Hidden Valley

I don't think we realized how big this park really was. We saw half of it yesterday and we will do the other half today. All of the campgrounds are full and there are people (day trippers) everywhere. First thing on the agenda was to check out Joshua Tree and get gas for the car and breakfast for us. Nothing like a little local color at the Joshua Tree Saloon to go with our eggs. We should know better by now!

Back into the park - eh a line at the entrance gate - we forgot it was a long holiday weekend so 20 minutes later we are on our way again. Hidden Valley was our first stop. A foot path lead us through what looked like a rock wall as we worked our way to the trail head. In the 1800's a rancher blasted his way through the rocks and found a lush valley. He grazed his cattle here, but eventually the water was gone and the valley turned to desert. A one-mile loop trail winds among massive boulders and jumbled rocks through what became a legendary cattle rustlers' hideout. The trail took us up rock steps and over boulders. We watched several groups of people climbing the shear rock walls. This is a real climbing hot spot for this area of California and they are streaming in here by the car loads. We really enjoyed the hike and varying views. Unfortunately we were reminded of how treacherous rock climbing can be. The police and ambulence were in the parking lot and there had been a climbing accident.

We left Hidden Valley for Barker Dam and our next trail. The dam was build in the 1900's to hold water for cattle and mining use. Today it forms a small rain-fed reservoir and provides water to the parks wildlife. As we scrambled over boulders and through little streams we saw birds everywhere. The park has many different ecosystems and this was very different from Hidden Valley. Here we found Pinyon Pine, and Pinyon Juniper that grow in the wetter areas with Mojave Yucca and Noline as well as several types of cactus in the dryer areas. The greens and desert browns were broken by the Red Top Buckwheat which is growing in clusters with tall red spikes on the desert floor. We noticed something move on a small branch of a bush just off the trail. It was a little Kangaroo Rat. He was munching on the wooden branch that didn't look big enough to hold him!

Our last stop was Keys View. Our overlook is perched on a crest of the Little San Bernadino Mountains at an elevation of 5,185 feet. The expanse of Coachella Valley, mountains, and desert is stunning. In front of us we can see the San Andreas Fault. We could see back to Palm Springs and the Salton Sea! The fault to the west is slipping East and if we returned several years from now we would be considerable farther east than we are today. It's a weird feeling to think we were watching the fault line and moving at the same time. The ranger told us this was the place to come for sunrises... but we usually miss these..

Back at camp we relaxed and watched all the people race around, then we went to Twenty-Nine Palms for pizza. When we got back it was dark and the stars were phenominal! There are no man made lights out here and boy is it dark!

Tomorrow we leave. We are starting to head towards Sacramento slowly. We enjoyed the park alot and we can see why it's so popular with the local folks.

Note: Picture top right is the San Andreas Fault line. You can see it at the base of the snowy mountains.