Tahquitz & Suicide Rock: Such Epic Climbing...but Such Hungry Wildlife!

Hi all! Lots to update you on since my last blog post, which featured my adorable, love muffin of a nephew Hudson! After leaving San Diego and my brother's new family behind, we headed straight for Joshua Tree, a very eagerly awaited stop on our climbing tour! Marco visited Joshua Tree four years prior and has been very anxiously awaiting his return since. We planned to spend the entire month of October frolicking about the Joshua Trees and climbing on the wondrous desert rock (see Exhibits A, B, & C).

Exhibit A. Just look at those rocks, waiting to be climbed on!

Exhibit B. Our first night in Joshua Tree.

Exhibit C. Our first sunset did not disappoint. 

Well, unfortunately, as everyone is aware, our glorious plans were stifled by the government shutdown! After just one night in the park, we were given the boot. It was quite unfortunate and such a shutdown was not even on our radar (it's hard to follow the news when you don't have service half the time!). After getting kicked out of Joshua Tree, we spent a couple days hanging around the Mojave Desert and hoping the park would reopen. Let me tell you, there is NOT much to do in Joshua Tree, California if you're not in the park! It was a long and somewhat boring two days. During our first day, based on a tip from a local, we checked out Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It was described as a "lush and green" escape in the otherwise barren and dry desert. Obviously, whoever had told us about Big Morongo Canyon Preserve had not ventured far out of the desert area. There was nothing lush or green about it. It was desert, hot and dry. Essentially, it amounted to a 1.5 mile stroll through the desert, which we had already seen enough of.

Anyways, after a hit-and-miss with the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, we decided to try out Giant Rock, located in nearby Landers, CA. We were told that Giant Rock hosted a few sport routes and some decent bouldering. It peaked our interest and was only 15 or so miles from Joshua Tree, so we decided to check it out. It was...interesting? Kind of. Weird? Totally! Worth the trip? Not entirely. Good climbing? If you like rusty old bolts that start 20 feet off the deck and are for sure going to pop out of the rock if you take a fall, DEFINITELY! In summary, we didn't stick around Giant Rock for long. Before showing you pictures, let me give you some history--because the history of Giant Rock is really the only thing that makes it worth seeing. Based on Wikipedia, stories from locals, and other internet sources, the following is an abbreviated history of Giant Rock.

In the 1930’s, Giant Rock, allegedly the largest freestanding boulder in the world (covering 5,800 square feet), was home to Frank Critzer, a German prospector and inventor.  He built a one room subterranean house under Giant Rock.  During the second World War, Critzer was investigated by local police—it’s unclear the reasoning behind the investigation, but it appears to be due to his interest in and use of radio transmitters, which led local authorities to believe he was a German spy. Anyways, long story short, after a few local police showed up at his subterranean home under Giant Rock (which is a long drive into the desert along sketchy dirt roads), Critzer blew-up himself and his home! 

Enter interesting character #2, Mr. George Van Tassel. Apparently, Van Tassel was a local mechanic who worked on Critzer’s truck prior to Critzer’s unfortunate demise. The two became friends and after Critzer built his subterranean home under Giant Rock, he mailed his friend Van Tassel a map to the home and invited him to visit.  Van Tassel took him up on the offer and paid a visit to Giant Rock.  After Critzer's death, Van Tassel continued to visit Giant Rock. Van Tassel was a colorful character in his own right and claimed he was visited by aliens and that such aliens taught him a technique to rejuvenate human cells. As a result of this encounter, in 1954, Van Tassel built the Integratron, which is a few miles form Giant Rock. The Integratron still exists today and offers its services, supposed cell rejuvenation and time travel, to paying customers. During our visit to Giant Rock, the Integratron was closed to tourists but was open to those with appointments (sadly, we did not get an appointment to experience cell rejuvenation or time travel at the Integratron). Due to Van Tassel's involvement, Giant Rock became a hugely popular site for annual UFO/Spacecraft conventions, which ran for roughly 20 years. Apparently, over 11,000 people attended the event in 1959. More recently of interest, in 2000, Giant Rock fractured and a large chunk of rock fell off of the boulder, revealing a white interior. For a more detailed history of Giant Rock, check out http://www.lucernevalley.net/giantrock/.

