Day 15 - Joshua Tree part 3

Waking at 6:30 in the morning to get a jump on the day before the crowds arrive has its benefits, but it also has its costs in that you lose that needed hour of sleep that gets you to your fullest.

The benefit of getting up early was nearly spoiled as 10 cars pulled into the parking lot of the Barker damn trail just as I was preparing to leave. 30 Koreans young and old ran quickly to the Barker dam trail but luckily the Wall Street Mill trail, a second trail to a gold mine was also leaving from this parking lot so I took the alternate path.

After completing both trails in this area I decided to drive north on some dirt roads up to the wilderness of Joshua tree. There was an unofficial trail/path leading up to Queen mountain, a tall rocky peak in the north part of the park, so I set out to find the path of the mountain. The trail became rocky and steep but I made it up the mountain, and as I was going up I looked down to see two people behind me pointing at me and following me up the trail. I continued on the trail on the mountain top but it didn't get to the summit of the mountain instead the trail followed around a bend. I followed the trail for 20 minutes to a wild place of rocky peaks all around me-- true wilderness. I turned back, took a photo and then ran into the couple that had followed me up. They commented on the perfect hiking day. It was.

I was tired of hiking at this point and it was only 2 o'clock and there were some basketball games on that I wanted to watch so I drove to the Joshua tree saloon and had a Baja chicken special with broccoli and a salad and a couple Lagunitas beers while I watched Duke win. Then halfway through the Wisconsin Kentucky game I decided to leave. The sun was about to set and tonight was my last night in Joshua Tree for this magic time of day.

I drove into the park and stopped at a large field of Joshua trees. I put on my headphones, turned on Led Zepplin IV and as Stairway to Heaven began to play, walked towards the sun.

Comments

Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward. On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills. Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising. I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch). After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch. The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead. The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics. By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...

Day 42 - Escalante Stevens Arch

The Stevens Arch is so massive that legend says daredevil pilots would fly through it. I was excited to see it! Having napped most of the afternoon, I awoke promptly at 545, packed up my things and hiked down to the Escalante River as the first morning light was pouring into the canyon. Hiking around more waterfalls and ledges and along the stream before anyone else was up was nice. My written directions said to look for sandy hill to my right which led up to my only exit from the canyon-- the Crack-in-the-Wall. I ran into the confluence of the Escalante River, a point which my guidebook noted was passed my exit route, requiring a ten minute backtrack. This was fine though because I had tons of time and wanted to see the Stevens Arch. I crossed the knee-deep Escalante River several times before the Arch came into view. Like a window in the Roman Colloseum, the Arch seemed almost engineered by man in this tall curving canyon wall. I hiked under the arch and couldn't eve...

Road Trip Daily

Search This Blog