Joshua Tree National Park 2017, California - Day 7

Rappelling off the top of The Bong

Another amazing day with Seth Pettit of Mojave Guides at Joshua Tree National Park. I spent the day climbing 8 pitches using the crack climbing techniques I learned during my first day with Seth. I was pretty stoked to climb crack so I can practice jamming. Like my first day with Seth, I took every opportunity I could to jam my hands, fingers or feet! Enjoy some photos taken of our day.

Our first stop was the Reggie Dome West Face. We parked in the (Wonderland North) parking lot of the Boy Scout trailhead and followed the climbers trail to Reggie Dome. I'm really impressed with the climber's trail signs throughout the JTree park!

This climber's trail was once a road used to access Keys Ranch many years ago.

Reggie Dome West Face

Right: The Chief

I followed Seth up the The Chief (5.5), 

then top roped the fun slab climbs 

Speed Bump (5.6) and Fender Bender (5.8).
We were the only climbers here at
the Reggie Dome West Face.

We headed over to Bear Island for lunch and more climbing.

Like the Reggie Dome, we were the only ones at Bear Island.

I followed Seth on Shardik (5.3)

Just look at that crack! 

Then top roped 3 routes on the northwest side;

Kodiak (5.3) - super fun start with crack near the top

Polar Bears in Bondage (5.7) - fun layback crack at start with reachy mid section

Ursa Major (5.7) - my fave! 

Left: Polar Bears in Bondage (5.7)

Right: Ursa Major (5.7) The crux is right at the start but 

that crack was a super relief! It was sweet to slot my fingers

in the crack for a solid rest right off the cruxy start! #fingercracklove

For my last climb we headed over to The Blob

and I followed Seth up The Bong. But not after

we watched two solo climbers go up it first.

The Bong (5.4) - jam time! Now this is a super fun route

with lots of places to jam. The crux is a small roof but beyond

that the angle lessened and I got to practice "shuffling" my jammed

hands while smearing the sides of the crack with my feet.

Seth and I at the top of The Bong

Pano from the top of The Bong

Another beautiful day for climbing in Joshua Tree NP! 

It was a bit windy (at the tops) but still a great day for practicing newly learned skill sets. 

I never thought I'd learn how to crack climb, or if I would even like it. Learning the 

basics was fun and I'm totally in love with it! I love the technicality and the mental

aspect of this style of climbing. There is a lot of satisfaction of being able to obtain a 

good hold when you have your fingers, hands, toes and/or feet jammed into a crack.

Thanks so much Seth and Mojave Guides for a memorable time learning in JTree!