Roadside Rock Climbing: Hwy 33

 

Rappelling From the top of "Black Wall", aka "Sespe Gorge" or simply, "the gorge".

I had a good couple of days over the weekend, both originating off Highway 33, the road to good things. Davi Rivas and I spent Saturday clipping bolts and climbing lines at a couple different areas off the highway: The Fortress and Sespe Gorge. Neither of us had previously climbed at this recently bolted area which the developer (the guy with the drill) named the Fortress. As for the Sespe Gorge ("Black Wall" for those who have a guide book), I've been climbing that wall, with and without ropes, since 1991. The place is classic, clean crack climbing on low-angle grippy sandstone. The wall gets you a couple hundred feet off the deck on easy breezy stuff.

David Rivas, starting the second pitch of "Ending Crack", 5.7, the gorge.

A couple of guys on "Tree Line", 5.5, the gorge. "Ending Crack" is the splitter at center left.

Davi Rivas starting up "Ending Crack".

Let's start with the Sespe Gorge. If you've ever heard me say that rock climbing in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties sucks, then this wall is an exception. Now, understand that when I diss our local climbing, it's because I lived in Joshua Tree for years, and climbed and bouldered all over the western US. And yes, I have climbed just about every route in the neighborhood (San Ysidro, Fire Crags, Painted Cave, Green Dome, Mugu, Echo, Malibu Creek, etc...) So yeah, I think I've earned the right to opine on our deficiency of quality rock. In my opinion, the only local places worth climbing are Pine Mountain and this place, the Sespe Gorge. The rest is either contrived or junk, mostly both. I understand that some of you might get a little sensitive and territorial, so I will allow that the are a couple good routes sprinkled here and there; The Great Race, or T-Crack come to mind, but the best climbing for your gas money lies off the 33.

The Gorge is a large, low-angle face split by two crack lines which run from the creek to the top, making for perfect trad climbing ("trad"itional climbing simply means that the leader places his own gear in the crack, while "sport" climbing involves securing the leader's rope by clipping it to a bolt or some other fixed anchor). This wall is the obvious slab on the left at mile 31, and right now is the best time to climb the gorge, no bugs yet and the gorge is getting shade by 1PM. The two main routes, the ones that we typically climb, go easy: the aptly named "Tree Line" is 5.5 and Ending crack goes at 5.7. Both routes require 2 pitches (rope lengths) to reach the top, the belays are bolted and have rappel chains. This is about as low stress as multi-pitch climbing ever gets. We fired off both routes in the usual fashion.

David Stillman, Davi Rivas, re-racking for more.

Natural pro.

The Fortress, a big name for a handful of "whatever" routes. These climbs were established within the past few years by a local climbing guide, the fella that does "Earthworks Climbing". Now, I don't know the guy or understand his motives for bolting this unspectacular formation, but he did and therefore it is now on the map. Most of the handful of climbs at the Fortress are too easy for the average climber to have any fun on, but  the ones that have a quality move or two are sort of worth roping up for, once. I wasn't impressed. To get there, continue past the Black Wall to mile 32, on the left you'll see a triangular formation on the creek (this is Potrero John Wall, four short but fun moderate bolted routes) and 1/10th of a mile later you see a stack of triangular formations well above the creek, this is the Fortress. Potrero John Wall is shadier, steeper, more intelligently bolted (like, on lead), and much more fun.

The Fortress, kind of a silly place.

Davi tying in at the fortress.

The Fortress doesn't have much that I'd call fun.

The Fortress, seen from Hwy 33.

A big pile of expensive stuff.

So, in brief, Highway 33 has a number of places to climb. It starts at the tunnels near wheeler gorge, then the Black Wall at mile 31, then Potrero John Wall and the Fortress at mile 32, a few boulder problems up the road at the Snakepit and also at Munsen Canyon, and of course, saving the best for last, Pine Mountain, the road to which is still closed at this time.

Self portrait from hanging belay.

Hwy 33 from high on the Black Wall.

Winter must be over because Ventura's fog bank is back, probably until next October. Taken from Casitas Springs.

Joshua Tree National Park, climbing in Dr Seuss Land

Davi Rivas and myself atop Intersection Rock.

