Top Roping and Anchor Building At Joshua Tree
Febuary-2
Introduction to Rock Climbing I: Anchors and Outdoor Top Roping (OTR)

This weekend, the plan is to go to Joshua Tree and do some climbs on the Dairy Queen Wall. We will setup some routes of varying difficulty, from about 5.6 to 5.12, the latter only for Javier... So everybody is welcome to come out and climb in warm JTree. The place where we are going to is called the Dairy Queen Wall and is located in the Lost Horse area. The plan is to meet on Saturday morning at 6 am at the corner of Wilson and San Pasqual and we'll all start from there. We'll have directions for people who will drive. As usual, the club will provide some gear, however if you happen to have some bringing it out wouldn't be a bad idea.
Also we will have a tutorial session in the afternoon about gear placing and anchor building for those of you who are interested.

For those of you who want to drive separately, spend the previous night camping in the park etc you can meet us directly over there. Following is maps of the area and how to get there.

What do I need to bring?
  *Food
  *Warm clothes
  *Summer clothes
  *Climbing shoes (if you have some)
  *Harness (same)
  * Helmet (same)
  *water bottles
      (It is hard to get water in the park.)
  *Backpack
      (you will be carrying a day pack with
       clothes lunch etc.)
  *Sun screen

Driving Directions:
   1: I-210 E. 21.7 miles  ( 34.9 km)
   2: I-10 E. 73.4 miles  ( 118.1 km)
   3: CA-62 E. 30 miles  
   4:  Turn right in the town of Joshua Tree onto Park Boulevard (the park is indicated).
It takes about 2.5 hours to drive to the park from Caltech.

Money:
      *It cost $10/car to get into the park
      (unless you already have a pass)
      *Money to eat out.
      *Gas money

Facilities at J-Tree:
      *There are toilets in some places

What if I don't want to climb?
   Suit yourself we won't be forcing you... There is hiking and mountain biking. If you have your own car you will be free to explore the park as you choose.

Getting to the Climbing Area:

Please read this carefully if you are planning to drive by yourself.
We are going to climb at the Dairy Queen Wall in the Lost Horse Area. To get there, use the West Entrance of the Park as described previously. If you came with us last time to Jtree this is close to the Atlantis Wall where we climbed on Saturday. After the Park entrance, drive for a few miles before getting to the Lost Horse Area. You will pass a parking lot (Quail Springs area) on your right, just keep going until you arrive at an intersection with a dirt road on your right. Take the dirt road for about half a mile then park. Continue by foot going east until the other side of that horseshoe-shaped rock formation you can see on the map. PRINT OUT THE MAPS and follow them to the DQ wall, as marked by a little cross on the maps below. We will be at the climbing area around 9 am.

Dairy Queen Wall is on the back of that horse-shoe shaped rock formation in the middle of the picture, it is marked by a grey cross.
Now here is a closer look at the climbing area:

and here's an unrelated pdf file of the Atlantis Area, 5 or 6 pages: Atlantis Area pdf [updated Dec '06]