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| Hiking | 2.95 Miles |
1,100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.95 Miles | 1 Hour 46 Mns | | 1.67 mph |
| 1,100 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Belated post. The wife and I were making one of our semi annual trips to California and finally decided to visit Joshua Tree National Park. Funny, I’ve probably taken the same route to California 20+ times and I’ve only had eyes for San Jacinto.  We actually drove around the north side of the Park, via highway 62 and stayed at Yucca Valley for a night. That allowed us to do drive thru on day one and check out most of the views available from the car, except for Keys View which we did get out and walk. This also allowed me to get an early morning hike in the following day 
Got to the Ryan Mountain TH around 5am, just as daylight was starting to brighten the landscape. Even in the semi dark the trail is still pretty obvious. The trail is pretty much stairs for the first mile. Not bad going up, but a little jarring on the knees going down. After a mile you reach a mini basin between peaks and the trail becomes more of a typical trail, gaining elevation without stairs. With the basin, most of the hard climbing is over and it becomes a gradual incline to the top. Reached the summit just after sunrise. If you want to immerse yourself in Joshua Trees, this trail is not for you. There were a few along the way and at the top, but the surrounding desert offered a lot more. Enjoyed the views and headed back down. On the way back I checked out Sheep Pass Trail, which connects to the Ryan Trail near the base of the mountain. Did not include Sheep Pass stats in this entry. Hope to do that in a later write up.
Very nice hike overall. The trail is easy to follow, provides a good workout and offers nice views. Temps were great. 60’s at the start and was just touching 80 when I finished. They actually have a thermometer posted at the TH. No wildlife. Had the trails to myself. There were a few cars at the TH, but it looked like the people were checking out something called Indian Cave. I didn’t even notice it until I was driving away….next time. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Discovery Park turns out to be a real nice TH for this Maricopa segment. The Maricopa Trail follows the (east side) sidewalk along Pecos. There are trail signs, usually utilizing light poles, about every 1/4 mile. Just confirming that the trail hasn’t turned off the sidewalk. Went to Pecos and Cooper before turning around. This was about 8.5 miles round trip, but with my inadvertent starting point from Power, I ended up a little over 10.5. 
I feel like I would say the same for this section. It’s always nice to move trails along, but there are so many better options out there. I did see a few walkers, bikers and runners out there taking advantage of the quiet holiday weekend traffic. No wildlife.