 My wife went to Mammoth over the weekend, a girls ski trip, which left me with a glaring hole in my schedule. I persuaded Davi Rivas to grab the rock gear and head out to JT with me. It had been over 12 years since the last time I roped up for a route in Josh, which seems kind of silly, considering that I used to live out there, had a PO Box at the JTree office, and that I've climbed over 600 routes in the park (many of them multiple times). Maybe I just burned out on rock climbing and the desert all at once, having lived it so completely for so many years. After all that time and distance from one of my past lives, I was eager to just go back to JT and see what I had left behind. Also, though Joshua Tree can be an intimidating place to climb, I was looking forward to donating some blood in the park's notorious, man-eating cracks.

Re-racking for the second pitch of Overhang Bypass.

 This little weekend trip reignited a bit of my old passion for rock climbing. Really, it's about the places that climbing takes you, beautiful places like Yosemite or Josh. I'll have a tough time putting it into words, but stuffing my fist into a gritty, painful JT hand crack really unlocked a part of me that I had ignored for years. It hurt and felt good all at the same time, if that makes any sense. I so enjoyed relearning the moves and the jams that I had known so many years ago. I remembered certain holds and toe smears and hand jams on each of the classic Hidden Valley moderates that I had led so often. We ended up climbing seven routes in 2 days: Sail Away, Toe Jam, Mike's Books, Cyclops, Overhang Bypass, Hands Off, and Double Cross.

Cjillin' in the sun between climbs

 In addition to roping up and climbing routes, we had plenty of time to add some bouldering to the mix. One afternoon we played around at the Turtle Rock boulders, the other evening we spent the sunset thrashing our tips on Gunsmoke. Gunsmoke is an incredible horizontal traverse that runs about 110ft and most of the moves on it go at 5.11, which isn't hard by bouldering standards today but it's the length of the problem that gets people. It is sooo pumpy. Noodly arms quickly ensue. I used to have the thing wired. No more, but the moves came right back and I was able to put it all together in pieces.

The whole weekend I was being smacked by a flood of nostalgia, for Josh changes very little and every corner I rounded held a secret past meaning for me. At Gunsmoke I ran into an old friend from my time living here, John, also known as "Bird Man". This is a name he neither wants nor appreciates. Most people think it stems from the fluid grace with which he glides across the rock, and the extraordinary wing-span that he utilizes to disturbing advantage. No, John is a loner, has been medically treated for psychiatric issues for decades, and seldom speaks to people (it took around three years before he said "hello" to me). The "Bird Man" thing has nothing to do with climbing. It originated back in the '80's when John kept raptors, and occasionally brought them up to what was then called "The Monument" to hunt for small game. People just don't know the guy and assume that he either can't or won't talk when in fact those same people have just stepped into his personal space, often with boom boxes and beer and other irritants. The guy just wants to be left alone by 98% of the people he meets. I rounded the corner to Gunsmoke, saw John, he saw me, stared at me with those unnerving eyes of his and just said, "When did you cut off all your hair?". Well, we had a good chat, he asked about my dad whom he had met once. I filled in the gaps since the last time I saw him and it was like nothing had changed. Personally, I was just really stoked to see that John still survived and thrived in the only place to bring him peace. It was a neat reunion. FYI: John doesn't like people taking pictures of him which is why you won't see one here.

Sunset in Hidden Valley campground.

A blood donation to the JTree rock gods.

This obvious rail on one of the Turtle Rock boulders is too much fun.

Davi leading Cyclops.

Davi Following Hands Off.

Ahhh, Joshua Tree in the winter. It is a mecca for out of staters, ex-pats, drop-outs, dirt-bags and foreign climbers. This time of year fewer than a third of the license plates in the campgrounds will be local. The temps during the day stay in the 50's and climbing in the shade means cold, swollen digits that don't always work right. The rubber on one's rock shoes stick to nearly anything, also known as "optimum smearing temperatures". The arid cold numbs all wounds, of which any JTree climber has plenty. Every season, even summer, has it's JT charms, but winter is best for climbing.

Davi following the appropriately named Toe Jam.

Home Sweet Home. Hidden Valley #19. What used to be known as the Life is Good Camp.

