Warner Valley, UT, October 31, 2020

If you've noticed I'm always talking about how far I am behind in my blogging, this is an example. Here's something I did almost 3 years ago, but apparently never blogged: I did a set of short hikes around the Warner Valley area of Utah, which is east of St. George, UT, just north of the Arizona border. The BLM entry for this site is here.

It's less than 1/4 mile from the trailhead, so not much of a hike. But the drive there is a little tricky. I mean, I did make it with my Prius, but, in perfectly dry weather, there were a few times where I could definitely feel my wheels sliding. Lots of very fine sand. Obviously, if even a little wet, the sand would be even slicker, and that much easier to get stuck.

Great set of dinosaur tracks, though. If the road is dry, it's definitely worth seeing. The tracks are on a pretty specific piece of sandstone. I would suspect that means there is additional sandstone, either exposed or under sand, with more tracks, but the one that is the main attraction is clearly marked. There's a thin "deflector shield" to keep them from being covered again by sand or sediment.

Goes without saying that walking on the sandstone will weather the tracks, so do take care walking around them.

Quite nearby is the tiny Fort Pearce. It's probably smaller than you would expect, like the size of a modest home. Just designed for protection against small raiding parties.

The parking area for this "fort" is right at the base of the small hill on which the fort sits. There are pioneer and indigenous marks on the rocks immediately adjacent to the fort. There are additional petroglyphs further down the canyon.

I walked several miles south, but did not make a concerted effort to find some of the more interesting petroglphs. It was a pleasant walk, nonetheless, and I'm pretty sure I went far enough to qualify they day as a "hiking day."

Minus the walk down the wash, younger or older folks can get plenty out of this trip with less than 1/2 mile of walking, and more adventurous types can walk further.

Additionally, people with high clearance and/or four wheel drive have a lot of alternatives in the area. In particular, Little Black Mountain petroglyphs sounds like a cool place to go. I've wanted to get a petroglyph and Milky Way shot for quite some time, but lack the vehicle that could reliably get me to this place. Also, the route to the petroglyphs seems to change on occasion, due to local mining. But something on my longer-term list of things I want to do.

Blythe Intaglios, Poston Relocation Camp I, and Wyatt Earp's Cottage

Driven April 9, 2023. While I usually just blog my hikes, I occasionally do non-hiking things with my wife, who is not a hiker. In this case, we decided to use a "spring break" weekend to spend a couple of nights out of urbanity, in the town of Lake Havasu. There actually is some hiking available in town, but it's not what she would have wanted to do. And I didn't have the motivation after we got back from our other trips to do that. I did do some solo walking just in the town, including the bridge. Not sure if that's going to make it on to the blog.

Between those two nights, we spent the better part of a day driving around the lower Colorado River. First up was the Blythe Intaglios, which you can think of as a poor man's Nazca Lines. They're about 75 road miles from Lake Havasu City, or about 90 driving minutes. You head south on AZ-95, turning right at Mojave Road, in the town of Parker (last place with national fast food chain restaurants and a Wal-Mart, for possible bathroom break considerations). You continue south, until reaching Agnes Wilson Road, when you turn west and cross over the Colorado River on a smallish bridge. On this stretch, you're zipping between drainage ditches for farms.

Incidentally, had you stayed on Mojave Road, that would take you to the Poston Memorial, and quite close to the remains of one of the elementary schools. We hit that on the way back.

Instead, by turning on Agnes Wilson, you soon hit U.S. 95. Mostly a two-lane road, with soft shoulders, so not a lot of places to turn off, if you want to let someone pass. Around Mile Marker 15.5 (Riverside County US 95), there's a small sign on the right, advising that the "Giant Desert Figures" are 500 feet ahead. There'll also be an historical marker on the left side of the road, and the dirt road you need to take is on your right, opposite the stone-mounted marker. Rough, but definitely passenger-car accessible. Continue to the first two parking areas (well-marked). The figures are "conveniently" circled by low chainlink fences, so you'll know where you need to go.

