Indian Pass Indian Trail

February came and it was time to get out again. Roy informed me that after our stellar performance in Joshua Tree, we needed to do some desert exploring. I agreed, since I had a good compromise in mind. With the information that Roy had been "feeding" me regarding the area around Picacho Peak, I thought that we needed to make another visit and see some of the other points of interest in the area.

Charlene, my youngest daughter, joined us so we had another set of hands to help out with the cameras and chores. We started out our trip going more east, through the town of Glamis, than we normally do. I hadn't been this way before and had a whole new appreciation for the sand dunes that are named after Glamis. On the east side of the dunes we made our first stop, at a Pre Columbian Indian Trail. The trail consisted of a section of trail along side of the highway, with a fence along the edges of the trail for few hundred feet. It didn't seem all that impressive, but over the next several hours it would become much more so.

Marker along highway, The sign says:

PRE-COLUMBIAN INDIAN TRAIL

COLORADO RIVER TO LAKE COACHWILLA

(NOW IMPERIAL VALLEY)

ERECTED BY

IMPERIAL VALLEY PIONEERS ASSN.

1965

I've never heard of Lake Coachwilla before, so I'm guessing they're referring to ancient Lake Cahuilla. The obvious age of the trail was the most arresting aspect of the site, along with a section just past the fenced area where the trail went what is a small wash, which has a spot where it appears that water would collect after rains and would have been an important stopping point on the journey.

Location where trail crosses dry stream bed, shaded spot in middle is where water collects.

We then continued the drive to an area known as Indian Pass. I had read about this area in articles in the old Desert Magazine and when searching the area on Google Maps, had seen what I thought were trails visible in the satellite photos of the area. Sure enough, the trail was easy to spot and follow. We ended up hiking much farther than I expected, a couple of miles, until we lost the trail in the sandy washes.

Here we are returning from the wash where we lost the trail. From all appearances, most people don't walk anywhere near this far from the road.

Where the trail goes through the rocks with the heavy patina or desert varnish, the trail is visible on satellite maps.

We saw several mortars along the trail

Following the trail with the pass in the background

Where the trail entered the area of white rock, it wasn't visible on satellite photos, but was still easy to follow.

Charlene checking out some mortars or grinding holes

In the upper middle part of this photo, you can make out a faint circle where the larger rocks have been removed. Many think these circles may have been campsites.

More grinding holes

The peculiar scratches on the rocks in this area, have not been found anywhere else

The trail through the heavy patina covered rocks

More of the mysterious scratches

Of course, graffiti is found in modern flavors as well. This are modern petroglyphs. After seeing the "modern art", we continued east through the pass toward the Colorado River.

Soon we found ourselves at Picacho State Recreation Area. Here Roy is paying the day use fee.

We then went down to the water and had a little picnic. The river is pretty here and we recognize these cliffs from our climbs of Picacho Peak.

Looking up river from our picnic spot

As we drove along the river we checked out some of the side canyons. Roy is looking at the cliffs, making sure that we don't need to climb them.

Charlene is looking at the pools of water from the rains about a week earlier

We are stopped from going any further by this waterfall

Some of the roads we check out are not designed for the family sedan. Note the dirt being sprayed by the driver's side front tire.

While driving along the river we came across this memorial to a dog called Lonesome. It's located on a small hill with a nice view of the river. I wonder how long before erosion will take away this little hill?

We stopped at a boat-in campground. While it's designed for boaters, you can walk in to it also.

One of our last stops of the day was the state park campground and visitor center. Of course you wouldn't want to be a visitor here in the old miner's cemetery. We took a little hike and checked out some of the sights, including the marina and then as the sun was getting lower in the west, we headed out for our last stop of the day.

After a very interesting day we finally set up camp, under the cliffs of Picacho Peak.

Lazy Day, Joshua Tree

Roy and I have been avoiding climbing while Roy's wrist has been healing from a fall he took, he blames a dog... . We decided to try a little trip out to Joshua Tree to see how his wrist was improving. Being January, it was cold at night and there was plenty of reminders of the most recent storm. A quick explanation regarding the photos, since one of us was climbing, while the other was belaying. This is excellent for safety purposes, but really cuts back on the action shots.

Notice the channel from the recent rains and the frost from the cold the night before. It was very easy to decide that we wanted to be in the sun, since it was much more inviting.

