Joshua Tree National Park | 8/59

7L1A7696

I always drive.  In fact, she doesn’t know how to drive stick.  I have tried many times to teach her, but she always seems to have an excuse as to why it wouldn’t be a “convenient time” to learn.  This weeks excuse, “well, I have to snuggle the kitty right now, so I don’t think I can.”  I think she just wants to sleep as we roll down the road!

7L1A7325

The kitty is more interested in chewing her toes off than cuddling anyways.

7L1A7328

7L1A7336

7L1A7334

They said “don’t touch” the cactus… so what is the first thing you have to try?

7L1A7337

Her worst nightmare of accidentally falling into the cacti was almost realized during this picture.

7L1A7351

There was a lot to do in Joshua Tree.  There are so many places to climb on and explore.  It is a little kid’s paradise!  When I was young, my mom would take us out in the city in Chicago, and my main goal was to climb on all the statues, guard rails, and tables that I could.  It was like a game.  There is one particular monkey statue that we would climb up and then slide down over and over and over again.  As I was bouncing around on these rocks, I got some of that back.  I felt that maybe-I-could-get-on-top-of-that feeling again.
7L1A7406

We bounced around the Skull Rock area for a while.  We would just look out and see the next feature that we wanted to scramble up and then make our way towards it.  It was pretty entertaining.

7L1A7410

7L1A7419

7L1A7425

There are some pretty cool shaped Joshua Trees.  There is something inspiring about these trees.  It probably has to do with their ability to survive in such an arid landscape.  They’re just tough.

7L1A7437

7L1A7439

Key’s View was supposed to have the “best views” in the park.  At least, this is what we had read before we hit the park.  In the spirit of full disclosure – we were disappointed.  The air was kind of smoggy (I guess there is bad pollution from Palm Springs and even L.A.) and the view honestly wasn’t that epic.  I felt a little robbed.

7L1A7462

Most of the time we have nothing but “glowing reviews” for the places in the parks that we visit.  This was one of the first that we were kind of “meh, its alright.”  It feels a little sinful to say that about a place in our national parks.  It feels almost sacrilegious.  But hey, that is what we felt and we figured we would pass it on.

7L1A7466

The kitty liked Joshua Tree.  Actually, I think he just liked to be out of Death Valley

7L1A7469

He assumed the role of driver’s assistant.

7L1A7554

7L1A7538

7L1A7539

7L1A7563

This little nook was once an indian dwelling.  It was a really nice spot!  I can’t imagine having such a prime piece of property!

7L1A75687L1A7630

7L1A7583

7L1A7574

7L1A7680

It is in these moments when Madison and I pause and say, “Can you believe that we are doing this?  It just doesn’t feel like real life!”  We feel so blessed that we can enjoy such beautiful places together!

IMG_7468

The next day we went wanted to get some climbing in.  Most of the climbing is in an area called Hidden Valley.  We went to the area and looked up some of the most iconic climbs that we could handle.  Right off the parking lot, we found this beauty – “Right Ski Track”.  We made our way up the right crack in the rock.  It was fun climbing right there so close to the road.  All of the retirees were snapping pictures of us – we felt like celebrities.

7L1A7720

7L1A7709

It was super windy on the top, and we had a hard time communicating.  It was hard to tell Madison that she was safe to begin climbing.  We had to wait until we could sneak in a signal between the wind gusts.  We decided that we need to get a pair of walkie talkies so we can talk to each other safely.  Plus, we could also have really intense games of hide-and-go-seek with our new 16 mile range!

IMG_3388

We had to take a break in the middle of our Joshua Tree stay for a couple of weddings.  Another one of my best friends was getting married in Canada, and one of Madison’s best friends was getting married in L.A.  So, we split up.  These weddings are getting out of control!

IMG_7478

Before we left, I saw this beautiful gap that seems to just beg for someone to rig a highline between it.  Sure enough, when I looked up if someone had rigged that line, it had been done!  So, I made some plans to come back and rig it after the wedding.

IMG_7481

7L1A7812

After we got back from the weddings, we drove to pick up the kitty at my Aunt Heather’s place in San Diego.  We stayed the night there and then took off to Joshua Tree the next morning.  We had coordinated with a few people on Facebook to rig the Hall of Horrors highline.  We sorted gear in the parking lot, and came up with a plan of attack.  Madison and I would climb up one side and get things set up on that side, and our newly made friends would set up the other side.  It was fool-proof.

7L1A7821

7L1A7818

We made it most of the way up our side when we ran into a problem.  Just 30 feet below the anchors on the right side was a large crack.  We planned to use the crack to climb up and reach the top where the highline bolts were.  However, when we got up to the crack, it was a lot larger than we had anticipated.  It was too large for the climbing gear that we had to protect us and it was too narrow for my whole body to fit inside.  To make a long story short, it was not safe for us to try and climb it.

