January 2025, we were in So Cal and Santa Ana winds had just started some serious wildfires. The forecast called for more wind and relatively cold. It looked like at least a few days over the long weekend wouldn't be as windy, so we planned a trip out to the desert with the hope of a mix of peak bagging and climbing near and in Joshua Tree National Park.
2025-01-09 we packed up the truck and headed east eventually getting out of the worst of the greater LA traffic and up to the desert. It was windy, and the first sign of trouble was that the traffic lights in Yucca Valley were out. No big deal, except that meant the gas stations were closed too - so much for smug gasoline burning when the power goes out. There was still enough in the tank for the day if not for the weekend, so we headed up towards our destination - Chaparrosa Peak. Our second sign was some sawhorse barriers partly across the road. There were no signs, so we guessed they were warning about the stream crossing just ahead - fortunately that was pretty shallow. We got to the parking lot and prepared for hiking. Iris went ahead in search of a bathroom - which she found, along with a ranger who said the preserve was closed (because of the wind and fears of starting a fire). Well, I thought hiking was relatively unlikely to start a fire, but I guess some people can't help but smoke. So we decided to hike a different point. We headed to the end of a road S of Pioneertown and parked there and then followed an old road up to a water tank and then social / animal trails and straight bushwhacking up to the summit of Sawtooths East at 4776 ft. There we hunkered down out of the wind before returning to the truck.
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We still had some time so we went back through Yucca Valley and parked at a little picnic area and hiked up to North Park Peak. We got there shortly after sunset. Then back down to the truck. It was still windy, but we could see the traffic lights were back on in at least the east side of town. We got gas and then headed on to JT where we had Indian food before driving around a bit looking for a place to sleep. We were stopped by a few no trespassing signs before finding a spot for the night.
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2025-01-10 We got up early and headed into the park. Stopping near the entrance where we still had some cell service. Then we went to the Barker Dam parking area and geared up for the day. It was supposed to be the least windy day of the weekend, so we planned on some climbing and peaks in the Wonderland of Rocks area. We headed in past Barker Dam and to the Don Juan Boulder. There we followed Chris' lead from a few weeks earlier and set up to aid climb the bolt ladder. Turns out some of the bolts didn't have hangers which made things a little more exciting. I didn't have my full aid setup, but I had enough to get up and set up a single rope hanging down from the top. Iris used an ascender and gri-gri on that for backup while she aided up the bolt ladder. This was her first experience with that and as one would expect it was slow and tiring. She made it up to the missing hangers and then just ascended the rope up to the top and single rope rappelled down. I went up again cleaning the quickdraws and nuts I had used as improvised bolt hangers and then rapped down the west side. Unfortunately when I tossed the rope down and when I pulled it it managed to get into some cactus, so we spent quite some time pulling spines out of the rope to prevent future unpleasant surprises.
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I was sort of thinking about climbing up "figures on a landscape" or "solid gold" on the Astro Domes, but in light of the wind and cold and shade and the fact that these are multipitch we decided not to. Instead we went to Lenticular Dome where I led up both pitches of "Mental Physics" in one go and then Iris came up. I don't think I had ever done the second pitch before. After tagging the summit we rapped down and then went to N Astro Dome.
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Our route involved a lot of scrambling over and around big boulders but eventually we made it to the W side where we climbed "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" as the sun set and then scrambled to the summit. We rapped down the route to the right - "Lead us not into temptation" - the 70M rope was just long enough to reach a boulder with an easy downclimb. It was pretty dark by now but it looked like there was a class 3 scramble to the summit of S Astro Dome - in fact from where we were it was more like class 2. Then we headed S on the W side of the domes. This was far from easy travel with a lot of scrambling and at one point tunneling under a series of giant boulders. We might have been able to scout out a better route if it was still light, but it was a fun adventure with a nearly full moon - although it would have been more fun with a lighter pack. We eventually made it back to the trail and the truck. For fun we decided to check to see if there were any empty spots in Hidden Valley - sure enough, there was one. We cooked up dinner and slept there.
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2025-01-11 It was cold when we got up. We drove to the parking for real hidden valley and parked facing the sun. This warmed up the cab and us and we watched people while eating breakfast. It was still a little cold and windy when we got out so we scrambled around through the "chasm of doom" eventually ending up inside Real Hidden Valley. Then we went back to the car and got climbing gear and went to Bite Rock where I led "acupuncture", a short, sharp, and otherwise good crack. We tagged the summit, Iris rapped down, and I dropped the rope and scrambled down the other side. Then we headed into Real Hidden Valley and back to Illusion Dweller which I led - I did not make it easy, so I belayed Iris from the top but she didn't get too far. Then I lowered down cleaning it - good job much younger Tom leading this back in the day with no tape or crack gloves.
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We scrambled up Thin Rock and then back to the top of the formation with Illusion Dweller (The Sentinel). This involved at least a few moves and/or some tunneling. Then we headed to the Echo Rocks area where we scrambled up Echo Rock (not so casual up or down) and Echo Cove S Face - much easier - and in the dark. By now it was fully dark, so we checked Hidden Valley again and found a spot.
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2025-01-12 It was colder and windier this morning. We drove up to Keys View for breakfast and we hoped to get cell service, but that was weak. Eventually we got bundled up and looked at the overlook before hiking up to S Inspiration and Mount Inspiration - at 5560 ft this was the highest peak of the weekend with a nice view down over the Coachella Valley. Also one of the coldest with a bitter wind blowing. We went back to the truck and then headed back down the hill looking for a place out of the wind and in the sun to climb.
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We found that in the form of Pope's Crack. We could see from a distance that some people were on it but as we got closer we saw that the last one was heading up. By the time I was ready to go they were at the top and the rappel is down a different route. I opted for the direct version which I had never tried. I failed on my flash attempt and was a little worried I wouldn't be able to figure out how to do the move - it turns out I just needed to just paste my foot really high on the grainy rock and muscle my way up. I set up a TR and Iris made it up to the overhanging crux and came back down. I went up on TR and easily did the move and then rapped down. By now this alcove was going into the shade so we moved over to the S Face of Echo Cove and did one more climb there in the golden light before the sun set. Then we drove back home.
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