Despite the colorful history, Giant Rock was only mildly interesting to visit and generally underwhelming. It was large, but didn't exactly blow my mind with its sheer size. And, to boot, it was covered in graffiti and strewn with garbage--it is such a travesty that so many people destroy such beautiful places with their obnoxious graffiti and garbage. A serious clean-up effort is needed in order to restore Giant Rock to a wondrous place worth visiting.

Marco in front of Giant Rock.

The back of Giant Rock. Critzer's house was under the large black stain.

The remains of Critzer's subterranean home.

Marco scrambling on the graffiti-strewn rock.

After an exhilarating day at Giant Rock, we retreated to the desert near Joshua Tree and spent a day camping...in the middle of nowhere...with NOTHING to do. It was so windy we couldn't even play cards. The only living things we experienced while in the desert were flies (galore) and an upbeat local on an ATV. The local on the ATV informed us that the mountain ranges surrounding our camping spot were quite popular among the locals for shooting. His exact words: "Just the other day I was riding my ATV over there (pointing not too far from where we were camped), and a bullet went 'WHIZZZZZZ' right by my head!" After a night in the desert we decided it was time to give up hope on Joshua Tree reopening and to head elsewhere in search of climbing.

Our spot in the desert. We had to keep our canopy on the lowest setting, otherwise it was likely to blow away.

Marco, equipped for life in the Mojave...flyswatter in hand.

Very fortunately for us, we ended up in Idyllwild, CA, to climb at Tahquitz and Suicide Rock. After a day in Idyllwild, I was thanking the government for shutting down—had it not shut down, we may not have ever experienced Idyllwild and its incredibly epic and historic climbing! Tahquitz had been on my radar as a climbing destination since I read the first two volumes of Royal Robbins autobiography, but, somehow, we had not put it on our list of climbing stops for our road trip. Fortunately, however, after the government shutdown and we were booted out of Joshua Tree, we figured there was no better place to go—it was an hour and a half away from J-Tree and the temperatures were significantly cooler, since Idyllwild is located high-up in the mountains. It is SUCH a beautiful, quaint and cozy little town that is worth visiting even if you are not a climber. It reminded me a lot of New Paltz and climbing at the Gunks. It had the feel of an adorable northeast mountain town and the climbing was chockfull of history and stiff grades that would kick any climber’s butt. We spent a week and a half roaming around Idyllwild and getting up on some incredible routes.

The center of Idyllwild with Tahquitz in the background.

Idyllwild town monument.

Tahquitz from a distance.

Marco enjoying the BBQ & Beer Garden at JoAnn's Restaurant & Bar in Idyllwild. DELICIOUS RIBS! And live music.

On our first day in Idyllwild, we ventured to Tahquitz to try out Left Ski Track, a beautiful three-pitch 5.6 climb that I had read about in Robbins’ books and was inspired to get on one day myself.  Put up in 1947 by Chuck Wilts and Ray Van Aken, I was really taken by the history of the route. Unfortunately, Marco and I were new to the area and unfamiliar with the length of the approach. Getting up to the base of Tahquitz (Lunch Rock) is a good 30-45 minute hike up steep, intense switchbacks. Once you reach Lunch Rock, it's another 10-20 minute approach to the south facing climbs, which is where Left Ski Track is located. I will not torture you with the sad details of my pathetic approach abilities...but suffice it to say that I put on my helmet for the approach itself AND shed a tear or two at various points while scrambling up the slab to the base of the climb. I think Marco and I got a bit lost on the way up and we definitely took a sketchy approach up a class 3 (I think it was class 4) slab. We ended up arriving to the climb much later than anticipated, and, when we read about the difficulty of the descent route, we opted to only do the first pitch of Left Ski Track, since there are rap anchors after the first pitch. Good decision on our part. As it was, just doing the first pitch, we ended up hiking out in the dark that night...WITHOUT headlamps! Lesson learned, we now always carry headlamps. The first pitch was epic in itself--beautiful climbing up an aesthetic line full of interesting juggy handholds.

