Joshua Tree and Angeles National Forest January 2017

When we arrived in LA the weather was beautiful.  Our first day at Joshua Tree was 70 degrees and sunny - precisely the weather I like to climb in.  JTree was interesting.  It's called a national forest, but the only "trees" are cacti and little bushes.  There are hundreds of clusters of mountains, and they looked built to me.  Like a toddler had pieced them together, instead of forming naturally.

 Echo Rock, and one of the few trees in the forest.

 A completed climb at Indian Cove.

 Prepping to climb at Indian Cove.

 The view from the top of Indian Cove.

 Another view.

 Hiking around looking for climbing and stopping for lunch.

The last climb - I wish I remembered what it's called, but it's very recognizable from the ground because of the "cave" I'm standing in.  I started leading it but was unable to reach the next clip from where I'm pictured, so Sean finished it and I topped it.

The next few days were too cold for me to climb in Joshua Tree, so we headed back towards LA.  We stopped at quite a few wineries on our way, including Galleano, Miramonte, Falkner, and Rosenthal.

Our last climbing was in Angeles National Forest.  A drive up a windy mountain, then a short hike to the crag.  There were at least four pitches on the climb we did, but I got too cold after two. 

The view from the hiking path.  We climbed the far left side of what's pictured.  A nice slab climb probably no harder than 5.9.

I learned to play poker while we were camping, and I learned that I need to go farther south in the winter.  A fun trip overall; I'd love to go back when it's warmer.