Reflections on Joshua Tree

I don’t think there’s a place that I’ve visited that is as unique as Joshua Tree National Park. The adjectives that come to mind are serene, otherworldly, isolated, busy, timeless, calm, violent, intriguing... The Joshua Tree itself is a rare and unique beast. Growing only in the high deserts of Southern California, it looks jacked and perfect all at the same time. The Joshua tree was named by Mormon pioneers who when seeing the tree thought that it resembled what the Biblical Joshua would have looked like brandishing his sword for battle. Other plants in the Park include Yucca and various other angry plants. I pretty much decided that every growing thing in the park is angry. I’m not sure why that is, but let me illustrate.

Take for example the Joshua Tree – a labyrinth of limbs and outgrowths that follow no particular order. Every square inch of the tree is covered in pricks and points will make the toughest bloque scream. I think I’d rather take a bath in hydrochloric acid (HCL – thanks Mr. Bill) than tumble down the side of a Joshua Tree. Now look at the Yucca plan – giant pricklies (that’s the scientific term) on the end of each leaf. Now look at every other bush or tree that I don’t know the name to and they’re all angry. Each, outfitted with its own unique weapon of destruction. Look at the rock – the reason most people visit Joshua Tree National Park. J-Tree rock is the sharpest rock I’ve ever touched. Two hours on that stuff and your fingers will be screaming for a week – calmed only by an Anderson Valley IPA from the Crossroads Café – just outside of the park.

James and I got up on a brisk December morning and headed out for the 2 ½ hour drive to Josh. There are a couple traditions that must be observed: The Water Canyon Coffee Company and the Crossroads Café. The former is the morning caffeination stop which serves both to get the brain working and to induce the morning slide. The latter is the post climbing feast consisting of the Crossroads burger and a number of Anderson Valley IPAs (the number corresponding directly with the dehydration factor and the how bad your fingers hurt).

We bouldered for about 3 hours on Gunsmoke, the Piano Crack, and a few other problems of which we didn’t know the names and then went to find our campsite. The wind was howling so we tried to find a fairly sheltered place. We headed up to the tallest point in Josh and watched the sun set. The wind had to be blowing in excess of 40 miles per hour up there and with the sun setting – geez, it was downright bitter. Ok, now I can see why some plants might be a little upset. We headed back down the mountain, near frozen and built a raging fire to warm our bones. We drank some Anchor Steem
s, shared some Anchor Steems with our neighbors and passed out for a chilly night under the stars.

With sore hands, we got up the next day and built a fire and made some breakfast. We hiked up Ryan mountain which turned out to be a really good mellow hike – about 2 ½ hours round trip. We snapped some pictures, added a few boulders to the shrine on top of Ryan Mountain and headed back down and back to Orange County.