Rock Climbing in Joshua Tree

Climbing in Joshua Tree--what a thrill! It was awesome. However, it was ugly cold. Wind was blowing up to 35 mph and it was only about 40 degrees, maybe. It even snowed on Sunday morning. A light blanket of snow was scattered around the park. It was actually kind of cool. Jen was so wonderful and awesome in her climbs. Braving the cold and wind and just hopped to it and climbed. She did 4 climbs and I did 6 climbs. On a difficulty scale, climbing is considered a category 5 and then it is rated with a scale of the category (5.5 is the easiest in a category 5 and 5.15 is nearly impossible). We both climbed a 5.7, which was pretty difficult for a beginner climber. Very few large foot holds and not much to grab. There were 7 people in our group on Saturday and 5 on Sunday. Everyone was awesome. We all got along great and had a ton of fun. We definitely want to go back in the fall and maybe take a private lesson to focus on skills and become very proficient in the 5.5-5.7 difficulty area. Despite it being cold (thank goodness for WalMart--picked some warmer clothes), the area is so beautiful. Hard to believe that in a few months, it will be over 110 degrees. Crazy. Jen is going to write about her experience and will add some pictures. There are a couple of me and a couple of her and then 1 that is one of the rocks we climbed. We cannot wait to go back and do some more.