Bouldering at Joshua Tree (Gunsmoke Area) – November 21, 2011

[Part 1] [Part2] [Part 3] [View Gallery]

As I mentioned in my earlier posts from this series, Joshua Tree is renowned for it’s superb climbing areas. The rock features here may not be as high as the ones you would find at Yosemite, but they were still amazing in their own right. The rocks at Joshua tree are composed of quartz monzonite, a very rough type of granite, and especially so since there is no snow or ice to polish it as in places like Yosemite.

Whether it being top-roping, leading climbing…

bouldering, or even scrambling, etc… there are enumerate routes and problems which should tickle your fancy.

Fortunate to have come across several local boulder-ers along the Barker Dam Loop Trail,

…Luke and I were informed of several problems or various difficulty in the area. Here, a local climber tops-out on a V5 high-ball problem that had TWO dynos in it. Crazy stuff; wish I caught his contact info so he could see these pics.

Of those described, the Gunsmoke Area was highly recommended to us.

The Gunsmoke Climbing Area is located just 15 minutes from the Barker Damn Parking lot,

Where the “Climber Access Trail” sign will be on your left, just ~5 minutes into the pathway to Barker Dam.

We decided to warm up on a V2 problem that some climbers we met were on the day before. Most of the problem is actually a V0, but the crux at top to top-out is semi-ridic. Since we only had one crash-pad, it wasn’t really an option to dyno for it.

Next we headed for the Gunsmoke Traverse, as well as some other problems around it.

The individual moves of the traverse are not that difficult, but it is unbelievably long.

This guy we met the day before did the whole thing, which was probably ~ 150 feet, with the area near the last ~ 50 feet shown above.

Here’s a short series shot of me attempting the first ~ 40 feet. I only got a little further, maybe 1/3 of the way through. My forearms were way too pumped to even make it 1/2 way… still fun though.

A little more than 1/2 way through the traverse is one of two apparent top-out problems, the other being the high-ball shown in the two pics near the top of the post.

The problem is probably only rate a V1 or V2, but I couldn’t top out on it. My forearms were way too pumped out from tackling the Gunsmoke Traverse so many times. Advancing higher was also difficult since we only had one crash-pad, several exposed rocks near the fall-area and my only spotter was attempting to take pics (I had asked him to, haha).

Though we only had a couple of hours to get some climbs in, it was still an awesome experience bouldering here. Being only a beginner at climbing in Hawaii, I am proud to have been to both Yosemite and Joshua Tree to climb this year. Mahalo nui loa to all the people who helped us while in California (e.g., Austin Cheung and Chritian Mengel) and to all the regulars at the Volcanic Rock Gym for your relentless encouragement, mentoring and expertise at bouldering.

Keep in mind this is a 3-part series, which includes, camping, hiking, and bouldering while at Joshua Tree (see links at top of page). To view more posts on climbing CLICK HERE, or look at the “Climbing Photo Gallery”. To view this location on a Google Map also known as my “Adventure Map“, Click Here. For more mainland and off-island adventures, Click Here!!!. Thanks for stopping by!!!