What to expect for the first time in j tree?

Lots of blood, crying, feelings of inadequacy and paranoia... JT is a real pleasure. If you're lucky you'll see a bighorn sheep - so that's something to look forward to.

Remember to take a couple beers with you up the climb. They definitely come in handy during the crux/mental breakdown. 

Sam Cieply wrote:

I agree that it's on you if you get hopelessly lost, but it definitely happens:

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/2018/05/26/new-zealand-hiker-missing-few-days-joshua-tree-found-hurt-alive/647365002/

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-joshua-tree-hike-couple-20171024-story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/22/magazine/voyages-joshua-tree-lost-hiker.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-missing-couple-found-20161118-story.html

Sadly, we can add another person to the list... Another search going on now.  JOSAR, NPS and county/NPS people have been searching since Friday.

http://z1077fm.com/search-for-missing-canadian-man-continues-in-49-palms-canyon/

and not all these people get "lost".  The lady from New Zealand slipped, fell, broke her hip, and couldn't move (GPS wouldn't have helped her, a PLB would have); another guy earlier this year also slipped and fell and broke his leg, and he was found in rough shape, too.

Visitation is through the roof in recent years:
https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/management/statistics.htm

And that certainly explains the crowded camping situation. For the top notch climber experience, roll into Hidden Valley campground on a weekday morning and try to find a dirtbag breakfast. Of course there will be laughter, cams and PBR cans all over the place and probably a van or two. These people will be able to get you networked in to the campground climber scene.

Ideally you can stay for the week and make a bunch of new friends. Don't forget to leave tons of crap all over your campsite to fend off the RV crowd. If there isn't enough stuff laying around, the RV folks will squat in your site. Material excess is the only thing these types understand.

As for the climbing, well the cliffs are short, the movement funky, and the splitters few and far between. For years I ripped on The Bong but turns out I was actually climbing Beginner's One. Best parts of both these routes are the jingus adventure descents.

I guess my short advice would be, respect the fragile desert environment (try to stay on trail), be careful on the walk off descents, and roll with the laid back desert vibes. I Love Joshua Tree

corpse wrote:

Sadly, we can add another person to the list... Another search going on now.  JOSAR, NPS and county/NPS people have been searching since Friday.

http://z1077fm.com/search-for-missing-canadian-man-continues-in-49-palms-canyon/

and not all these people get "lost".  The lady from New Zealand slipped, fell, broke her hip, and couldn't move (GPS wouldn't have helped her, a PLB would have); another guy earlier this year also slipped and fell and broke his leg, and he was found in rough shape, too.

49 Palms Canyon is about as straightforward as it comes. If I recall, you can actually see the namesake palms from the parking lot.

Señor Arroz wrote:

49 Palms Canyon is about as straightforward as it comes. If I recall, you can actually see the namesake palms from the parking lot.

totally true.. but in this heat, all it takes is a minor injury or othe mismap and you quickly become "really fucked".

Went there last year. Found this link to be super helpful https://skyaboveus.com/climbing-hiking/firt-timers-guide-to-joshua-tree

One extra tip, there are lots of different critters, air and land (lots of coyotes at night), keep your food stuff in the car or locked cooler of sorts day and night when you're not at the campgrounds to shoo them away. Even unopened packages of food will be pecked open by crows or ravens.

Dr. Kodos so hated hiking as opposed to climbing that he would routinely drive from Vegas where he lived to climb at J Tree. He even demonstrated to a friend that he could drive to a route there faster than one could hike into one of Red Rocks' many canyons.

Tim Stich wrote: Dr. Kodos so hated hiking as opposed to climbing that he would routinely drive from Vegas where he lived to climb at J Tree. He even demonstrated to a friend that he could drive to a route there faster than one could hike into one of Red Rocks' many canyons.

That man is a national treasure

corpse wrote:

totally true.. but in this heat, all it takes is a minor injury or othe mismap and you quickly become "really fucked".

Oh, I know that. But, also, that near to 29 Palms you've got good cell signal, too. Hopefully this guy turns up okay.

Also Verizon has signal in the park in a few places. On top of the blob is one good spot.

