Looking for beginner climbs in J Tree

A buddy of mine and I are new to Trad and are planning a Joshua Tree trip in a couple weeks 

Looking for some easy but fun climbs that have anchors and easy gear placement 

Also if anyone has any ideas of gear we must bring that would also be super helpful! 

Thanks!!

gods terrarium wrote:

A buddy of mine and I are new to Trad and are planning a Joshua Tree trip in a couple weeks 

Looking for some easy but fun climbs that have anchors and easy gear placement 

Also if anyone has any ideas of gear we must bring that would also be super helpful! 

Thanks!!

You should get one of the guidebooks. That's a good place to start.

Nectar 5.4 is a good option if you know how to jam. Bring multiple #3 cams!

Camdon Kay wrote:

Nectar 5.4 is a good option if you know how to jam. Bring multiple #3 cams!

Thank you! Someone else let us know about that one as well! 

You have a crazy amount of super fun stuff in the 5.3-5.6 range in J Tree. 

Ain't nothing but a J Tree thang - Thin Wall

The Bong - Hidden Valley (no anchor but you can just sling a large boulder with the rope)

Trash Can rock doesn't have bolted anchors for B1, 2, and 3 cracks but you are in a massive ledge and can take all the time in the world. 

The requirement of a bolted anchor will hurt you in most places in terms of finding good routes for y'all, but especially in J Tree. 

Right Ski Track can end at bolts if you want it to. 

Just search using the MP search function and you'll get a lifetime of easy routes to climb in J Tree. Again, though, many of them will require anchor building. If you can place gear solidly enough to lead then you can build an anchor. If you need help learning common easy anchors then I would be happy to have a video call with ya and show you some quick and easy options. 

Good luck to ya, hope y'all have a great time. Be safe. 

Perfect opportunity to take a 1 day anchor class - best place to do it.  PM if you want guide recs.

Camdon Kay wrote:

Nectar 5.4 is a good option if you know how to jam. Bring multiple #3 cams!

Just a gentle reminder that nectar has a nice touch of class 5 getting to it (40ft, with the first 15 being...  a little disheartening if you're not used to the area).  Also it's isolated from other climbs at the grade, unless you want to climb the powderpuff before/after, or set up a top rope and suffer on the unspeakable three-holed fish to it's right.

Maybe go to indian-cove? Thin wall?  Places where you can easily set up top ropes and scope out the .7's and .8's / get some reps in before onsighting at the grade

Otherwise... 

Gargoyle/New toy are both in stirrup.  As always, read up on descents if you can.  They're normally the hardest part of the climb.

Man there's some wild recommendations in this thread. I climb at Jtree every weekend, for context. Somebody else will stumble upon this thread with the same question so I'll add some insight.  

Nectar is fairly deep in the park, the approach to get to it involves high 4th/low 5th class climbing for 60 or so ft, and is surrounded by routes that are multiple grades harder (unless you want 1 star garbage) so it's the only easy crack climb at isles in the sky. And don't say Dolphin and put a beginner on an off width. Even if you walked over to Future Games rock after, Continuum is 8+ and is a sandbag at that grade. I would not recommend this unless you're with somebody who's familiar with the area. 

Mental physics is 45 mins deep into Wonderland and for somebody not familiar with that area, they'll almost certainly get lost or spend double the time just trying to find it. Aside from a lot of it being flaring placements. 

Thin Wall is a good suggestion. Trashcan Rock is a good suggestion. Indian Cove is a good suggestion. 

While the there is a scramble involved in the approach to Nectar, it is an easy and fun trad route with a short approach, straightforward gear, and a bolted anchor. Calling it a "wild suggestion" given the original criteria seems a bit much

You'll notice upon re reading that I didn't direct my comment solely at Nectar. 

Wild suggestions plural alluding to much of the thread. 

Gotta agree with Mr. Hotdog. Nectar and Mental Physics would not be my idea of beginner routes.

 Felix 5.4 on the lower cat house is a casual climb with Bolted anchors where you could also top rope a run out  5.7 and 5.8.  

The OP went to Jt on Nov 16 and 17 and did 5 routes. As per profile and tick list. But never returned to their own post to let anyone following the thread know how it went. 

And it looks like he chose some good routes appropriate for him. Don't know why he would owe us a trip report.

Brandt Allen wrote:

Don't know why he would owe us a trip report.

One or two sentences of post is not a trip report, it's a simple courtesy. It's not owed, anymore than the people who responded owed it to a stranger to take their time to help him out.

I bookedmarked this thread because I wanted to remind myself to look for a resource I had on my computer, but then I got too busy.  I'm always a bit concerned about posts like this, as I'm afraid people with such limited experience are going to end up in the hospital.  I checked the profile to see if there was any info on him having a safe trip. I agree with one of the posters who recommended an anchor class. Knowing how to build a good anchor is a fundamental need for many gear protected routes.

Here is the resource I was looking for, (courtesy Dan Delange via Todd Gordon via Al Bartlett?)  Not all of these are gear routes and many will need you to know how to build an anchor:

Everything at Quail Springs picnic area.  Seriously.  I've climbed everything there multiple times.  Short and fun. Mostly trad cracks and stuff.  You can also top-rope much of it.