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| Hiking | 4.66 Miles |
542 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.66 Miles | 2 Hrs 15 Mns | | 2.13 mph |
| 542 ft AEG | 4 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Day 2 of our Joshua Tree National Park tour had us driving around to enter through the west entrance station on Park Boulevard. On the way, we stopped for pop-in at the Visitor Center, which is well outside the park in the town of Joshua Tree itself.
Driving in, I understood why this is the recommended entrance to the park--with nice visual introductions to the park's namesake trees and the surrounding rock formations.
Passing by Hidden Valley, we saw an upside down flag draped high on one of the rock formations--protesting the current administration's decision to cut park ranger resources.
There was also some organized picket/protest around Cap Rock.
We made our way over to the Spilt Rock Loop. Originally, we planned to start from the actual Split Rock TH, but when we arrived at the turn off road, we found it was dirt and closed to RV access. So, we backtracked over near Skull Rock and started from there.
The loop was fun and a nice sampling of the rock formations. I found the "intrusions" fascinating (cracks int the cooled molten rock, which were filled in by later emerging magma). They formed cool-looking "veins" in the rock formations.
Passed one of the named features "Face Rock" among others.
Saw more climbers and watched one top out on a lead climb. Cool. The granite here is very grippy and it's become a mecca for climbers. My initial understanding was that climbing was discouraged, but it appears that the park has simply embraced it as a permitted activity.
This is apparently a popular loop. The "split rock" has a large "cave" on its underside right next to the official parking area. |
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