Expect to have an amazing time! Ignore the snark. People have been complaining about J-Tree being overcrowded for the last 35 years at least, yet they all still go there. Crowds are easy to avoid. The 3 star routes off the beaten path are just as fun as the clogged 4 star routes near Intersection Rock. I guarantee you'll get on some great rock.

If I had to choose one thing that's a bummer there, it's driving around like an idiot at 11PM on a Friday looking for a campsite. Don't even try. Nobody is packing up at that time. You need to have a plan for arrival. If unreserved camping is your thing, do your homework and arrive at a good time. Another growing nuisance is the park entrance. If you don't want to wait in line at the park entrance, plan ahead and don't enter the park during the obvious rush hour times. It's not rocket science.    

I second Hobo Greg's suggestion of the Chasm of Doom. It's one of the best routes in the park. Enjoy...

plantmandan wrote: 
 Another growing nuisance is the park entrance. If you don't want to wait in line at the park entrance, plan ahead and don't enter the park during the obvious rush hour times. It's not rocket science.    

Actually, it's only really the "main" park entrance near Joshua Tree. The 29 Palms entrance doesn't seem to do that. Nor the South entrance. 

Hobo Greg wrote: Find someone to take you though the Chasm of Doom just make sure it's dark and you don't bring any headlamps!

Would also wear a helmet if you've been drinking and/or smoking the devil's lettuce....not from personal experience or anything....

J-Tree is hard on the skin, a lot of the the rock is very coarse so make sure your skin is ready. On my first few trips my skin was the greatest limiting factor.

Don’t worry about all the shit talk, crowds are easy to avoid and if the place was such shit climbing then so many big legends in the sport wouldn’t have spent years climbing in the park.

Waiting, I’ve never waited to climb a route, I see other people do this but I just walk or drive somewhere else and climb something else, the place is huge you will never have to wait if you don’t want to. My friends and I are often the only party in sight. (To the people who said the climbing is limited or that you should never get lost, they don’t know what is out there, there are areas in the park that take 1.5 to almost 2 hours to hike to.) 
Also, expect world class bouldering. Don’t feel like anyone has mentioned this yet. Which is odd considering that climbers from around the world travel to J-Tree to boulder and it’s not because they are all Disney sheep, see above comment on legends.  I have waited my turn to climb a boulder problem but bouldering is different even when there is 10 people in line you can still get as many burns in as your skin can handle. Your skin will fade before your muscles or energy does, most likely. 

And wind! Windy wind wind. Like come out of the middle of nowhere and blow away everything and tear apart cheap tents in the middle of the night kind of wind. Anytime I have been lucky enough to get a campsite in hidden valley I have also witnessed some camping newb struggle to keep their Walmart tent from collapsing or being blown away. Make sure to tie your tent into a picnic table or big enough rocks but not the trees please.

Speaking of trees, if you like smoking them then the chasm of doom at night is an amazing place to do that or to not do that. Someone earlier called it a route, but it’s definitely not a route or even what I would call a scramble. There is one sketchy part where you have to slide on your back or belly crawl under a huge chock stone that a larger person certainly couldn’t squeeze through. There is a way around that part but that takes the fun out of it. Other than that squeeze, the hardest part is just finding the damn entrance.  

Abogado Chris wrote:And wind! Windy wind wind. Like come out of the middle of nowhere and blow away everything and tear apart cheap tents in the middle of the night kind of wind. 

This exact thing happened to me one Thanksgiving, but it wasn’t a cheap tent!  My North Face Oval Intention, fully loaded with sleeping stuff, and with my clothes in a suitcase, and a large rock for weight inside, got blown 30 feet into the desert. When I got home, I had to put about 30 patches on the rain fly from the cacti rips. 

phylp wrote: This exact thing happened to me one Thanksgiving, but it wasn’t a cheap tent!  My North Face Oval Intention, fully loaded with sleeping stuff, and with my clothes in a suitcase, and a large rock for weight inside, got blown 30 feet into the desert. When I got home, I had to put about 30 patches on the rain fly from the cacti rips. 

Sometimes the expensive tents make better frisbees, because they don't collapse on first puff of wind.