Matt's β | Aqua Benchmark, Spectre Peak, and Dyadic Point Loop

From the trailhead, following an old dirt road into the open desert.

Wooden posts at the historic boundary of Joshua Tree National Monument (before it became a national park in 1994).

Dropping into the wash on the left.

Starting up a class 2 chute.

Aiming for the right of the two notches.

Class 3 obstacle.

At the notch, view back.

View back.

The terrains levels out as Aqua Benchmark comes into view.

Sporadic pinyon pines rest inside the shady canyons.

Starting up Aqua Benchmark's north slope.

View back on the ascent of Aqua Benchmark.

Aqua Benchmark summit ahead.

Aqua Benchmark summit. View toward Dyadic Point.

Descending Aqua Benchmark's north slope toward Spectre Peak, on the right.

Arriving at a wash below Spectre Peak.

Class 3 slabs.

Spectre Peak summit. View northeast toward Aqua Benchmark (left) and Dyadic Point (right). My descent wash is visible left of center.

View east toward Dyadic Point and the southern reaches of the Coxcomb Range.

View south toward Pinto Basin.

Descending Spectre Peak's east slope toward Dyadic Point.

View back at Spectre Peak's east slope.

Starting the climb to Dyadic Point.

Fun Class 3 section.

10-foot, Class 4 downclimb.

Looking back at the downclimb (left). The route continues past the tree on the right.

Large choke stone, surmounted via an awkward spanning move.

From a closed contour erroneously marked as "Dyadic Point" on the topo, view of remaining ridgeline to the obviously higher Dyadic Point, righ tof center.

Short ramp used to bypass an intervening peaklet.

At the bottom of the ramp, turning right up this small chute.

View through a notch to the base of Dyadic Point.

One option to gain the summit is this Class 5 lieback on choosy rock. There's an airy jump to a small platform at the top. I was uncomfortable committing to this move, so I downclimbed and searched for another option.

A second, friendlier option is this narrow Class 4/5 chimney. I was forced to ditch my gear in order to fit inside, so the next several photos were taken with my phone.

Above the chimney, continuing up the Class 3 slabs ahead. The dead tree on the left was a hindrance; it seemed frail so it wouldn't be a good idea to use one of it's branches as an aid.

On the ridge crest, I friction-climbed the slabs right of center to avoid the exposure to the left.

Crossing over to the south side of the ridge, I found this 1-foot wide ledge. It can be bypassed by dropping down to some exposed Class 3 terrain on the right.