early part of our trip was heavily loaded with bouldering. At Joshua Tree that started to change, as the trad climbing is incredible. Kristal was chomping at the bit to get on some awesome crack climbs.

One of the awesome things about Joshua Tree is the amount of climbing (and bouldering) that can be found right in the Hidden Valley campground. Here is Kristal just after we climbed Hands Off 5.8. You can see our tent in the lower left.

Here's me at the top of Hemmingway Buttress, just after we climbed Feltonian Physics 5.8, one of the many incredible climbs on this face.

Kristal excercising some creative rope management techniques, preparing for the rap down after climbing Double Dogleg 5.7.

We spent 10 days in Joshua Tree, our longest stay at any destination yet. We could have easily stayed longer, but more desert destinations awaited, and the temperatures were steadily rising. The next stop was Red Rocks, just outside of Las Vegas, another trad climbing playground with incredible multipitch routes.

The first one we got on was Birdland 5.7 (6 pitches, 560 feet). Here's me on the awesome 5th pitch.

Me just before my first trad lead of the trip, on Physical Grafitti 5.6 (2 pitches, 310 feet).

And here's a shot from the top of the awesome climb Frogland 5.8 (6 pitches, 770 feet), with Las Vegas in the background.