At first I’m disappointed that our group (Walter, Roy, Barry, Sean, Tom) decides not to go to Margaritaville, a place I haven’t been. Instead they opt for the familiar, chossy Alabama Hills. But we end up having a near-perfect last day of climbing. Ann starts off by taking the lead for the first time! In…

We meet our friends Steve and Catherine in Joshua Tree and agree to go to the Echo Rock area. Their friends Mike, Roger, and Hoffman are on their way also. I haven’t been feeling like leading anything, but when we get to the Little Hunk the weather is gorgeous and there is a short 5.8…

Anabel meets us at the Crossroads Cafe, where breakfast is always good, and we return to camp for some climbing. It’s still a little cold so I look on the south side of the rock for sunny routes. There’s a new bolted line going up a finger on the left that looks OK, so I…

The weather in the morning looks gloomy and discouraging. We get ready to climb slowly, with no enthusiasm, and head for the dark cloudy mountains. In Inyokern we nearly turn around, but decide to go to Kernville even if it’s just for lunch. It turns out to be much nicer at New Directions, where a…

Here’s Clare after pulling hard through the crux of the brutally parallel finger crack, Initiation. After putting a toprope on it, I can’t crank through it. Barry and Ann both give it an unsuccessful whack as well. It seems made for Clare though, who sinks her fingers in and cranks away. We cheer her on,…

Ann and I have been cooped up in the house too much, being sick. So we go out to wagon wheel today, in beautiful weather, for a little gentle walking. And we bring the crashpad and shoes just in case. Well, we park at the Little Loaf and start right off doing a bunch of…

Karen and her friend John have joined us at Indian Cove group site #9. We don’t know what the crowds will be like, so we just head to see what climbs are available. To my surprise Driving Limitations, 5.8 **, is free on the Billboard Buttress. This has one set of pretty hard slab moves…

We wake up to clear skies, and I feel excited about getting a couple of routes in today. The whole family packs up and heads for Big Rock at Perris Lake. The gate is closed, which adds half a mile to the approach but also thins the crowds. Today there’s only one other pair of…

We meet Werner, Walter, and Clare at 8 am. We also meet Chris for the first time, and his dog Luka. Jezze nearly breaks a window out of the car trying to meet her as well. The approach to the Condome is different for the north and the south side where we’re headed. We nearly…

It’s been long enough since I’ve bouldered that it feels kind foreign and strange. Ted, Randy, Greg, and Curtis are working on something right of Walter’s crack when we arrive. I do a number of familiar and long-neglected problems in the area. Some that used to seem hard are now not so bad. Others I…