Here is a view looking to our right, taken from the same location as the picture above. The sunny side was beautiful. For our first climb we did a short but steep 5.6 known as Jessica's Crack. The angle of the upper portion eases off but turns into an off width crack that can only be protected with monstrous sized protection, which of course we didn't have. This meant that we just needed to reach down inside and come up with a little more courage, or something and we managed to do the climb. Of course it's not known for being much of a challenge.

Roy on the rappel after climbing Jessica's Crack

Roy coiling the rope after the rappel

The necessary ingredients

Looking up at Lazy Day 5.7

We decided that in order to enjoy the most that the weather had to offer, we would do another south facing climb. The most obvious one that we thought would be within our capabilities was Lazy Day. We picked up our gear and headed over to the base of the climb. The weather was perfect and off we went. What I had forgotten was how unique the climbing was on this route. Instead of just straight forward crack or face, this started out with some nice crack, but soon led up to the diagonal crack, which turns out to be located on a steep section of the face. The feature making it particularly steep, being the overhang on the top side of this crack. Once I reached this location, the balmy weather became incredibly hot, oppressively hot, I was sweating buckets. Since the climb is only 5.7, I could see the move, but didn't seem to want to commit. The long I studied the rock, the more tired I got and I began to wonder if I was going to have the strength to finish. Finally I gave up on any attempt at style points and placed my knee on a ledge. This ledge had a nice sharp lip that caused me excruciating pain as I placed another piece of protection and then finally I was able to stand. The rest of the climb was actually enjoyable again, except for the residual pain to my knee. Of course Roy just scampered up and declared that it was a good route, to hard for him but good. I don't know if he says these things to try to make me feel good or make me angry and it doesn't do any good to ask.

Hey, I said I enjoyed the rest of the climb

Roy starting the rappel

Roy on rappel, just below my crux, he thought it was harder up higher.

Once back on the ground Roy declared that we had accomplished our "test" of his wrist and it was time to go home. Thinking about my knee and what another climb might do to me, I quietly agreed and we headed home, another day enjoying the beauty of Joshua Tree at an end.

Joshua Tree, Ryan Mountain

This was turning out to be one of the best winters we've had in terms of precipitation in a long time. I guess after a while you get used to the drought. With one of the recent January storms, we had snow on the mountains and hills surrounding Palm Springs on all sides. I decided it was time to take a hike and check out the conditions in Joshua Tree National Park.

For this little adventure, my partner was Calvin, always fun to have him along. As we left home we could see that the snow from a storm two days before was still down low on the San Bernardino Mountains.

After about an hour we were up in the park and started of hiking. Our goal for the day was the top of Ryan Mountain. We have just started up the trail in this picture. The parking lot is off to the left, behind the rock formations.

I wasn't too surprised to see so much snow on the north face of the mountain, but down on the flats, well that's unusual.

Since the storm had been a few days before, it was starting to melt, fortunately it was a mild day, almost warm. Very pleasant conditions for hiking.

As we gained altitude, the views were fantastic. The rock formations to the left of center include the Hall of Horrors area and in the background is Mt. San Gorgonio.

It was like walking through a winter wonderland and soon we had reached the top. The snow conditions were just right so that our regular hiking boots were adequate for the hike up. Here you can see me on the summit. Calvin took the picture while standing on the stack of rocks that people have been placing in a large pile on the summit for many many years.

Here is a view looking back down the trail leading to the summit. Queen Mountain is in the background.

This view is looking to the west, Mt. San Gorgonio is in the background and Cap Rock is just left of center.

Here is the view looking toward the east and the Pinto Basin.

Looking toward the south is a small volcano, it has been dormant for about 800 years. You can just make out the Geology Tour road in upper left corner of this picture.

Looking to the southwest we could see the most snow. The hiker in the bottom of the picture was brewing up a hot drink and was planning to stay on the summit for a while.

Looking at Mt. San Jacinto

Looking out towards Hidden Valley

Our illustrious photographer

Soon we were observing what appeared to be a never ending stream of hikers headed for the top and we made our way back down. With the warm temperatures, the footing became less secure and Calvin ended up taking a dive, with red badge of courage on his hand to show for it. I wondered what all the hikers heading up thought, that is if they noticed.

Snow along the road on the drive home, the Hall of Horrors is on the right.

Looking back up at Ryan Mountain, the trail goes up through the notch. The large rock formation on the right is Saddle Rocks.

Even as we passed through Morongo Valley there was till lots of snow on the mountains around us. It was a beautiful day and a great hike with great company.