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Becky’s Buttress Area

Trek date: 2017 Mar 9

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Becky’s Buttress Area ♦ Becky’s Buttress
Tollakson’s Tower
Views of Upper Pinto Wye

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BECKY’S BUTTRESS JUTS FROM A HILLSIDE surrounded by small rock piles and scattered boulders. The 1,100yd approach is over relatively flat terrain and will take about 20 minutes. You will cross Joshua Tree National Park’s 38-mile-long Riding and Hiking Trail and also a wide, sandy wash that drains this section of the upper Pinto Wye region of the Park. The easiest approach is from a large gravel turnout about midway between the Pinto Wye intersection of Park Blvd. with Pinto Basin Road, and Belle Campground. Becky’s Buttress is the largest formation in the area. The buttress itself, a west-facing rib leaning against the hillside.

There are several climbs here, including “Becky’s Buttress,” “Road Dogs,” “Gravity Pirates,” “Gorby Goes to Washington,” “Quothe the Raven, and “BOB.” One hundred fifty feet right of Becky’s Buttress is Tollakson’s Towers. This small formation is slightly uphill from the Buttress and is distinguished by a flat and narrow upper portion, giving it the appearance of a chair. Routes here are “Vitamin R,” “Farting Horse,” and “This Bud’s for You.”

Typical whitish White Tank monzogranite rocks and outcroppings dot the area all the way to Belle Campground (which is about 1 mile southwest) and beyond to White Tank Campground. I canvassed this group during golden hour, hence the warm golden to orange chroma. Typical “desert varnish” appears in many rocks and outcrops, adding contrast and interest.