Garrett’s Arch - Joshua Tree National Park
Exploratography Date: August 30 of 2013.
Garrett’s Arch - The destination of this exploration (we found it).
The end of summer. It was crazy hot. The perfect time for a hike in the desert, yes, the DESERT. It’s contrarian. So I loaded up the Blue Shark with an ice chest full of water, packed some snacks, camera gear and the Camelbak and went to meet Murbachi. Among our destinations for the day in Joshua Tree National Park was Garrett’s Arch.
I can’t remember exactly where or when I first heard/read about Garrett’s Arch, but it had been on my list of places to find for some time. As it’s located a ways back in the Wonderland of Rocks, I was a bit wary about going in alone. Luckily, Murbachi had tramped around a bit in the Wonderland on one of his 3-D photo safaris and so was familiar with the first part of the journey. After some online recon and help from the amazing ‘Google Earth,’ we were pretty sure we knew exactly where GA was located.
We were in the middle of monsoon season, and the park had had some heavy rainfall during the past ten days, as witnessed by numerous small catch-basins of water. Our hiking day, however, turned out to be almost picture-perfect. It was a bit on the warm side, but scattered high clouds helped keep the temperature from being too excessive. Some cumulonimbus clouds off in the distance, a striking blue sky between the clouds and the mounds of oddly-shaped quartz monzonite rocks combined for some stunning photo opportunities.
We parked at the small dirt parking area located a little ways northeast of the main Barker Dam parking area, right at the trailhead for both the Wall Street Mill trail and the route we would be taking into the Wonderland of Rocks.
Taking the left branch at the first fork in the trail, we made our way to the remains of the Wonderland Ranch (worthy of its own story in a future post). The entrance to the main wash we would be following is almost directly west of the Ranch ruins, and after taking a few photos, we headed into the wash.
If you’re paying attention as you hike towards the main north/south wash that leads into the Wonderland, you might run across a very interesting spot. A group of small caves show evidence of having been used by man in prehistoric times as well as in recent history. A fading pictograph is on one rock wall, and out in front of the openings is a bedrock mortar. Portions of the openings have been closed with rocks and cement, evidence that they may have been used for storage during the days of the Wonderland Ranch.
This may not look like much to most who pass by here, but those rocks going across the trail have been cemented in place and at one time created a small dam. Back in the ranching days, water was about as precious as gold and the ranchers created small dams wherever they could to capture that precious liquid. Over the years, sand has built up behind many of the dams throughout the park, but it’s fun to look for them and other relics of a world that has moved on.
Here’s one a little farther up the wash. It’s quite visible on this side, but if you climb around to the other side, you’ll see that sand has filled in the basin that was once behind that stone wall.
After reaching the main wash, we headed north. We chose the path along the right side of the wash and it was relatively easy to follow with a little bit of rock scrambling and brush avoiding. The scenery is amazing in the Wonderland, but after a while the rock formations and branching canyons can begin to look similar and it’s easy to get lost. Maps, satellite images and hike planning are good things. It’s also a good idea to learn the names and shapes of some of the significant rock formations in the Wonderland. They make great landmarks and can definitely help you keep your bearings, and keep you from becoming a JOSAR statistic as well.
Luckily for me, Murbachi has a keen eye for rocks and shared the names of many as we hiked up the canyon. At first I thought he was making some of the names up, but they were all legit. We passed the famous Walrus off to our right, which is also known as the Creature when viewed from the opposite direction. Funny how things can look one way on the hike in and appear totally different on the hike out.
We were soon nearing Foolproof Tower on the left side of the canyon. It’s a tall chunk of rock with an interesting overhanging lip and makes a great landmark, especially when we hiked deeper into the “Wanderland.” It’s easy to spot and marks the wash we would need to take on the return trip out. I wonder if climbers actually hang from that overhang.
As we began to pass Foolproof, an absolutely enormous mountain of a rock literally grabs your attention: South Astro Dome.
Veering off a bit back to our east, a very pretty area opened up and gave us a great view of two well-known and picturesque formations. They were our next landmarks. The first, Punk Rock. It stands tall and is very recognizable from most any direction, making it a superb navigation beacon.
The second, and perhaps my favorite formation in the park, is The Freak Brothers. Of the three Freak Brothers, the one on the north end is my favorite. He calls to me. Turning east into the canyon just past the Brothers, we trudged along, heading to our final destination.
Passing the Weenie (the large, erect formation nearest the viewer) and then Fat Freddie’s Cat (to the left and behind the Weenie, with the jumble of boulders on top), and Peabrain (the large round boulder to the left of Fat Freddie’s Cat), the heat began to take its toll as this was our second hike of the day.
We decided to take a short rest at the Red Obelisk (the desert varnish possibly contributing to its name) and then push on to find Garrett’s Arch.
Briefly refreshed, we continued east along the trail which soon widened into a very large open area, what I would call a desert meadow. On the distant side of this meadow, we saw the rock piles wherein the seldom seen arch awaited.
Before making our final assault on the arch, however, we took a short detour to find what I’ll call the Cave Boulder. It’s basically a giant boulder with an opening on two sides that you can crawl into and once inside, there is hollowed space big enough for several people to stand and walk around in. A pretty cool spot and easy place to find if you’re in the area.
Climbing out from under the rock, we backtracked a little ways, rounded a point and continued east for maybe about 100 yards. And there it was. Deep in the wanderland, we had found Garrett’s Arch. Purported to be the largest arch in the park, it was discovered by park ranger Gary Garrett. It’s about 100 feet above the canyon floor and could ‘probably’ be scrambled up to for a closer look. I think I’ll save that adventure for another day, or possibly check around the other side and see what the approach is like from the back. It’s definitely an impressive sight and well worth the hike.
Distance was approximately 4-1/2 miles roundtrip on our fairly direct path, which included a little wandering around for photos and a wee bit of backtracking. Total time elapsed was 3-1/2 hours. The hike could definitely be made in less time by those on a mission, or it could be lengthened into an entire day trip as there is so much to do and see along the trail to Garrett’s Arch. It seemed like every hundred yards or so, another rocky canyon would tempt us to deviate from our course and dive deeper into the wonderland’s maze of secrets. Before ending this post, here are a few other sites encountered along the way or on the way back.
Mushroom Rock?
I can’t be the only one who takes too many pictures of dead trees.
A small pool of water from recent rains.
The light was great on the way back, had to take another few shots of the Red Obelisk.
The Freak Brothers other profile shot. This may be the “glamour” shot.
Happy Trails!
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GoPro or Go Home - Joshua Tree National Park https://t.co/TJAShuigdc -
The Barbed Wire Trail - Joshua Tree National Park https://t.co/o0FKwmB68R
For those of you who read a post to the end, here’s a satellite’s eye view with some of the major locations pinpointed :-)