It's about 1/2 mile from each parking area to the various intaglio. An additional intaglio is south of these, but without an obvious trail, and it's not better-preserved than these guys, so I did not make the detour.

The Intaglios are not as large as you might imagine, but still pretty large, and, of course, best viewed from above. I brought a three-step stool with me to gain a few extra feet of perspective.

Folks aren't quite sure when they were made, and what they indicate, but they are considered to be from pre-contact indigenous peoples.

By contrast, Poston is recent. It was one of ten camps where persons of Japanese ancestry, regardless of citizenship, were wholesale rounded up and sent into these "internment" camps. "Internment" is a misnomer, of course, because there's a specific internationally-accepted definition for what you can do with enemy aliens in time of war. By contrast, these were mostly natural born U.S. citizens in these camps, who were rounded up in a way quite distinct from Americans of Gernan and Italian ancestry, and different even from enemy aliens from Germany and Italy.

Poston was different from the other camps because it was built on lands held in trust by the Colorado River Indian Tribes. As opposed to the lumber and tarpaper construction of buildings in other War Relocation Authority camps, the larger camp buildings here were built of adobe.

The former elementary school buildings are surrounded by a tall chainlink fence. And, while there are openings in the fence one could easily pass through, I figured the fence indicated I should not enter, so I did not. Don't want to disrespect the property owners just for a few photos.

Other remains of the camp are long-removed, and plowed into farming production. The large memorial mounument is right east of Mojave Road, and pretty impossible to miss. No museum or restroom facilities on site.

The final stop on our tour was the Wyatt Earp Cottage. It's located just off U.S. 95, just south of the railroad tracks in Vidal, CA. A very short drive on a dirt road is required, but, again, easily accessible by passenger cars. There's an historical marker in front of the house. This was the only home Wyatt (and Josephine) ever owned outright. A fence surrounds the house, which is privately owned, so, again, I respected the property lines and took only a few pictures, only from beyond the fence.

I had read about the Blythe Intaglios a while ago, but always assumed they were less accessible. Since then, I've come across information regarding a few more intaglio in Arizona, for future consideration. Some of those are adjacent to pavement, while others would require a walk.

Barber Peak, Mojave National Preserve, CA, Hiked April 22, 2023

Hiked back on Earth Day, but hadn't been able to get my DSLR shots resized and uploaded.

I've hiked *around* Barber Peak on a number of occasions, from as early as 2010. But I'd never hiked *up* the mountain. On this last trip, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I started from near the visitor center, then hiked west of Hole in the Wall campground. I bypassed the turn that would have taken me into "The Rings," and continued north. Ahead of me, I saw what looked like a nice ravine to head up, towards the top of the butte. It looked like desert concrete most of the way, with no large barriers to passage.

Turns out that was an illusion. There were many points where the ravine had vertical drops far too tall for me to climb, so I stayed to the right of the ravine for most of my trip up. This route was steep, and the ground was crumbly in points. But there were no steep dropoffs, so I figured the worst that could happen is I'd slide, and maybe get myself a bit scraped up. But it would be mostly over dirt, not sharp volcanic rocks, so I wasn't too worried.

There were a fair amount of desert mallow and other flowers in bloom. I did my best to minimize my impact, walking on solid rock where available, and trying not to cause any slides that would bury the growth. I did see several smallish slides and some boot prints, but not a lot. I mean, it's so close to the big campground, that of course other people must make an attempt to scramble up towards the butte top, but apparently not many, which is probably a good thing.

Once on the flattish top, the view was great. I found this climb a lot longer and tougher than topping Table Top Mountain. The distance to the top is less, but the crumbly crosscountry part is longer.

Also, the top is less flat. Whereas Table Top is mostly flat, Barber Peak slopes quite a bit. The obviously higher part of the butte is to the west, so I walked that way, but with a less-than-direct route: I wanted to be able to enjoy the view.

