.redrock. (Rose Hips, Armatron)

After a very worthwhile ten days in Joshua Tree, Kyle and I drove back to Vegas to get him to the airport. We thought it would be a crime not to bag a classic Red Rock moderate while we were there, so we set our sights on a linkup of Myster-Z to Armatron.

Compared to 25F nights in the Tree, camping in Vegas at 40F was balmy. The approach up Juniper Canyon was a bit longer than the typical Tree walkup, though!

Myster-Z was occupied by two parties, so we bushwhacked over to Rose Hips (5.7 600'). It ended up being a sleeper classic, very worthwhile. The first pitch featured hero jugs on patina inside a chimney, pulling buckets with a backrest! Protection was occasionally sparse but not really necessary.

The second pitch traversed under a roof into a beautiful dihedral that was half candy-cane, half alligator plate.

P3 traversed around into a stunning view and stemmed up a juggy wide dihedral. Three pieces of gear in 200 feet seemed appropriate for this sandstone ladder.

We simulclimbed the rest of the route, then hiked over to Armatron (5.9- 700'). Kyle fired up the first pitch, which was a benevolent omen previewing the dark-chocolate-plated goodness to come.

The crux pitch fingercrack went quickly and then led to the money pitch, 5.6 alligator plates that protected with nuts and small cams in horizontals. Face climbing over trad gear is one of my favorite styles, so I relished this pitch.

I had to remind myself to climb slowly and savor the moment. This was without a doubt the best 5.6 I have ever climbed. Bulletproof plates with plenty of air beneath.

Kyle was inclined to agree. He took the next two pitches and linked them, which featured more of the same bomber plates.

One last pitch of arete climbing brought us to the top of the route, and a short scramble led to the summit of Buju Peak. The walkoff was short and civilized, unlike many Red Rock descents. From the base of Armatron, we picked our way down Juniper Canyon through occasional snow patches and made it back to the car. 1300 vertical feet of excellent moderate climbing, nonstop type-1 fun. We both agreed that days like these is what makes rock climbing great.

This was the last day of climbing with Kyle, as he has a real job and grownup life awaiting him. Funny enough, I had only climbed with him once before in the Upper Peninsula on a Mountain Project blind date. From that, I pitched the idea of him flying out to Vegas and me picking him up for this stint in J-Tree. His willingness to jump on this trip is a perfect character sketch -- Kyle has an indomitable positive spirit and is always quick to put in a good word for any situation.

We had a great rapport and talked about many other things besides climbing, including spirituality, psychology, mountain biking, thru-hiking, the contemporary geopolitical catastrophe instigated by Donald Putin and esoteric quantum-physics-scientific stuff of which I grasped a bare modicum.

Many of my climbing relationships struggle to surpass the repartee that approximates "Dude, have you climbed ___? It's so splitter!" So it was a real delight to get to know Kyle more. Plans are underway for the next airport pickup!

Next stop: Zion!