Cue the Theremin - stories from JTree

Imagine yourself going back in time (cue the theremin), so that we can fill you in on our adventures at Joshua Tree. We arrived at Joshua Tree Indian Cove camp area late Saturday evening, January 31st. We met up with our dear friend Joel (from SF), Jeff (his friend from LA), and the dynamic trio of Shannon, Carl, and Milo the incredible crag dog. We enjoyed some food and beverages, slept, and rose early for some climbing.


The next day, we hiked into an area near Hemingway wall (important note: Keen Mary Jane's are NOT good approach shoes!) and climbed Double Dog Leg, Candy Crack, and a weird 5.9. Joshua Tree, as I've mentioned, is all granite that eats your fingers. What I haven't mentioned is that it's FULL of cracks, which entail a fairly different method of climbing. You jam pretty much anything that will fit into the cracks (not meant to be a dirty joke by the way, you sick minded people.): your hands, fingers, toe of your shoes, arms, etc. Because the rock is so rough, it helps to wear tape gloves on the backs of your hands so you don't end up leaving your blood behind. Joshua Tree also has a fair amount of slopy friction climbing, where you just have to really trust that your climbing shoes will stick to the face of the rock. Total Spider Man climbing.

After we learned that dogs cannot be away from the main roads in JTree, we packed up and made our way back toward camp. We got a new site at Hidden Valley campground, tucked back away from the driveway. Little did we know at that point that we were about to come into contact with the best post climbing food: Chips and Baha.

We encountered Chips and Baha at Crossroads Cafe and Tavern (go there http://www.crossroadscafeandtavern.com/, but beware of their mid-week rest day on Wednesdays). Chips and Baha is a full plate of thick and crispy blue corn chips with a large bowl of blue cheese dressing and salsa. Sound icky? Think again. This is the most amazing combination, that we would not have had were it not for Jeff and Joel.

We looked forward to getting another round of chips and baha on our way out of town, but our plans were thwarted by the dreaded Wednesday. However sad we were, we are Team Ahimsa and we do not let thoughts of craving and aversion get us down! We made lemons into lemonaid and made our own by combining blue cheese dressing in a half-full can of salsa and then scooping it out with chips. Delicioso! Try it.

More soon.

Love,
Team Ahimsa

p.s. another little known fact about James: he made a Theremin and busts it out at parties! What is a Theramin, you ask? Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

p.p.s. For those of you who have iPhones, check out the Sci Fi ring - it's a theremin!!