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Joshua Tree National Park Trip December

diablo

12-Apr-2010
7:29:10 PM

Howdy,

I am planning a trip to Joshua Tree National Park in southern CA, USA. Looking at going sometime in the last dec/early jan timeframe. Im lookin to see if people here have been, have any suggestions, or wanna come along. Lemme know!

Ryan

nmonteith

12-Apr-2010
8:13:29 PM

It's bloody cold in December. Night temps can drop below zero and daytime temps are in the low teens. Don't underestimate how cold it can get. I traveled extensively in the south-west USA around that time and most mornings involved heating our olive oil over the camp stove to thaw it out, and smashing chunks of ice out of our water bottles. Good friction though...

BigMike

12-Apr-2010
8:41:50 PM

I second that emotion. I was in J Tree for several weeks in December 2000 and it was freezing at night. Lots of firewood burning to stay warm in the biting wind. Days could be warm however esp if you were climbing in the sun.

patto

12-Apr-2010
8:45:57 PM

I was going to write the same thing neil.

I was there in mid December during a particularly cold snap. It had snowed the previous week. It was getting down to around -10C every night. The fires kept us warm until we went to bed. I had entire full water bottles freeze. During the day it took a long time to warm up.

Rock there was good and the countryside was amazing but I wouldn't recommend it as your sole destination. Come a few months earlier, Yosemite is great in October and still good in November if you are lucky like I was.

Eduardo Slabofvic

12-Apr-2010
9:11:28 PM

Josh has good friction all the time. It was cold at night in April, its a high altitude desert, so cold at night is normal. Take a good sleeping bag and plenty of beer.

widewetandslippery

13-Apr-2010
7:54:48 AM

On 12/04/2010 diablo wrote:
>Howdy,
>
>I am planning a trip to Joshua Tree NationIm lookin
>to see if people here have been, have any suggestions,
>
>Ryan

You could go somewhere else. JT is like the grit or Mt Kiera. Really good local crag but really its shit.

pmonks

13-Apr-2010
8:14:14 AM

On 13/04/2010 widewetandslippery wrote:
>You could go somewhere else. JT is like the grit or Mt Kiera. Really good
>local crag but really its shit.

You must have had the wrong hallucinogenics!

widewetandslippery

13-Apr-2010
8:33:32 AM

On 13/04/2010 pmonks wrote:
>On 13/04/2010 widewetandslippery wrote:
>>You could go somewhere else. JT is like the grit or Mt Kiera. Really
>good
>>local crag but really its shit.
>
>You must have had the wrong hallucinogenics!

Maybe if you're trippin' the place is alright.

I stand by my comment. Jtree would be an unreal local crag. The landscape is beautiful. There is so much rock that I reckon only a few locals actually have seen most of it. There is good rope climbing and bouldering. BUT as an international destination crag I think its way down on the list.

egosan

13-Apr-2010
9:45:11 AM

On 13/04/2010 widewetandslippery wrote:

>BUT as an international destination crag I think its way down on the list.

Why?

widewetandslippery

13-Apr-2010
10:09:52 AM

On 13/04/2010 egosan wrote:
>On 13/04/2010 widewetandslippery wrote:
>
>>BUT as an international destination crag I think its way down on the
>list.
>
>Why?

Basicly I thought it was overrated. The rock is often nasty, coarse, grainy. The popular areas were crowded and otherwise its all spread out. The rangers were nazis. I believe its popularity is due to a massive number of routes and its proximity to LA. Its not that it is completely shit but for your $ I think there are many more worthwile places in the USA to go to.

patto

13-Apr-2010
10:19:45 AM

On 13/04/2010 widewetandslippery wrote:
>On 13/04/2010 egosan wrote:
>>On 13/04/2010 widewetandslippery wrote:
>>
>>>BUT as an international destination crag I think its way down on the
>>list.
>>
>>Why?
>
>Basicly I thought it was overrated. The rock is often nasty, coarse, grainy.
>The popular areas were crowded and otherwise its all spread out. The rangers
>were nazis. I believe its popularity is due to a massive number of routes
>and its proximity to LA. Its not that it is completely shit but for your
>$ I think there are many more worthwile places in the USA to go to.

I second this. Its popular because its in a populated region and it offers climbing all year round something that is not common in the US.

I had a great time a J-tree, but it was the least impressive climbing of my trip.

egosan

13-Apr-2010
10:23:27 AM

Thank you.

wallwombat

13-Apr-2010
11:01:46 AM

Here's an excellent vid I watched the other day of Kurt Smith taking Chris Linder to Joshua Tree to attempt the second ascent of a sick route that Smith climbed in 1988. It really shows what a sick little mutant The General really was.

patto

13-Apr-2010
12:08:57 PM

Cool video really. Cool climbing.

J-Tree has some awesom climbing. But personally I prefer jaw dropping lanscapes and big ass cliffs. J-Tree had lots of great single pitch if that is your thing. Bouldering is good too there.

But personally I prefer 6+ pitch climbs.

haggis

13-Apr-2010
1:40:51 PM

Whilst I generally agree with the comments suggesting JTree isn't a "must visit" place for the wandering climber, it does have the advantage that for climber travelling alone, it's easy to turn up and find someone else to climb with.

Hidden Valley campsite was full of climbers and had a big noticeboard full of friendly belayers when I was there many years ago.

patto

13-Apr-2010
2:07:20 PM

On 13/04/2010 haggis wrote:
>Whilst I generally agree with the comments suggesting JTree isn't a "must
>visit" place for the wandering climber, it does have the advantage that
>for climber travelling alone, it's easy to turn up and find someone else
>to climb with.
>
>Hidden Valley campsite was full of climbers and had a big noticeboard
>full of friendly belayers when I was there many years ago.

Yes it certainly has that advantage. Thats why it, Yosemite and Squamish ended up getting my longest stays. All have a good fun campsite with lots of people. I'm sure there are others though. Red rocks wasn't bad either, though the campsite wasn't exactly pleasant.

pmonks

13-Apr-2010
2:54:10 PM

On 13/04/2010 patto wrote:
> Red rocks wasn't bad either, though the campsite wasn't exactly pleasant.

Oh yeah the Red Rocks campsite sucks - windy and dusty. But at least it's close enough to Vegas that you can eat like a king each night (avoid the Strip though, as it's a total rip off). Ellis Island isn't too bad for an off-strip casino - cheap ($5 from memory) steaks.

There are 17 messages in this topic.