We wandered off north-west-ish this morning, out past the West Entrance Station to Joshua Tree The City. Parks has a Visitor Centre there, which is mostly a gift shop and restaurant. One thing they do have is a long list of courses they give, everything from desert survival to the art of photography. What a good idea to build a constituency.
Next, we went east on Highway #62, towards Twentynine Palms, where we stopped for some groceries. Poor Nancy, has to suss out the layout of every new store along the way. Kirkby & I were sitting out in the car, as is our wont.
An older gentleman pulled in beside us, went in, did his shopping and returned to his car. He asked where my pup was, Kirk having migrated from the sun on the leather seat to the shade of the floor. Luckily, he then got a phone call. Nancy came out, loaded the groceries, and we went to leave. Uh oh, Accord has dead battery, and will not start. Headlights must have been on for the hour I was listening to the radio. I hop out of the car, and ask the nice gentleman if he might have booster cables. Turns out he did, and two minutes later, we were on our way. Whew! He looked like an old Marine, and likely had a gun or two in his car, but a Very Nice Guy.
We turned south at The Oasis of Maria, and headed south to the North Entrance station. (confusing, I know). Back to Jumbo Rocks for lunch. After lunch, we went to Hidden Valley, and Nancy walked the Barker Dam trail. The Barker Dam is a remnant from the 1800’s cattle era, when rainfall here was double the 2-4 inches it is today, and there were lush valleys of grass for cattle. It was “improved” during the gold mine era to provide water to process gold ore. As Nancy’s photos show, the dam holds back little water today.
Hiking Skull Rock trail by Nancy:
Basically the trailhead signs all say take water or risk death. To a tourista from water abundant MB, this statement is beginning to sink in after several desert hiking experiences.
This a lovely 1.7 mile walk (high ankle breaking potential) from our campground to - yes -Skull Rock. The trail runs through Jumbo Rocks area. The early morning light made me wish Debbie was along with her super camera, she would have had a fantastic time.
Once again trail is marked by rocks on rocks. Who could get lost?
Down into a cool wash (canyon) filled with Pinyon Pine, Juniper, creosote, and a large Turpinella Oak in this photo. To Skull Rock.
On the way back I decided to cut across the top of the rocks to gain an overview of our campsite, if you look closely you can see the Bigfoot in campsite in photo below.
I looked for a shortcut back to our campsite and after crossing several crevasses which dropped into tight thorny canyons and carefully sliding along rock faces I got visions of coming across some 10 year old intrepid tourist stuck in one and preserved by the dry climate. I decided that perhaps the actual trail was a better bet.
On the other hand, I kept to the Barker Dam trail as it and most other trails in the park are in open desert and not ones you would want to wander off of. It is hard enough to tell where the actual trail is at times without adding to the dilemma. Even though this is the cool high visitor season, the days get hot and dry and the nights near freezing. Barker Dam wasn’t holding any water just a few remaining pools around it.
I saw a few lizards along the trail, birds including a Pinyon Jay and more whitetail antelope squirrels.
The desert is a beautiful place with micro-environments scattered throughout, it rejuvenates your soul like fishing!
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