It was mostly a grassland at the top, with the occasional pinyon pine and juniper. More of those trees surivived somewhat recent wildfires here than had survived on Table Top, or near Mid Hills.

I stepped carefully, looking just 4-8 feet in front of me, so as not to accidentally step near a snake. As a result, the snakes I did see were usually already moving off by the time I saw them. All three I saw were of the species photographed, so clearly not rattlesnakes. Two were about that size (less than two feet long), while the third (the first one I saw) was over three feet long. My best guess is "Mojave Patch-nosed snake."

I got to the point where I figured I was as high as possible. As if to confirm that, I discovered the peak benchmark markers almost immediately upon reaching "the top." There were two of them, separated by maybe ten yards.

I took more pictures. With a clear view to the north, I could see what I assumed were the Castle Mountains. I assume the Providence Moutains were to my south, well beyond Wild Horse Canyon. Later, as I looped around the butte, I could overlook the broad valley that Black Canyon Road traversed.

From near the top, back near where I first got to the top of the butte, my way back down was not obvious. I checked my Alltrails recording a few times, to try to go back more or less the way I came. I mean, this way, I was sure could be done, whereas another way might lead to a ledge that would require backtracking.

Finally, I was off the slope, and back on the Barber Peak Loop Trail. I followed my way back to the visitor center, ate a bit of dinner, then set up for the Star Party that we helped put on for Earth Day Volunteers, at the Black Canyon Group Campground, which we've also done many times.

My Alltrails recording shows total distance I walked on this hike was 3.9 miles roundtrip from the visitor center, with an elevation gaine of 1240. It's mostly cross-country, so pretty slow going. The recording also shows me with just over three hours of time "moving," which means not a lot over one mile an hour. It's pretty slow going both up and down the butte. Definitely a nice view, though.

Liberty Bell Arch trail, Lake Mead NRA, AZ

Hiked Sunday, May 7. Been out this way numerous times, but possibly not since 2019. It's become a little tricky in recent years, as Lake Mead NRA has instituted a summertime closure of this trail, from mid-May through mid-October, because stupid or unprepared (or both) people used to hike hear in full mid-day heat, and either die or need rescuing. I don't like the idea of a full seasonal closure, because there will almost always be days during the closure period when the temperatures abate, or you could go early or late to avoid the worst heat, and certainly complete this hike safely.

Unfortunately, that's not how they do things.

I would like to have taken this hike about a month ago, because I thought there was a chance of some decent blooms this way. And, sure enough, I saw a lot of spent brittlebush along the way. Not nearly as dense as what I saw down by Palm Springs, but it would have been nice.

As it was, there were only a few blooms, including a few showy (but nearing the end of the bloom) white flowers on a bush, which I think might be sand blazing star. Also, later in this post, you'll see some of what I think are yellow tackstem, which sprouted in cracks amongst the volcanic rocks.

I got a pretty late start, as I spent the morning with my wife, wandering around Boulder City's Spring Jamboree. I figured it would mostly be "crap," meaning old stuff, antiques if you collect them, dust magnets if you don't. But they also promised an "outdoor expo" as part of the event.

Well, it turned out the outdoor expo was about five vendors, including REI. They had a national park trivia contest, and I obviously national parks and trivia, so I came back for that and won a small bag of goodies.

I only mentioned that because I was debating a trip to "Spooky Canyon" after I got back, but found myself a little too tired to want to extend my trip. As it is, this was about 5.5 miles roundtrip. And, although only about 80 degrees, it must be the dryness that makes it seem hotter and more draining.

The trailhead is for the White Rock Canyon trailhead, which is about four miles south of the O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge, off U.S. 93. The parking lot is on the east (left) side of the highway, so you'll have to be in the fast lane as you approach it, and pull into the leftturn lane, before yielding to oncoming traffic and crossing into the parking lot.

The trail heads under the highway, then west, down a broad wash, which eventually narrows, in White Rock Canyon. The trail to the Arizona Hot Springs peels off to the left before you enter the narrow part of the canyon. After the second narrow point in the main canyon, the trail to Liberty Bell Arch climbs a hill, to your right. There is usually a sign on the rise, indicating the trail.

