As a teacher, I have over three weeks of holidays around Christmastime. I was itching to climb. Granite. Outside. In the sun. Joshua Tree (where I had never been) seemed like the perfect destination. Now I just needed a partner.

My friend Jason was easily convinced to join me. We decided to drive rather than fly so we could take our gear and be more flexible with dates and weather. We also decided to rent a car rather than drive on of our own; as shown in the table to the right, the better gas mileage and avoiding wear and tear on one of our own vehicles more than offsets the cost of the rental. By taking shifts, we managed the 1400-mile drive in a 27-hour push, averaging almost 40 mpg in our little Hyundai rental car and stopping only at a Starbucks, a Subway, a Powells Books, another Subway, a Carl's Junior, a McDonalds, 5 more Starbucks, 3 gas stations, and a 3-hour nap at a reststop. And then we were there! We had also decided to splurge and stay at an airbnb in Twentynine Palms — it was was well worth the $33/night to have a warm place to hang out during the long chilly nights, plus the additional bonus of a shower, kitchen, and (most important to me) wireless internet.

We climbed for five and a half days in Joshua Tree (we had planned on six, but the final day it started to rain around noon). With thousands of routes scattered on rocks throughout the park, it was a bit overwhelming to choose what to climb. So our mode was to experience as much of the surreal landscape as possible by climbing at a different area each day. We climbed a total of 40 different routes, mostly moderate trad leads with the occasional toprope climb; by doing laps on some of the routes, I got in about 10 pitches of climbing each day. Although the air temperatures were chilly, there sky was cloudless (until the final day!) and as long as we climbed in the sun we were comfortable. Jason was an awesome partner, putting up with my climb-all-day-every-day-and-we-better-not-sleep-in-who-cares-about-chilly-mornings style, and being enjoyable and entertaining company the entire time.

This was an awesome way to spend a week of Winter Break. I'll be back for sure (2017 update: Christmas 2017 at Joshua Tree trip report!). Thanks Jason for joining! The following page gives a list of the climbs we did and some photos from each day.

For the last four Christmases, I had been climbing in Cochise Stronghold (links: Cochise 2020, Cochise 2021, Cochise 2022, Cochise 2023). These were productive trips. But these trips also meant that it had been a long time since my entire family (parents Marty and Sue, sister Jenny, and me) had spent Christmas together. So for Christmas 2024, we planned a family climbing trip. We had fond memories of our 2017 family Christmas climbing trip to Joshua Tree, so we decided to return. We found an airbnb just outside the town of Joshua Tree, and off we went for our first family vacation in several years. Jenny and I both decided to drive so that we could stay a few more days, and our parents also decided to make the mega 24-hour, 1400-mile drive from Chilliwack, British Columbia to Joshua Tree, CA. I had the shortest drive (Estes Park to Joshua Tree: 15 hours, 1000 miles).

We had a great week together. The airbnb was super nice. The typical day started off with a relaxing morning (me and my dad working on our computers, Jenny soaking in the hot tub, my mom in the kitchen cleaning and making lunches, and everyone consuming several cups of coffee). By mid-morning all of us headed out, my parents to go hiking and Jenny and I to go climbing. Often our parents would hike by to watch our progress and cheer us on. The weather was good the entire trip (highs in the mid-50s), and climbed at least a bit every day. Jenny's friend Michael Hutchins joined us for the last few days of the trip. It was special to spend the week together as a family.

The following page gives a list of the climbs we did and some photos from each day.

For the last four Christmases, I had been climbing in Cochise Stronghold (links: Cochise 2020, Cochise 2021, Cochise 2022, Cochise 2023). These were productive trips. But these trips also meant that it had been a long time since my entire family (parents Marty and Sue, sister Jenny, and me) had spent Christmas together. So for Christmas 2024, we planned a family climbing trip. We had fond memories of our 2017 family Christmas climbing trip to Joshua Tree, so we decided to return. We found an airbnb just outside the town of Joshua Tree, and off we went for our first family vacation in several years. Jenny and I both decided to drive so that we could stay a few more days, and our parents also decided to make the mega 24-hour, 1400-mile drive from Chilliwack, British Columbia to Joshua Tree, CA. I had the shortest drive (Estes Park to Joshua Tree: 15 hours, 1000 miles).

We had a great week together. The airbnb was super nice. The typical day started off with a relaxing morning (me and my dad working on our computers, Jenny soaking in the hot tub, my mom in the kitchen cleaning and making lunches, and everyone consuming several cups of coffee). By mid-morning all of us headed out, my parents to go hiking and Jenny and I to go climbing. Often our parents would hike by to watch our progress and cheer us on. The weather was good the entire trip (highs in the mid-50s), and climbed at least a bit every day. Jenny's friend Michael Hutchins joined us for the last few days of the trip. It was special to spend the week together as a family.

The following page gives a list of the climbs we did and some photos from each day.