The Blob 4275′ and Cyclops Rock 4241′
Rock Climbing– Joshua Tree National Park
Total Time: Most of a day
Distance: ~1.0 miles
Elevation Gain: ~250′
Crux: The Bong- 5.4, The Eye- 5.4
Trailhead: Hidden Valley Campground, no water
Companions: Holly, Colin Pickles, Alex Wallace, Cara and Steve Whittingham
On Day 2 in Joshua Tree, our group size had grown to six and we headed to Hidden Valley Campground to tick off some of the easier classics and tag some formations. After sifting through an overwhelming amount of information, I decided we should start out on The Blob, which holds a number of easy routes, including the classic ‘The Bong’ 5.4. We left the lot and traversed the west side of the formation, scrambling up a tricky gully to reach the start of the route.
I racked up while Steve and Cara moved over to an adjacent and rare 5.4 J Tree sport route called ‘A Walk on the Beach’. I started up the low angled hand crack, putting my newly purchased crack gloves to good use as I started up the route. It was about halfway up when I began to truly understand the rhythm of crack climbing and hand placement. I was definitely hooked! The top of the pitch is just below the true summit, and I slung a large boulder for an anchor while Steve led up the sport route, his first lead ever.
Cara followed, and Colin and Alex decided to head up the sport route as well, another pair of climbers having slid in front of them to climb ‘The Bong’. I scrambled to the true summit while the others finished climbing up before we all rappelled down to our packs off the anchor.
We then switched, with Alex, Colin, Cara and Steve climbing the Bong, while Holly and I climbed sport route as well as top roped the nearby 5.8 flake Ballsbury. By the time we finished ticking off those 3 routes, it was nearly lunch and we scrambled off the Blob back to the parking lot to eat. I had hoped to climb Intersection Rock, but it would be hard to get everyone up the same route in a timely manner, and we all wanted to make sure we had time to climb The Eye 5.4 on Cyclops Rock. So after a long discussion, we decided to head for The Eye early finding a group finishing up at the base just as we were arriving.
We split into two teams of three- myself, Holly and Cara to start, with Alex, Steve and Colin to come up second. The route looked a bit tougher than 5.4 from below with some big roofs partway up the gully, although the route itself face climbed to the right to avoid them. The start of the route was a low angled ramp, and I placed one piece before reaching the first tier and face climbed out right. There were outstanding holds to be had, but the move was very exposed with little opportunities for protection. I ultimately found a little pocket that took a pink tricam nicely before continuing up the face to the next tier.
The second roof was larger and coated in bat shit, but the face climb to the right was easier and better protected than the first as I continued on. There was one final small roof to work around before reaching the a short chimney that put me at the top of the route and the center of the natural arch that forms The Eye of the Cyclops. Such a unique end to the pitch!
After building a quick anchor I brought up Holly, then had Cara start climbing once Holly was about halfway up, belaying both through my Guide ATC at the same time. Alex starting leading before Cara was even up, and was able to coach her through some of the trickier spots.
Once Cara reached the top of the pitch, the three of us exited the arch and scrambled up to the summit while the boys climbed up one by one to join us.
Although not quite sunset, we still timed it quite nicely with afternoon light spilling across Hidden Valley Campground. We enjoyed some beers at the summit, not quite alone thanks to a class 3 route on the backside of the formation.
As the sun dipped lower, we scrambled down easy ramp on the backside and circling back around to our packs.
It was a bit too late in the day for any more climbing, so we packed up our things and found a place to watch the sunset before heading back to town for dinner and a fire.