After hearing about the damage and vandalism in Joshua Tree NP during the government shutdown, I was interested in supporting the Friends of Joshua Tree Climb Smart Festival. Ben and I both signed up as soon as tickets were available. It’d be my first time seeing Joshua Tree with the eyes of a climber, so I was really excited to get on some routes. The four-day weekend for me started off with a 5-hour flight delay on a red-eye. Not long afterward, I spilled a bunch of water on my camera. Despite all that, I was grateful to be in Joshua Tree doing what I love most.

It was clear that there's a lifetime of adventure in Joshua Tree. We didn't even scratch the surface. Here’s a window into what those four days were like.

We found two guys from San Diego (Justin and Austin) who were new to climbing but coming out often to try their hand at some J-tree bouldering.

Cody took the first photo of me while I was leading up Double Cross (5.7+). The first 20 feet are unprotected. Someone died a few years ago falling off from that unprotected section. I think he didn't have a helmet. I was able to find a clever way to clean and back clean the start (#4 on the big undercling and a #3 in the crack), but it sure did stress me out. Once I got into the crack it was smooth sailing.

I onsighted what was my hardest climbs to date by grade, but it was exactly my style: hand and fist jams. Usually there's a line to get on the route, but we had no wait because we were the only people willing to climb it at high noon with the sun shining directly on us. After coming to a nice rest and placing a piece, I thought it'd be fun to look back and take a photo at what I'd done so far.

So glad I went to the Joshua Tree Climb Smart festival. It was my first climbing festival and my first time immersing myself in a climbing community. We have festivals out in the east coast but they all feel way too crowded. If you’re newer to climbing, you’d get a lot out of the clinics in a festival.