IMG_3487

As I upload these photos, I am looking at the crack, and am kind of kicking myself.  I should have just gone for it.  But it really wasn’t safe (and there is no way my wife was going to let me even try).

We came up with a few ideas to try and make it up – I tried shoving my whole bag in the crack to see if I could use that as a step to squeeze in the wider part of the crack (still unsafe), we thought if I could wedge the knotted highline anchor in the crack, that maybe I could pull up on it (unsafe), I took off my harness and tried to squeeze all the way into the crack (very unsafe and too fat).  There was no way we were getting up to the anchors.

7L1A7810

I was really bummed.  We had to turn around.  I have a hard time letting go of ideas.  It is a weird mental battle that goes on in my head.  I was raised to think that nothing is impossible.  This kind of mentality causes a real disconnect when something doesn’t work out – my brain searches for the nonexistent solution.  I get a “does not compute” message back from my brain when life shuts me down like this

I was overrun with this frustration when we got to the parking lot.  I made it halfway across the lot when this random guy asked me to take a picture of him and his friends.  Despite my bad mood, I agreed to snap the photo.  This dude was all kinds of happy.  It swear, whenever I have a grumpy attitude the Universe finds it hilarious to send cheerful people to me.  In the moment, it really drives me crazy.

7L1A7842

Then it happened.  When I saw this guy’s tattooed fingers, I realized I had found my solution – the bridge over the gap of impossibility that I needed to satisfy the error codes my brain was throwing at me.  My newfound, happy-go-lucky friend had the words “HARD LUCK” tattooed across his knuckles.  That’s the difference.  It was possible to climb that section and rig this highline.  However, we just had a spell of hard luck.  We didn’t have the right gear to get to the top safely; it just wasn’t our day to rig that line.

7L1A7828

You know, I think hard luck is different, in a way, than bad luckBad luck is getting air bombed by a seagull or letting one rip right when the room goes quiet.  In both cases something was damaged – your favorite lion king sweatshirt in the case of the seagull poop, and your pride at that crowded, kind of stinky, party.

Hard luck, on the other hand, is more having to deal with a difficult situation.  Everything is fine.  Nobody got hurt and nothing got damaged, but your plans just aren’t working out how you would have liked.  You have to adjust to something else.  That is the hard part of it all – adjusting.

7L1A7859

So, we did the hard thing and adjusted our plans.  We went back near Hidden Valley to boulder with our new-found highline friends.  Joshua Tree is a bouldering Mecca. So really, it only makes sense that we got some bouldering time in.

7L1A7871

7L1A7872

7L1A7883

7L1A7885

7L1A7913

7L1A7931

7L1A7970

Bouldering is very mellow.  We would climb hard for about 45 seconds, and then sit around and chat, play music, and eat grapes.  It was really fun!

7L1A7974

7L1A8001

7L1A8014

It turned out to be a very pleasant evening, despite the hard luck.  We laughed a lot, ate some good fruit, and enjoyed the sunset with new friends.  We really couldn’t ask for anything more.  Joshua Tree is a beautiful place.  The landscape is unique and provides so much to do.  It was a privilege to spend such quality time in this park.  I will be coming back for sure.  And next time I come, I’ll have a better plan to get up to that highline!

7L1A8066

 

4 Comments

  1. Dawn from Camano Island

    Love this post! Your photos are gorgeous & I really appreciate your honesty about not really getting stoked about a place. Some bloggers just gush about EVERYthing & I find that annoying. Life just isn’t like that.

    If you’re passing through, check out New Jack City aka Sawtooth Canyon on the road between Lucerne Valley & Barstow. It’s BLM land–nice campground & lots of climbing opportunities. The place is full some weekends.

    My two youngest kids (now 33 & 30–how did that happen?) have enjoyed the weddings of many friends. The transition to baby showers has begun in earnest. Enjoy this time…

    And I totally empathize, Madison, with the driving thing. My husband drives all the time too. We have a 3/4 ton Silverado & we’re pulling a 25′ trailer. I told him I’d take a class in how to drive an RV but he told me he likes to drive. So I’m the conversationalist & he’s the driver. I overheard him telling my son that I’m not a very good driver & he’s right. Backing out of the garage & down the driveway can be a challenge for me. Sometimes I feel like a burden & it bugs me that I can’t just jump in the truck & go into town to buy groceries but it is what it is. I think this is just how it’s gonna work out. And I know I’m not going to give him a heart attack with my driving!!

    Happy trails & safe travels. Sure enjoying following your journeys. Ear skritches to Kitty.

    • Cees

      Thanks for such kind words about the post and photos! You’re seriously so nice! We are trying to be real for sure. It is a battle to “keep it real” sometimes in this world of perfect social media accounts. Life is good, but there are sticky parts we have to get through as well.

      I am glad that you are the conversationalist for your husband. Madison really does a good job with her co pilot duties! I am always asking her to get stuff for me in the back… she has learned to surf it out really well!

      The kitty appreciated the ear skritches!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.