After perusing the guidebook and remembering more excerpts from Robbins' book, we decided to tackle Open Book, a three pitch 5.9, on our second day. 

Open Book, 5.9. It follows the very obvious dihedral and involves some very serious lay-backing!

The decision to climb Open Book was easily agreed upon by us both--it is said to be the very first 5.9 in the country and Robbins' description of the first free ascent is epic in itself--but there was definitely an unspoken sense of anxiety and intimidation between us that was not discussed until after the climb was over. The history of Tahquitz climbing is one that every traditional climber should familiarize him/herself with. It is where the Yosemite Decimal System of grading routes was developed. It is where countless great climbing legends, including Royal Robbins, spent many days honing their skills and tackling what were, at the time, the hardest climbs in the country. And, the icing on the cake, these climbing legends were putting up these incredible routes in Converse shoes or simple hiking boots with hemp ropes, no harnesses, and pitons (wooden pitons in the early days!) and hammers. They did not have the protection and gear that climbers of today are fortunate to have. The only word that can describe climbing at Tahquitz and Suicide Rock is humbling. It was an incredibly humbling experience. For any non-climber that is still reading this, climbing Open Book and testing ourselves on a route on which we were able to see the rusted, old pitons put in by Robbins and other legends is like a baseball-obsessed Red Sox fan having a chance to go to bat against the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. That young fan would be testing his skills on the same epic playing field that legendary players of the past had tested themselves on. Climbing is an incredibly unique sport with respect to the accessibility of the sport. When it comes to climbing, any climber, not just professional climbers, may test him/herself on any route he/she desires, even the hardest routes that recent or past climbing legends have tested themselves on. The rock is there for all to experience, regardless of your status as a professional climber or a fledgling beginner. It's true that only professional and extremely experienced climbers may be able to get up the hardest routes out there, but the fact of the matter is that the routes exist and are accessibly to any willing climber eager to tackle them. 

This is how I felt going into Open Book--we were getting on a route that Robbins and Don Wilson tested themselves on in 1952. They put up the first free ascent and broke a barrier that many climbers at the time thought could not be broken. Marco and I were beyond eager to test ourselves on this route. Our tests were obviously different--Marco would be leading all three pitches, so his test was admittedly harder than mine, but I had very little experience following trad routes harder than 5.7, so I was going to have a test of my own. I was very nervous on many levels going into the climb--I was nervous for myself that I was not going to be able to get up the climb, and, part of me was nervous for Marco that he may have bit off more than he could chew. The grades in Tahquitz and Suicide Rock are no joke—they are stiff and they will kick your butt. As if our nerves weren’t enough on their own, during our approach to the climb, two separate climbing parties that we met each commented on the difficulty of the route. One party said, “Oh man, that climb is WAY out of our league. Good luck!” And the second party said, “We’ve never done Open Book. We only stick to the moderates.” Um, Marco and I thought 5.9 was moderate! What did these people mean!? I was scared. But excited.

Well, nerves aside, we were psyched on the climb, and it proved to be an epic day. Marco cleanly led all three pitches! And, I’m proud to say, I cleanly followed all three pitches! I had no takes, no falls, and, most importantly, NO crying! It was a great day. A beautiful climb overall. The second pitch has twenty to thirty feet of some ridiculous laybacking up a perfect dihedral...it was just such great climbing. We re-read Robbins' description of the route later that night and were shocked to learn that he didn't layback the second pitch...he actually used proper crack climbing technique! Crazy! And, fortunately, we ran into another party at the top and were able to follow them down the Friction Descent, which is the most commonly used descent route. We are SO lucky we came across them…that descent was no joke and would have been very tricky to find. We made it to the base of the climb just as the sun was setting! I can’t express how great that day was.

Beginning of the day after the long approach up!

Ready for the challenge!

We did it! Very exciting!

Sunsetting on an epic day!

