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| Hiking | 3.74 Miles |
650 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.74 Miles | 2 Hrs 38 Mns | | 1.85 mph |
| 650 ft AEG | 37 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | The sleeping liner made for a very comfortable nite as I was pretty cold the previous two nites, which is typical for me in the bigger tent. This morning, we could dawdle just a tad as we didn't have to drive anywhere and would be hiking right from the campground. It was going to be a nice morning temperature-wise. The first part of the trail has Interpretive signs about the flora. When we got to the wash, we saw some tall trees to our left and decided we should investigate. We did get distracted a bit by the wildflowers along the way including Desert Bluebells, Chia and Scorpionweed that were all over the wash as was a new plant for us, Purple Mat (a pink flower). There were a couple yellow flowers that I thot were Senna but were Mojave Sun Cups.
We were in awe  of the giant California Fan Palm Trees and as we rounded the corner there were a couple extra large Eucalyptus (altho I called them Sycamores) too as well as the expected Cottonwood Trees. I would find out later that this was Cotton Spring. We stepped up and over what looked to be some stone work and headed up the little hill behind it. We didn't know what we stumbled on but it was the old Winona Mill Site, so we explored for just a moment. There were various structure remnants scattered on the hillside. I found some more of those pink flowers (Purple Mat) and a new one that was really pretty, Blazing Star. There were also other flowers including Desert Pincushion and the Desert Bluebells. We thought we might be able to get to the main trail from here but ended up back in the wash and headed to the junction.
We went up a bit of a hill and past the parking lot for the main hike before heading down toward Cottonwood Springs, the result of earthquake activity. The palm trees are indeed impressive per the picture of Kelly in the photoset. There are some cottonwood trees that look like they are growing out of the top of the palm trees, that's how tall they are  . Just past here is the area that was used for centuries by the Cahuilla Indians for bedrock mortars that we checked out. And now on with the show.
We were lucky to hit during wildflower season as there were flowers everywhere; a little hard to photograph in the light today but I tried. There were some great Mojave Yuccas too including some that were blooming. There were some leafed-out Ocotillos. And it goes without saying there was some great monzogranite displays everywhere with some fabulous boulders  . There were some uphills along the way as well that included steps. Who would think there are so many steps when hiking in the desert. We saw a few hikers here and there, but I think we were lucky for most of the day that it was light traffic.
We reached the junction for the Mastodon Loop/Peak and as we continued up the trail, yes, there were steps again. The steps were fine, it's just I didn't expect to see so many throughout the Park on our hikes. It's a beautiful route up to a little saddle. And then the real fun begins, especially when your leader disappears  . It's a pretty straight-forward route up and fairly short so that makes it fun. And soon you're on top to take it all in. Some fellow from below was yelling out his partner's name and I yelled down that we weren't her. She would arrive in a few minutes and we exchanged picture taking. We didn't have a great view to the Salton Sea as it was a bit hazy but I was still able to snap some decent pictures. We also had views as far as the Santa Rosa Mountains to our south (the other side of Salton), Hexie Mountains to the NW and Eagle Mountains to our NNE. We hung out for a little longer doing some internet stuff.
It didn't take long to get back down and then Kelly was off again. She got a little ahead of me so missed her favorite animal  . I hung out with the chuckwalla for a little bit and he even did some pushups for youtube. I was in double camera mode so I got plenty of pictures and a movie too. Next up was the Mastodon Mine. They've done some shoring up and I appreciate the park service trying to preserve this for those of us that like seeing this stuff. And now it was time to head down the hill into the wash. There was plenty of nice scenery and the mixing of flowers and boulders makes for premium hiking conditions. Some of the boulders had rocks in them so that caught our attention. The Desert Bluebells were still the wildflower star as their vibrant blue color was so brilliant. There were splashes of other colors with Poppies and Purple Mat (that's a pink color) and some hordes of Chia.
The wash is wide and sandy but the sand wasn't too deep. We got some slightly filtered skies so that was nice; however, it messed a bit with the colors. I was still shooting with my camera and my phone. This was a great ending to our time in Joshua Tree National Park. I certainly got my money's worth. And at least here, we didn't run into any masses of people we had seen in some other places. We got back to camp and I packed up my stuff with the tent being just a bit of a challenge as I haven't had to pack it up for a while.
I guess I must have filmed a lot as somehow I managed to make four videos. And of course, lots of pictures, but it's not my fault it's wildflower season too  . I would have posted sooner except I was having problems with the download to the computer as the first part took 4 tries when I finally realized I had forgot to use the GPU to enhance rendering and decoding under preferences; it makes a massive difference. Anyway, enjoy (altho I haven't reviewed 2-4):
Part 1 including Cotton and Cottonwood Springs [ youtube video ]
Part 2 starts the hike toward the junction with the Peak/Loop Trail [ youtube video ]
Part 3 includes the Peak [ youtube video ]
Part 4 the mine and the journey back [ youtube video ]
PS If you ever wonder why I add rather extensive descriptions with my pictures; I was a research assistant for a while after college; thus, I'm re-living my 1980s, ha!
WATCH 8:33-11:11AM, 3098-3592 elevation, 3.54 miles. 120 avg bpm/159 max burning 916 calories. Not sure where it picked up the weather since we didn't have internet but it showed 69.8 sunny/wind and 28% humidity. I did notice the humidity on the way up but once the breeze picked up, it was much better. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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