The Barbed Wire Trail - Joshua Tree National Park

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Mar 7

Explor Date: November 20 of 2022

The south face of Snickers

“No Joshua Tree Hiking Plan extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the desert sands.”

— some hiker

Once the hiking boots hit the trail, anywhere in Joshua Tree National Park, toss the game plan out the window. Oh, you may come back to it and somehow end up where you had set out to go (often with a <squirrel!> side trip that turns out to be more interesting than the original goal), or you may get lost and die alone in the unforgiving Mojave, after trying to survive for days on Piñon pine nuts, prickly pear, mesquite pods and that one bottle of prime. Either way, it’s always an adventure.

My plan for an afternoon jaunt consisted of no more that climbing to the top of Snickers. Years ago I had heard that there was an easy route that could basically just be walked from the desert floor to the top of the formation. And when you look at the picture above, that seems like a reasonable statement. So I set out to see what I could find on my way to the top.

Hiking along, minding my own business and what happens?

Barbed wire happened. Now I know no tourist from Japan or France left this here by mistake. Most likely, some rancher from olden times left it and never got back around to using it or taking it home.

A little bit of searching and the remnants of a fence led me off on a wild chase across the desert to see if any other interesting things of old were about.

And old fence post still standing, who knows for how many decades it’s been there. And there’s what appears to be a game trail crossing the downed fence.

Doubtful that this enclosure would have been able to hold Atrociraptors.

The Barbed Wire Trail finally vanished, or I lost the sign. Nothing else to do but continue on to see what else was out there in this remote area.

This approach certainly seemed like a way to “just walk up to the top.” Ha, ha, ha other hikers are laughing.

Definitely a great view on the way up, that’s the Comic Book area out there and farther out is Saddle Rock.

Yup, this is easy walking. Like someone just laid out the path to the top.

And then it’s like someone just threw a bunch of huge boulders into this crack, leaving deep chasms underneath with sharp rocks and what appeared to be broken bones at the bottom which effectively said, “climb farther, at your risk. Here there be jagged danger for solo hiker.”

As I turned around and started heading back, the wind seemed to whisper to me through the branches of an ancient Piñon pine, “Do not fear the quartz monzanite. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. Face your fear.”

Stupid tree.

Maybe there’s another way to the top for a non-climber, maybe it’s around the other side, or maybe a different path needs to be chosen. In any case, the adventures along the Barbed Wire Trail made for a great afternoon in the park and left a return trip to Snickers a strong likelihood.

Hopefully, the ramblings and photography of an old desert hiker have entertained.

Return to Joshua Tree Home Page, click HERE.