Had you continued forward another two miles or so, you'd reach the Colorado River. But the Liberty Bell Arch trail heads up some side washes and gains altitude. Evidence of mining is plentiful, and many of the side trails do lead to additional evidences.

After reaching a rather impressive viewpoint, the trail then descends steeply for a bit, before making a run towards a butte. Liberty Bell Arch proturdes towards you, and only becomes apparent when you have a bit of an angle between you and the butte.

The trail passes within a hundred yards or so of the base of the arch, which is very large. NPS photos often show brittlebush blooming below the arch, but I think so many people have trampled their way to the arch opening that I saw very few dead brittlebush on the way up. Mostly, just creosote bushes.

By contrast, there were a lot of spent brittlebush on the other side of the trail, away from the arch.

Continuing past the arch gives takes you to a spectacular overview of the Colorado River. You'll see part of the O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge upstream, as well. Some thousand feet below, you may see kayakers on the river, and people camping on the shoreline. Meanwhile, looking to the east, you'll see U.S. 93, where you came from. Because of the line of sight and proximity to a major highway, you'll likely have cell phone reception for much of your hike.

Retrace your steps to return to your car. It's largely uphill on the return, and the sandy wash the last mile or so is much slower going on the return than it was on the way out. You may decided to stick to the high ground on the right. Firmer ground makes the going faster, even though it's a bit out of the way.

On this particular trip, I noticed three sets of shattered glass in the lot, which means auto burglaries can be an issue, here. I was actually happy when I got there that the lot was pretty full, with some people sitting in a pickup bed, and others coming and going, incluidng an NPS truck. For all I know, he was there to take a report on a break in. All of which is to remind you to take care, and make sure no potentially valuable objects are in view of your car. Obviously, if you can have someone drop you off, or stick with the car, that would be even better, but that's not a really great solution.

Pacific Crest Trail, Near Haugen-Lehmann Way, Whitewater, CA

Hiked April 19, 2023. Very short hike on my way to an astronomy outreach event in Twentynine Palms, at Sky's the Limit. This was an NPS-sponsored event, with Joshua Tree National Park recognizing its volunteers, and welcoming visitors to a small night sky event.

I had driven by here the previous Saturday. And, had I been in the slow lane as I passed Haugen-Lehmann Way (Exit 111 on I-10), I would have exited and explored it, then. As it was, I ended up heading to Mission Creek Preserve, where I had a very nice hike.

But when I got a last-minute notice of an event at Sky's the Limit, I decided I would take advantage of this, both to try out my new 10" Dobsonian telescope under dark skies, and to stop by along the way for a visit to this area around Haugen-Lehmann Way. So I used four hours of vacation time, left work around noon on a Wednesday, and headed home to pack.

Got on the road before 2pm. Unfortunately, there was an accident on the freeway not far from my home, which delayed me. So, by the time I got out to Haugen-Lehmann, I figured I only had about an hour or so, maybe a bit more, before I would need to continue on. I'd need to get to Twentynine Palms with enough time to eat dinner and set up my telescope before it got too dark. Didn't want a repeat of what happend the previous Saturday, when I got to an observing spot well after dark, but then couldn't figure out how to assemble my truss-tube telescope without the manual.

I've had the telescope since December, but only set it up a few times at home. Weekends came and went with either clouds, me being sick, or me having conflicting commitments, so I never got to take it out under dark skies. Indeed, the time before I made it to Joshua Tree (when I hiked to the Golden Bee Mine), the evening turned completely cloudy.

So, quick visit. I exited at Haugen-Lehmann, headed north, drove until the road t-bones into Cottonwood Road, then turned right (north). When the pavement ended, I parked and walked the few hundred yards until the Pacific Crest Trail crossed the road. Then I walked along the trail about 3/4 of a mile, taking a lot of pictures along the way (I also took a few before I got to the end of the pavement-- I think that first shot is from the roadside). Spectacular, thick brittlebush all around. A few patches of Fremont pincushion. Very few lupine and other flowers. But, man, that brittlebush!

