Headstone Rock 4319′
Rock Climbing– Joshua Tree National Park
Total Time: 3:30
Distance: 0.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 150′
Crux: SW Corner- 5.6, Cryptic- 5.8, SW Face- 5.9
Trailhead: Ryan Mountain Campground, no water
Companions: Holly, Colin Pickles
I’ve been to Joshua Tree National Park many times since moving west, on average heading to the high desert once a year. On previous trips, we spent most of our time hiking. This would be our first trip there as rock climbers. We had a decent sized group meeting in Joshua Tree for a birthday weekend, and decided to make our first J Tree stop the ultra-classic Headstone Rock, a massive boulder balancing on the edge of a small cliff. The rock holds about 6 routes, with the two most well known and well climbed classics being the Southwest Corner 5.6, and Cryptic 5.8. They were both technically sport routes, although a small cam is sometimes used to protect a mantle move on the 5.6 route. We left Phoenix early Friday morning, and after fighting through dozens of cars stopping in the road to take photos of spring wildflowers, we reached Ryan Campground shortly afternoon.
I was worried that we might find a line to get on the route, but found only one group scrambling down from the base when we arrived. The approach was short, but did involve some class 3 scrambling as we looped up the backside of the formation to the start of the route.
Cryptic looked quite reasonable for a 5.8, but I knew Joshua Tree had a reputation for sandbagged ratings and wanted to try the easier SW Corner 5.6 to start. Colin made no argument when I volunteered to lead, and I tied in to the sharp in while Holly belayed. The first bolt was only a few feet off the deck, but a fall before the clip could mean a tumble directly off the cliff edge that makes the route so exposed. We did a few quick safety checks before I started up, slab climbing up to the first bolt and clipping into safety.
I slowly traversed left to the second bolt, finding the movement to be a bit more delicate and balance-y than I expected. After clipping the second bolt I found good hands and worked myself around the arête, now with 100’ of exposure behind me. A fall here would result in a nasty swing to the slabs below. I was able to get a small cam in a crack beneath a large lip on the arête, then made the mantle move to start up the arête proper.
The move was easier than it looked and I found plenty of excellent holds as I continued on to the third bolt. I did my best to keep on the arête proper, only once moving on the right face for a better stance to clip the fourth and final bolt. Beyond the last bolt the arête turned to lower angled slabs and I topped out on the small summit, clipping into the two bolt anchor.
Now it was the birthday girl’s turn. Holly started up, making short work of the slabs before getting to the arête. Having only one rope, I untied my end and tossed it back down, Holly clipping it through the protection to help redirect Colin should he fall on the wandering route. She made her life a little harder as she climbed on, keeping more to the right face instead of using the larger holds on the arête.
Once she joined me on the summit, Colin started up, having a more difficult time on the slabs thanks to some new, unbroken in shoes. Another group appeared just as Colin was topping out, and we were only on the summit for a few minutes before another climber topped out, hot on his heels. Luckily there were a few anchors at the summit, and I set a top rope for Cryptic and the SW Face 5.9 while the other party rappelled one anchor over.
Back at the base we took turns climbing Cryptic 5.8 and the SW Face 5.9, the former being named one of the top 100 sport climbs in the US by Climbing Magazine. I lost my feet on some slick slab at the second bolt, but it otherwise went smoothly. I can’t say the same for the crimpy 5.9! Holly was the only one of the three of us to climb all three routes clean.
I debated leading Cryptic after my practice run, but decided it would be more fun to hit another formation with the time we had left. We scrambled off the jumble of rocks below Headstone and hiked back to the parking lot.
From there we headed to nearby Cap Rock for an easy climb up Circus 5.2 for a second summit and fourth route of the day.
The sun was dipping low and we were all hungry, so we headed into town to check into our Airbnb and meet up with the rest of the group for more climbing over the next two days.