| |
| Quail Mountain - Mount Minerva Hoyt, CA | |
|
| | Quail Mountain - Mount Minerva Hoyt, CA | | | |
|
|
Quail Mountain - Mount Minerva Hoyt, CA
| | |
|
| Hiking | 11.58 Miles |
2,256 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.58 Miles | 6 Hrs 28 Mns | | 2.11 mph |
| 2,256 ft AEG | 58 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | This was a hike in day 2 of my time in Joshua Tree National Park. Quail Mountain is the highpoint of the park, and it is also a P2K and a Range5 highpoint, so it had some peakbagging interest for me. Mount Minerva Hoyt is close by, so it made sense to do them both. Both peaks are also on the Sierra Club Hundred Peaks Section (HPS) peak list.
I parked in a parking pullout about 1 mile south of the Hidden Valley Picnic Area. I first went up to Mount Minerva Hoyt using HPS route 1 for Minerva Hoyt; then I went to Quail Mountain on a good use trail; then I came back on HPS Route 4 for Quail Mountain.
There is really no trail on this hike, other than the use trail between the two peaks.
The first 2 miles were an easy walk across a flat desert. About the only vegetation in this section are Joshua Trees and clumps of grass here and there. After 2 miles I came to the Randolph Ranch, so I stopped and looked around for a few minutes. I am not sure if the ranch is still privately held or if it is now park property. I had seen a picture from about 10 years ago in which a No Trespassing sign was posted. However, there is no such signage today. The property is fenced on 3 sides, so I walked in on the unfenced side.
Once past the ranch I continued on the desert floor for a bit and came to a section with some boulders and rock outcroppings. I sidestepped most of them, but did a small amount of class 2 climbing. From there I started gaining elevation and went up and over some hillsides; the route wasn't too intuitive, and I was glad to have a GPS track. I eventually got to the summit of Mount Minerva Hoyt and enjoyed the nice 360 degree views. From there I took an easy to follow use trail for about a mile to the summit of Quail Mountain. There are actually two contenders for the high point, one of which has a benchmark. I went to both just to be sure that I tagged the highpoint. Views are great up there, especially of snow capped Mount San Jacinto and San Gorgonio Mountain.
I then made my way back to the trailhead. The trek back to the aforementioned route outcroppings was not very intuitive, and I was again glad to have a GPS track. Once back at the rock outcroppings, I followed my earlier route back to the trailhead.
I really enjoyed this hike. It was almost all class 1 hiking, and even though it was off-trail it was easy to avoid any vegetation and the tread was generally good. Plus it was a very scenic hike! |
| _____________________
| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 