What to expect for the first time in j tree?

kevin deweese wrote:
Douchy pro tip: Cell phone service is nonexistent in the park (for Att at least) but if you’re worried about finding your way around just save pins in your google maps on your phone using the locations found on the MP map and then download the area for offline use in google maps. It’ll still know where you are based upon the internal accelerometer even without cell service. 

This deeply offends my inner nerd's understanding of the state of the art of inertial sensors and how guidance systems work...the GPS receiver in your phone provides the location information, not the MEMS accelerometer.   

I actually really like JTree. It’s just like everywhere else where the “select” guide has over a thousand routes. Some are good, some are bad. You can easily get lost looking for the more obscure stuff, the more we’ll known stuff is a stones throw from road side. 

kevin deweese wrote: Be sure to bring a baggie of shiitake mushrooms to sell to the college kids who want to have a jtree “experience”

Damnit , I came by and read that,but ive got no time  this is way serious, I have posts to rant on, and you making me laugh is not helping,

JTree?  Its known as the Litter box, but Ive climbed the excellent climbs, all my climbs are excellent, Stick to the Slab you know, don't go overhanging on Josh gear, was an old saying cams have changed that but gritty as kitty litter is still a good description of more than just some of the patches of rock.

Sorry about the mis-info on when it became a national park (vs Nat. Monument), and the fact it's "low" dessert, not "high dessert"; that doesn't change the fact it snowed on me in late Oct., although I'll grant you that was before we were all aware of global warming. 

Xam wrote:

Is it? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_D…

The important distinction, IMO, is that the parts of the park with the majority of the good climbing are in the Mojave Desert. And the weather can vary wildly in October.

Go, have fun. If you arrive midweek in October the camping won't be the clusterfuck it's made out to be. The setting is terrific. The climbing is mediocre compared to many other places but it's still really fun. If you want to have a luxurious experience there are tons of Air BnB options or the 29 Palms Inn is great. 

Kevin Sulka wrote: I'm headed to Joshua tree for the first time in October is their anything I should know before I go? How are the climbs? Gear? Camping? etc?

Save yourself the trip.. that place is over crowed and the climbing is nothing to wright home about. If you like Disneyland then you will like joshua tree in October.

Guy Keesee wrote: Hobo is correct... the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mt. Is the geographical demarcation line separating Mojave from Sonora desert... but there is climbing right close to the Parks South entrance... Todd G has some of it posted... and just south of I10 you can find more craging all along that part ... but it’s best visited in February.

Susan’s rentals are the best!

And if you want really good sport climbing... go to NJC... the time spent driving there equals about the same time as waiting at the main entrance.

The clowns who run JTNP, need to figure out the main gate fubar and the whole camping fiasco.

Agree that New Jack City has a high concentration of modern sport climbing with little of the camping headaches.  There is a good bar and restaurant out there.
Josh is a trad area. Bolted climbs tend to be stiff for the grade. I like Belle Campground.

It seems like a typical route in Josh might feature a wide crack, a slab move, and some funky mantel on in one thirty foot route.

You will not get lost on a climb there, if you can find it.
Keys Ranch is the best tourist thing to do.

Rattlesnakes!

Selfie sticks!

I found most of the climbing areas easy to locate. The approaches can be brutal and cryptic however.

I'd recommend pairing a guidebook with a map from Climb-On Maps: https://www.climbonmaps.com/joshua-tree-climbers.html

I know these folks personally and can attest to the quality of their work.

One  bit of history: Was there in 1996, 2 yrs after the Nat. Monument > Nat. Park transition...the whole "talk of the town", and the Park Rangers, and others in the area, was how many more "touristas" were coming there.  (It seems there's a whole contingent, even THEN, whose goal was to visit EVERY Nat. Park in the US...and then maybe go on to Canada's.)  First day (Fri) we hired a guide, more to show us around....did 5.7's to 5.10's and it rained, then changed to snow.

Went back on Sat.  WOW! .  First time I ever saw 4 parties (not 4 climbers!) waiting for the same climb.  These "Climbers" had recliner-chairs and ice chests while waiting for the climb.  Toddler's in portable cribs at the base.  Granted, this was a popular climb, only 5-10 min. walk from the car parking. [ It took about 10yrs, to the mid-2000-oughts, to "jump" to the East Coast arriving first at the Gunks in NY.  (At least at J-Tree, at least on the climb I witnessed, there seemed to be close to zero chance of rockfall; but toddlers at the base of the Gunks...DUH? Hey "guys and gals" the Grand Traverse Ledge is just littered with baseball-to-football sized rocks.) We high-tailed it out to some place (one of the "Hidden Valleys") more like a 30min walk and found nice climb or two: run out, of course, but not unreasonable.)

Went back to J-Tree 3-4 yrs ago, arrived mid-week  in late summer and had a reasonably good time sort of "chasing the shade". Brought lots of water, drank even more...then drove back to Idelwild to sleep.

end of story  

 

 

If you ask anyone for some beta, expect to get sandbagged....Just sayin'. Bring excessive amounts of water and climb later or start EARLY on a route facing away from the sun. Have fun! 

the rock is sharp, cover them appendages!

It's only a shitshow if you wake up late, try to get in the main gate at noon on a weekend, and try to line up for one of the 3 "classic" 5.7s and 3 "classic" boulder problems that are <100' from the Hidden Valley parking lot.

The climbing is only sandbagged kitty litter if you try to climb the 5.8s.

If you climb 5.10 it's pretty fun and crowds aren't that bad.

nathanael wrote: It's only a shitshow if you wake up late, try to get in the main gate at noon on a weekend, and try to line up for one of the 3 "classic" 5.7s and 3 "classic" boulder problems that are <100' from the Hidden Valley parking lot.

The climbing is only sandbagged kitty litter if you try to climb the 5.8s.

If you climb 5.10 it's pretty fun and crowds aren't that bad.

It's true that some of the 5.10s are easier than the 5.8s. 

Patrick Beeson wrote: I found most of the climbing areas easy to locate. The approaches can be brutal and cryptic however.

I'd recommend pairing a guidebook with a map from Climb-On Maps: https://www.climbonmaps.com/joshua-tree-climbers.html

I know these folks personally and can attest to the quality of their work.

I’m just curious what you mean by easy to locate yet the approaches are cryptic?

Hobo Greg wrote:

You're only half right. Actually, as far as the climbing is concerned, you're totally wrong. 

From your link: These areas are distinguished in biogeography from the adjacent northern High Desert or Mojave Desert by latitude, elevation, animal life, climate, and native plant communities.[1]

All of the climbing in Josh is in the Mojave aka High Desert. The other half of the park, the Sonoran, contains no climbing.

I'll hand it to Greg, he knows his ecology.

mediocre wrote:

I’m just curious what you mean by easy to locate yet the approaches are cryptic?

Probably something like Hall of Horrors where you park and you can see the formation a couple hundred feet away from the parking lot but actually getting the the climbs and knowing which part of the formation you're on can sometimes take a few years of trips to suss out. (That last part was obviously a hyperbolic joke, sort of...., ok, no... , it's dead literal)

what to expect?....to be humbled!