The second day was spent climbing some superb quality Joshua Tree granite on the Feudal Wall at Indian Cove on a clear sunny day. It was good vibes from all the other climbers we ran into, with several conversations striked up and offers to use each others top ropes. We played on a wide range of climbs including a 5.7 hand crack, a 5.8 body-chewing slot (much grunting required), a great 5.10b slab and an awesome, but ultimately defeating, 5.11b mixed face climb. The rock is all about friction- in some cases painfully pressing your fingertips into sharp feldspar crystal faces being the only way to advance up the rock. Before long nerves in fingers are worn raw and sensitive. Skin ultimately peels. It's some of the nicest rock I have climbed on in a long time.
In the afternoon Sara and I parted from Jeff and Richard and drove on south through the park, crossing the transition from the Joshua tree-ed high desert (Mojave) and into the ocotillo and cholla-garnished low desert of the Colorado as the shadows grew long and light shifted across distant bajadas. In the dark we drove past scattered caravans of off-road enthusiasts corralled into bright circles of intense light in an otherwise dark landscape. Between these, lights of dune buggies and dirt bikes raced chaotically. The scene was eerily alien at a distance.
We turned off onto the dirt road into Fish Creek Wash where we found a quiet camp spot at the mouth of the gorge and spent what I consider an idealized New Year's lying beneath the stars and watching the Big Dipper and Orion sweep across the crisp sky as the year passed before us. I cannot think of a better way to have spent New Years.
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