Interesting Rocks - Joshua Tree National Park
Explor Date: February 22 of 2021
Sometimes you plan an exploration and what you discover reveals future areas to explor, providing you survive to hike another day….
I think it’s fair to say that Google Earth is a temptress. How often has she led me to unknown places of wonder and beauty, places of history and charm, places from which even more can be discovered. When things are slow at work, why not spend some time with her, searching for places to see what I can find.
Recently, while [g]oogling the earth temptress along the trail to Pine City, I noticed some “interesting rocks.” That’s all it takes. A plan was formed.
Step one of the plan: Find the wash leading to the “interesting rocks.” That was easy enough. After meeting up with fellow exploratographer, Mitch, at the Pine City Trailhead, we hit the trail. A little over a mile in, my new Garmin urged us to head east, so that’s what we did.
It was a great morning for a hike in the roughlands, cool enough to be pleasant; the combo of a light jacket and a steady pace keeping us limber. Heading up this wash, we were impressed by the number of footprints although we saw not another hiker on our trek.
It wasn’t long before the interesting rocks came into view.
Step two: Explor the rocks.
This one easily caught my attention, and what it reminds me of is just on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t come up with it. I was impressed by the dike base the boulder seems to be sitting on. There are a good number of dikes in this area of varying size and direction.
Another giant boulder atop of base of totally different rock.
A rock waterfall, it looks like those jagged chunks up on top are just waiting their chance to slide down that chute.
“Twin Cracks”
Doesn’t this look like a great place to camp? There’s shade from the pinyon pine, rocks to climb and a nice spot for a tent. There are a number of places in this area that are just custom-made for an overnight. That’s San Jacinto off in the distance and I believe that’s San Gorgonio peaking out at the upper right.
A jagged skyline.
Mitch suggested trying black and white on a dead pinyon pine. Fiddling with the filter options in photoshop, the infrared option looked nice.
The “Egg Chair.” Now I wish I had tried it out.
So many interesting shapes and angles, lots of nooks and crannies as well. This would be a great area to bring friends for a first time visit. A short hike in, cool rocks, pinyon pines, places to explore and have a picnic. With great odds of not seeing any other visitors even on a crowded weekend. Just get to the trailhead early to get a parking spot, as there aren’t many available.
A dike with some large rocks running across this image, it continued behind the photographer as well.
I’m experimenting with sunstarbursts, this one turned out pretty nice. What’s better than a pinyon pine for a main subject? Continue on.
Here’s a beauty! With Mitch for scale. This is near where we found the bones.
I made a comment, “it looks like someone could climb right up this crack to check out that opening up there.”
From the tall pinyon pine, we spotted another interesting group of rocks farther off to the east, so headed out that way to see what we could find. It was definitely worth the explor. It started with a slight scramble up a rock-strewn hill, aiming for a (whatelse) pinyon pine. Along the way, an expanisve view began to make its self known, so heading for the highest point to get a better look seemed like the thing to do.
Heading for the high point.
Still climbing.
The payoff view, looking southeast. I think that tall point dead ahead is Monument Mountain, but could be mistaken. With a view like this, it was time to drop the packs and take a break, have a bit to eat and just enjoy the scenery. Not visible in this image, John’s Camp, Wilford Rock, Eagle Rock, and the Gold Hill mines are in a canyon over on the right. And probably other neat stuff.
This image doesn’t do justice to this vein of rock located near the top of the hill we were on. There are a lot of solid white quartz flakes scattered about and this vein is much whiter and sparklier (that’s a word) than it appears in this shot.
Directly east of our perch, this enticing valley tempted us with its distant mysteries, but that will have to be a trip for another day. Its remote location leads me to believe that it is a seldom visited area and might contain nice surprises. Look at all those rocks!
Another look at the valley, but this one shows more of its northern end. I could hear the gears turning.
After this last look, it was time to start heading back to the truck.
Passing this possible habitation site, I crawled in under that overhang and was able to nearly stand completely up. This spot has obviously been used as an overnight stop over the years and I couldn’t help but wonder for how many years in the past it provided shelter for those in need.
I’m pretty sure I’ve taken more pictures of dead trees over the years than living people.
Taking a different route going back to the trail than we took going in, we chanced upon this old mining road and followed it to the trail. One of these days a trip up the road to see where it goes is definitely in order. After returning to the trail, it was not long until we were back at the parking area. A safe and successful trip to the “interesting rocks” completed. Thanks for joining me on this one, Mitch!
If you’ve read this far, please think about leaving a comment below and be sure to click the link back to the JT home page for more adventures.
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