Now, if you thought our adventure was over after the climb, you were wrong! I'm just getting to the best part. Obviously, since the sun set as we approached the base of the climb after our descent from the summit, we had to hike down the mountain in the dark (remember, it was a 45-60 minute hike down!). Fortunately, this time we remembered our headlamps! But, what we didn't anticipate, was the wildlife! As we reached the bottom of the climber's path that intersected with the Ernie Maxwell trail, we heard a huge rustling in the trees. I, of course, freaked out. I wasn't sure if it was an animal running at us or away from us. Our headlamps didn't show us much in the dark. Well, fortunately nothing attacked us...yet. But we still had another quarter of a mile to hike through the woods to our van! I was scared. A few yards later, we heard another rustling sound. I was convinced...something was following us and it was close. About 30 yards from the exit, we heard another rustling in the trees, and this time it was even closer. That's it, I officially freaked out. Marco got annoyed with me and dismissed any fears I had as ridiculous. I, of course, was annoyed at his lack of sympathy and concern, since I was certain we were clearly being stalked by a large animal. So, we bickered. We approached the end of the trail and the intersection with the parking lot. We were about 10 yards away, and all of a sudden the animal gets incredibly close to Marco. He turns around and roars at the top of his lungs! I have NEVER seen him react like that in the four and a half years I have known him. When I heard his roar, I knew something was wrong. If he was freaking out, then the situation was serious. I started banging my hiking poles together and yelling loudly. We had about 20 feet of uphill hiking to get to the parking lot. We tried not to run, but we were moving pretty fast. Once we reached the van, we got in quicker than anything. Fortunately, I think Marco's roar scared off whatever animal was following us. We stopped by the climbing shop the next day and were informed mountain lions are all over the area and sightings are not rare. So, while we did not see whatever animal was following us, we're both pretty convinced that a mountain lion was stalking us. Whatever it was, it followed us for a good quarter of a mile in the dark and was curious enough to approach us. What an epic end to an epic day. To steal a quote that Taylor and Dana taught us..."Didn't die, didn't cry!"

The rest of our time in Idyllwild was pretty amazing. We got on some stellar climbs--at Suicide Rock we got on Captain Hook, a two-pitch 5.8, The Hernia, a single pitch 5.8, and the first pitch of Nawab, 5.8; at Tahquitz we got on Fingertrip, a four-pitch 5.7, but, we got off-route midway through the second pitch, so we ended up down-climbing and rapping off the first pitch. In addition to the amazing climbing, we got to experience our first snow of the winter! After a day of freezing rain, we went to sleep and woke up to three inches of snow! It was incredibly beautiful and we were able to build our first snowman of the season. Idyllwild was just what we needed. So, despite getting kicked out of the desert and Joshua Tree, we managed to have an incredible adventure in the mountains!

Cooking dinner in the freeeeeeezing rain!

I know the temperature in the van reads 56 degrees, but it was MUCH colder! I was bundled up and still cold.

Snow!

Tahquitz in the snow!

We're not sure, but we think this is some type of red fungus that grew over the trees in Idyllwild. It was very waxy and very cool to look at!

Mountain lion tracks in the snow! Fortunately, we did not have an encounter with whoever made these tracks.

The perfect substitute for ice...snow!

In addition to spending time in Idyllwild, we were able to spend another weekend in San Diego! This time, we stayed with my dear friend from college, Kristi, and her boyfriend Eric. It was great to spend time with them and see their new apartment in San Diego! My parents also made the trip across the country to visit their very first grandson, Hudson! It was amazing to see my parents and spend so much time with them, my brother, Diann and Hudson. It is so rare for our whole family to be together in the same place, it was an incredible weekend. I miss them all so much already!

The fam, walking through Balboa Park.

Mom & Dad.

Proud grandparents.

I caught Hudson smiling!

I love how intrigued Ridley is with Hudson.

So that wraps up our government shutdown experience! Overall, it was a blessing in disguise. We experienced some epic, historic climbing and had a really great time in Idyllwild. And now, we are back in Joshua Tree. Stay tuned for an update on our great experiences in the desert and our adventures to come! We miss and love everyone! Bill, thanks a million for letting us borrow your Tahquitz guidebook...glad we had it on hand and were able to put it to use! Oh, and your #4...we finally put it to use during the second pitch of Open Book! Wish you and Starr could have been here in Idyllwild with us!