Feathered Friends Blog
Most climbers (myself included) consider themselves a bit on the fringe. Like salmon, we swim against the flow knowing very well that the reward will be that much sweeter because we refrain from traveling along the path of least resistance. Whether we are plugging our way along an impossibly thin Cascadian finger crack or skinning up an far flung stretch of Alaskan powder, we are sure to earn it every step of the way. When we finally reach our summit, reveling in our own sweat and perhaps a little aftermath of fear, we just smile as the wave of accomplishment washes over us, knowing very well that nobody had to hold our hands to get us there.
It’s been a long-standing goal of mine to get down to Joshua Tree. I imagined I would marvel at the 7,000+ climbing routes dispersed among a veritable sea of monzonite granite. The dry air, warm temps and sunny skies are just the thing to revitalize the soul after a long and gloomy Seattle winter. It didn’t take much deliberation when choosing this season’s location for our Feathered Friend’s photo shoot.
Crossing the maritime obstacle course of kelp beds, giant driftwood and stony outcroppings the approach to Larabee bouldering was described to me as fourth class on the rocks with a dash of Jager. Really fun, exceedingly beautiful, but it might sting just a bit. Now here we all are, walking single file across a beached conifer, trying our best not to sail off and into the knee-deep and somewhat crabby tangle of seaweed below. With a gust of wind, my crash pad sets me in the exact opposite direction I had hoped for, down. Off and in the spongy weeds, the landing is soft, but my pride feels the sting.
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