j.p. goes to j.t....t.r.

[Justin M Pettersen]

From the first joshua tree that you see driving south on I-15 in
Utah images of monzonite domes fill your head. Well at least mine.
This was my finest trip to joshua tree that i have had.
I met Reid Sanders and his girlfriend on monday. I started the
trip with the fine 5.7's on dairy queen wall. We then headed over to
Steve's canyon and I onsighted hobbit roof. the thin face moves at the
bottom are maybe .10+ and the roof is 5.9ish. what a fine short route. We
then went over to double cross (i had to do it again just because of all
the ruckous that people have made over the route. It was a little
disconcerting to see the blood at the bottom, but it was a fine lead.
We then walked back over by hobbit roof and did grand theft avacado.
Flared jams and average quality rock make this 5.7 a bitch.
The next day we went ti Indian cove. I had never been there. It
was 90+ degrees but still a quiet wonderful day. the highlight for me was
the 4 bolt 80 foot route silent scream. At .10a, it is a fine climb (as
far as faces go).
For our third day we went into the wonderland and were the first
ones on mental physics. I can never get used to the one bolt 70 foot
second pitch, but it was still a blast. In search of some shade we headed
to the bighorn mating grotto. I had onsighted dangling woo-li masters last
year (.10a crack)), and had eyed caught inside on a big set. This time i
was ready to step up and i fired caught inside. It seemed a little easier
than other .10b cracks in the park. It was sooo good! After that we were
in the mood for some wide stuff and headed over to the astro domes for hex
marks the poot. i carried a #3 a #4 and a #5 camalot. It is a great 5.7.
With our inflated egos we headed to real hidden valley the next
day. We started on sail away and then headed over to sports challenge
rock. I fretted for quite a while over my next lead. I bouldered up the
start of clean and jerk and placed a #1 camalot. I down climbed, shook out
and fired the rest of the route. The .10c is definately at the bottom.
I had wanted to nail clean and jerk, illusion dweller and fisticuffs in a
day. I fired up the great jams on fisticuffs but didn't have the arms or
the head for illusion dweller.
The next morning i decided that i had lead and redpointed .10a,
.10b, .10c so i needed to try at least one .10d. RUBICON! I didn't expect
the starting crack and the traverse in to the finger crack to be so hard.
I had to put 4 foot slings on my first 3 pieces, which made me a little
shakey! I shook out and sped up to the fixed nut at the bulge. I thought
that a fixed piece at the crux would make me happy, but it didn't. The nut
was a terrible placement on a huge crystal. I clipped it and moved for the
good feet and fired in a medium nut. I screamed with joy at the top!
Our trip ended with a journey up walk on the wild side. I wasnt
concerned until i actually started climbing. The route goes at 5.7 and has
about 9 bolts in it's 3 pitches. Leaving the secong belay almost made me
lose my mind. It is definately no harder than 5.7 but it is a little airy
and i was concerned that if i fell in the 20 feet before the first bolt i
would probably land on deb and then tumble half way down the first pitch.
luckily it didn't happen. Deb took the sharp end on the third pitch and
clipped the 2 bolts in 70 feet of climbing for her first lead in joshua
tree!
All in all it was a perfect trip. I would love to hear about
anyone elses experiences on any of these climbs. Give me an e-mail!

Justin "I never want to clip another bolt" Pettersen