scrambling/hiking at JTree

On Wednesday we returned to Joshua Tree for some scrambling/bouldering/hiking in a different area, around Hidden Valley. It took us three hours to complete a mile-long loop, because we were climbing up and around so many rock formations. Everyone had so much fun.

 

Steve took the four kids to Palm Springs at this point, to eat gelato and do some shopping, but Carl, Kim and I stayed behind to explore the Chasm of Doom, the imaginatively named scramble through the mountain. There were places where you had to lie on your stomach and wriggle through rock, places where you had to drop over an overhang, and places where you had to stem on the walls to climb up. It was amazingly cool.

We met up in Palm Springs for dinner at Trio, which was delicious and also really funny because the waiter kept teasing Seb. He asked for a burger without onions and tomato, and the waiter asked if Seb just wanted a lettuce sandwich. And then brought him a plate of just lettuce! We were laughing so much.

climbing at Joshua Tree

On Tuesday, we drove to Joshua Tree National Park to do some rock climbing on the amazing formations there. Liesl had never climbed outside before, and it had been years for me, so it was exciting (and nerve-wracking). It turned out to be so fun for both of us.

Kim led our routes and set our anchors; the rest of us top-roped. Kim set 4 routes -- two easy ones, that everyone did, a 10c, and then an 11-something that only Danica climbed. I struggled a bit to figure out how to move, and what to hold on to, especially with my cold fingers and toes, but after I warmed up a bit it felt great. I was especially proud of Liesl for persisting -- for finishing her first climb, which was scary and unknown, and even more for doing a second climb, which turned out to be easier.