Joshua Tree hikes: from easy to extreme

The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree: 60 Favorite Climbs From 5.5 to 5.9, by Charlie and Diane Winger, Colorado Mountain Club Press, 2004.

Finally! A user-friendly technical climbing guide to world-famous Joshua Tree National Park. The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree is specifically for fun-loving rock jocks from the challenged beginner to the intermediate lead climber.

The guide came out of the relatively low-stress approach authors Charlie and Diane Winger take to the sport. Many of us mortal climbers are just as satisfied scaling easy to moderate routes as the ultra-talented pro is tackling the seemingly impossible.

A quick primer on climbing ratings and jargon: There are about eight systems used worldwide to rate a climb based on difficulty. Most widely used in North America is the Yosemite decimal system (YDS), devised in the 1950s to describe methods used to move across different types of terrain. The YDS ranges from easy Class 1 trail to Class 5 technical roped climbs using removable or fixed gear to protect the climber. Fifth class climbing is subdivided into traditional ('trad')-where the climber is protected by clipping the rope into removable gear while ascending-and 'sport'-where the climber clips the rope into protective gear that is permanently and strategically located along a route.

As with most climbing guides, The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree includes a brief overview of the area covering human and natural history, climate, park facilities, visitor and camping info, and nearby services in Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree, and Yucca Valley. The book also covers safety, climbing ethic, and conservation issues (as all climbing guides should). Climbing routes highlighted on large color photos, coupled with detailed route descriptions, give the reader and beginning climber a good start in 'reading the rock.'

The meat of the guide is the description of 60 fun trad routes rated from 5.5. to 5.9. That's a mere drop in the bucket of the more than 5,000 documented routes in Joshua Tree. Considering that route ratings are subjective, the range of climbs in the guide is moderate to a bit dicey.

A unique feature of the guide is the sun/shade rating of each route. Icons indicate morning and afternoon solar exposure and the general direction each route faces-north, south, southwest, etc. You can stay warm in mid-February or stay out of the sun in late April by merely checking out the route's exposure in the guide.

If you've never roped up on real rock but are considering it, you'll need more than this guidebook; spend a day with a reputable guide service or a trustworthy climber friend. And if you've never been to Joshua Tree National Park, be prepared because you won't want to leave the high desert tranquility.