Happily, after my hour or so of poking around here (too short to qualify as a formal "hike" under my traditional definition of three miles, minimum), I continued to Sky's the Limit, and had a successful outing with my new telescope. Some quirks, that I'm still figuring out, but I'm happy with the purchase.

It's likely that the summer-like temperatures are rapidly drying these flowers out, but a pretty immediate trip might still be rewarding.

Mission Creek Preserve (Sand to Snow National Monument), Hiked April 15, 2023

Hiked Saturday, April 15. Hiked out this way once before, almost two years ago. The difference in the appearance of the landscape was striking.

Unlike last time, this trip was in the midst of a very good wildflower bloom, the product of well-above average rains in southern California this winter.

Also unlike last time, this trip was rather impromptu. I was driving east on I-10, towards Joshua Tree, and the hills to my left were covered in yellow flowers. Britlebush was thick.

I gave some thought to making my way off the freeway at Haugen-Lehmann Road, and heading north from there. The Pacific Crest Trail passes near here, crossing over those mountains, then heading along the Whitewater River. I hiked this segment of the PCT during my original 100 hike year. I covered sections of the PCT further "north" on several other trips, including 2010 and 2011. Haven't been in the Whitewater drainage must since then, however. It seems likely I haven't been here since 2015. I should probably try to visit again, soon.

But that's not the point of this post. :D

Since I hadn't planned this hike, I didn't have the gate code or permission to drive beyond the boundary gate. I had lots of company, as the small lot at the gate was full, and cars parked along the edge of the dirt road. I joined them there.

If I just wanted wildflower photos, I could have gotten plenty just on the drive to the gate, and within 100 yards of the gate. But I'm a hiker, and I was going to hike. So I laced up my boots and headed past the gate.

Wasn't sure how far I was going to hike, but I only stuck one 28 oz bottle of Powerade, and one .5 liter bottle of water. But it wasn't that warm, so this seemed sufficient.

Started out photographing right near the gate, then crossed through the gate, and shot some more right around the picnic area. Took a while before I got actually moving along the road. According to the signage, it's 1.6 miles to the end of the road, where there's running water (not recommended for drinking) and flush toilets. Yeah, it's kind of a surprise to find that out in the middle of nowhere.

Near the gate were lots of brittlebush and lots of Fremont pincushion. Purple phacelia were also common. Later, I came across patches of purple owl's clover.

The purple phacelia were tricky. They grew under the protection of other plants, so they did not stand out directly. But their density gave a purplish tinge to many of the longer viewsheds along my hike.

When I finally got to the "Stonehouse," I saw why the parking outside the gate was full: The parking at the Stonehouse was also full. Lots of people who did call early enough and got the gate code had been approved, so later would-be visitors were denied.

So this was 1.6 miles later, and I still felt great. At this point, I was still debating if I would try to find the viewpoint for San Gorgonio or just continue on the PCT to the area I got to, last time. But I was definitely open for either.

When I finally got to where I assume the San Gorgonio view trail departs, I was still feeling like heading the other way. Just seemed like I'd get a better view from the high point I knew the PCT would give me, versus what I expected I'd see from the other point. But still haven't been there, so it's an open question. :D

More purple phacelia among the other plants. Desert Canterbury bells also became more common. Didn't see any desert poppies until I was well on my climb up to my PCT viewpoint. Oh, yes, and several yucca in bloom. One along the road looked like a Joshua Tree, but I didn't look carefully enough to be sure.

My turnaround point was about six miles total from my car (as measured by the Alltrails app on my cell phone). From here, with peripheral vision, you can see both Mount San Jacinto and Mount San Gorgonio, simultaneously. You can also peak into parts of the Whitewater watershed, to the left of San Gorgonio, and up and down the Mission Creek watershed.

