By Brandt Allen From: Joshua Tree, Cal May 4, 2007
Perhaps we needed another cup of coffee or something, but we thought the start was at least hard 5.9. This route and its next door neighbor are two of the poorest routes I've experienced at NJC. Squeezed together on terrible rock, awkward movement; it's hard to understand why anyone ever put them up.
Not all routes are "dick wrenching mega classics" (stole that from Todd). I have done the route and was not super impressed, still we don't disrespect other faist by chopping thier creations, and certainly not without carefull consideration, local consensus and talking with the faist first. Brad is a local, socal climber and a nice guy, he has put up several easier routes in the area, The routes he did, are not routes I would have considered putting in however spotting lines, cleaning routes at NJC is not an easy task. No matter how unworthy you may feel his routes are, none of them fall outside the local ethics and are legitimate routes.
No doubt that this route and it's neighbor are not the destination routes for the crag. That said, they're fine. Easier than all the others which may be nice if you are there with some people not climbing to the same ability as you. They are easy to set up and could be a fun ride for someone who's new to climbing.
Me, would I do them again? Hard to say. I did them the first time looking for quick mileage before going home plus I was able to tick the whole crag. So, maybe I would again....maybe I'd just drink a beer instead?!
Sometimes I'm not that impressed with routes either. Although, I truly appreciate the time, effort and expense route setters go through to create a playground just for me.
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