Tim: We are back! After nine months off from posting in our
travel blog, we are traveling again. This year our travels will take us to
Peru, Chile, and Argentina. We opted to begin our international travels with a
short trip to California for rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park with
friends.
We left Anchorage on January 2 after an enjoyable New Year’s
in Anchorage. We took a direct flight from Anchorage to Los Angeles. Our rock
climbing trip was for eight days. We picked up our rental car and drove to my
Great Uncle and Aunt’s home outside of LA. We enjoyed a nice couple of days
visiting before driving further east to Joshua Tree.
We arrived at the park late in the evening. We were joining a large group of friends
mostly from Anchorage. There were about 20 friends staying at the Hidden Valley
Campground in Joshua Tree National Park. The Campground is set in a beautiful
location in the park a midst white piles of giant boulders. There are many great
rock climbing options within easy walking distance of the campground so there
is no need to drive a car. There was also no cell reception in the campground.
Even in our international travels we rarely go more than a couple of days
without being “connected”. It was nice to have a break from technology and just
enjoy climbing, friends, and a beautiful setting.
Amber and I are not particularly experienced rock climbers.
We trained for one month at the indoor Alaska Rock Gym in Anchorage in advance
of this trip. We have may more experienced rock climber friends who did all of
the lead climbing. Amber and I always climbed with a top rope.
Overall, we had a great experience, and there will
definitely be more rock climbing trips in our future.
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