While near the top, admiring the view and taking some shots, the hum of honeybees suddenly became loud, and a swarm started descending around me. While I'm told bees in swarming mode aren't aggressive, I didn't want to test that theory while the hundreds of bees came down. So I grabbed my bag and jogged a hundred yards or so, to get out of the LZ they had selected. Stopped, and took several photos of a yucca, with Mount San Jacinto as a backdrop.

While doing that, I heard the hum of a drone. Shouldn't be possible, given I was in a wilderness area. Not sure where the operator was, but I suspect he was back at the Stonehouse. Although I had walked over four miles from there, a lot of that was zig-zagging up to where I was, so possibly no more than two miles from the stone house. I mean, it's possible some longer-distance PCT hiker was carrying a drone on the trip, but drone operators tend not to be long-distance hikers, so I doubt he was further from the trailhead than I was.

Returned the way I came. Just about 12 miles for the day. My boots felt a little loose, but, thankfully, no blisters. But pretty tired. Longest hike of the year, I'm pretty sure.

Redstone, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV, March 26, 2023

This was a nice walkabout, from March 26, 2023. I've been here before, at least twice in daylight, and twice after dark.

It's adjacent to Northshore Road, NV-167, and there's a fairly large parking area and vault toilet nearby.

In this case, I parked about 1/2 mile west of the parking area. I wanted to explore a slightly different part of Redstone from on previous visits. Lots of photogenic sandstone here, too. I also continued south, heading up a ravine and out of Redstone, eventually achieving the edge of the watershed.

Took some video from the edge, but it didn't loaded right. May try uploading again, later.

Slightly disappointed to discover achieving the ridge did not give me a clear view of the Lake, to my south. Still many intervening rises. But the Lake to my northeast was blue and beautiful.

Meanwhile, from Redstone, staying low and heading further to the southwest were more red sandstone protrusions, so more places to explore on future visits. This is all the same "Aztec sandstone" that you have at nearby "Bowl of Fire" and "Valley of Fire," as well as Red Rock Canyon NCA and "Little Finland." No shortage of places to explore this formation. Still haven't been to Little Finland, and, with the weather suddenly turning to summer-like in southern Nevada, probably not heading there until at least the fall.

The nice thing about visiting less-visited areas is that the sandstone is less worn. Fewer feet to tromp down on the fine ridges that protrude from the surface. Of course, I try to minimnize my impact, and there are a lot of places I don't even try climbing. But I did detour and scramble for a lot of the arches I found.

I can't remember if I noted a website I found with geo-referenced arches, all over the area. The problem (not really a problem) is that there are so many arches that, at some point (in my case, a while ago!) you get more enjoyment out of just wandering and finding the arches yourself.

As the weather warms, my hiking may need to rise to higher altitudes. But, of course, there may still be some cooler weekends when I'm able to hike. If so, might yet do some more daytime hikes in the area. I also want to do some more night time hikes in the area, to aim for some nice skyscapes.

On a semi-related note, my America the Beautiful pass expired at the end of March. I'm likely heading to Joshua Tree this Saturday. Not sure if I'll buy a new pass this weekend, or wait until next month. If the latter, I'd have to do my daylight hiking outside of the park (maybe Whitewate Preserve, which I haven't been to in a while). Because this next trip is mainly for some night sky viewing, I don't necessarily have to do that inside the park. If Sky's the Limit were open, I'd probably do my viewing there. But pretty sure they won't be officially open on Saturday night. I mean, you can set up there, but without the vault toilets, it's much less convenient for night time use.

Since I know I'm going to be buying an annual pass soon anyway, waiting a month doesn't have much effect. I'll have to buy one some time this year, then one the year after that, then the year after that. Then (assuming they still exist and I'm still able to travel, of course) I'll be eligible for a lifetime Golden Age Passport.

Obviously, in the big scheme of things, spending $80 a year for unlimited federal land entry fees is still a bargain, and not that big a deal. But paying $80 (or what ever the price is when I get there) for life is even better, assuming I live long enough to be able to enjoy it.