Above & Below: This is a small hidey-hole called the Iron Door Cave. It's not a true cave, more like a dark spot underneath a cap rock which is supported by other boulders. The floor space is about 15-20 feet, always clean and dry. There are two different versions of what Bill Keys (JTree pioneer, rancher, prospector, and all around hard-case who killed a guy in a fair gun-fight) used this cave for once he put a plate steel door on the cave to seal it up. One very sensible story is that Keys used the cave to store his TNT and dry goods in a cool and hidden place. The other version says that Keys used the cave to lock his mad, schizophrenic son away from himself and the rest of the world. There's probably a little truth to both stories, as Keys did indeed have a mad son and he (Keys) was generally recognized to be a very difficult man to be around. Either story has merit but in the end we will never know which is true. It is an interesting place, and with a few candles and some beer, I've ridden out a few El Nino storms in there in complete comfort.

Moon Rise over Old Woman Rock.

When the only way down is up...

Gunsmoke, or part of it.

Hang it Loose, baby!

To say I had a good time on this quick road trip would, of course, be an understatement, but, given my history with this place, I felt like I had been transported back in time. Sadly, I was transported with this beat up, 40 year old carcass. Understand that I'm not complaining about my age, nor am I griping about the fact that I can no longer lead 5.11 after one cup of coffee. Things change, we grow and interests shift, we adjust to the vagaries and responsibilities of life, but JTree doesn't change much. like a broken record, I'll be back again and again.


Check out some pics of my past life in JT: Old post: Out of the Shoebox, Joshua Tree

Out of the shoebox: Joshua Tree National Park (liked it better when it was a Monument).

Until the mid-nineties, when Joshua Tree was known as "The Monument", a clever person could basically live up there year-round. I know I have spent well over 365 nights of my life in JT. In fact, when I bought my first home, it was in JT. I lived 5 minutes from Park Rd. and 40 minutes to "Gunsmoke". I have checked off over 500 different routes in my copy of Vogel's JT bible. I climbed many of those routes repeatedly. I used to climb Papa Woolsey (5.10b slab) by moonlight. I was a member of a richly vulgar climbing sect best described as "Dirt-Bag". I spent my early twenties up in the Monument, did chemistry homework on thursday nights under the light of the Coleman.

I have no way to convey to you the number of crazy, hilarious, insane, bizzare tales I could share from the seasons and years I spent living up there on beer and tortillas. Mucho insanity. My mom wouldn't want to hear most of it. And much of it could be construed as self-incriminating, in the pharmacopial sense. Perhaps I'll share something rich.

Anyway, it's too hot to hike, so I dug up these old pics, scanned and cleaned them up, and chose to share them with you all. I may do some other things like this in the future, if it suits you.

Top Picture:

After mangling my hands in JT cracks for several days, I lacerated my hand with a pair of scissors while cutting days old climbing tape from my hands.

Above:

Cave Man Boulder

Below:

Grit Roof

Below:

One of 2 Canadians I had some really good times with, Damien, severely hung over.

Below:

The bottom of "The Flake". I was 19.

The Life Is Good Camp, 1994

Above:

Clockwise from left: PBR for breakfast, me, Don, Chris, Andy, Chris, Mark. These guys would come over for a lazy morning fairly frequently.

Below:

The Life is Good Camp core. Furniture courtesy of yours truly, and Urs the Swede(which is a pretty funny story). We co-existed as a unit, sharing meals and tent space, gear and clothes, and climbed a bunch of stuff for about 5 weeks together. Good Times!

Left to Right: Urs (from Switzerland), "Newport" Mike (a very talented home-brewing lawyer), the Canadians Gentle (real name) and Damien (Damien was a real good climber and fun to hang with, Gentle lost 4 friends in snow-mobiling avalanches during the Christmas week and I helped him get completely wasted at the Joshua Tree Saloon on Christmas Eve. I took the picture.

Below:

Me, Dirt-Bag in full. Probably the 18th day since my last shower.

Above:

Figures on a Landscape, the JT classic.

Below:

"The Decrepitent", The original shelter was so abused and degraded that the only way to make it livable was to modify it. Rob Hamilton and I thought the blue would go nice with the backdrop. This "structure" hosted several days of infamy including "Coma Day" and the "Liver Trauma Jungle Juice" party.

Below:

Coarse & Buggy, 5.11b

Below:

Bouldering at sunset in the Hall of Horrors.

If things stay this hot I won't be doing too much in the local hills, so I'll endevour to continue posting new stuff.