Crown Prince and Split Rock

Today I did two hikes: Crown Prince Lookout and Split Rock Loop. I had intended to hike a good length of the Boy Scout Trail, but the large parking lot was completely full this morning. It's a holiday weekend, the Night Sky Festival is this weekend, and it's a fee free weekend for the park. The campgrounds were all full by yesterday morning, so a crowded parking lot is really no surprise. So, I did some quick research and headed to a little pullout west of Jumbo Rocks Campground to hike to the top of the Crown Prince Lookout, a tall mound of very large boulders which was once the site of an airplane warning system, most likely during WWII. From the two accounts I had of this trail, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it to the top to find the scant remnants of the lookout. The hike in is easy, following the path of an old two track road. Once at the large mound, I followed a small trail around the west side, eventually continuing around the entire hill, which took a good while. As I came up the east side, there was a sloped area that looked like it might be the route to the top. Indeed, the trail was reasonably east most of the way, with about 10 feet of vertical boulder climbing at the end. The views from the top were sensational. I found a number of small pieces of evidence of the past use of this site. After spending some time photographing and just sitting, I headed back.

The hike took less time than I thought, so I drove east to hike the Split Rock Loop. I've done this hike before with my family, and really enjoyed it. Nice views with some great rock formations. The last time I hiked it we ran across a Desert Tortoise taking his time, walking along the trail. It was wonderful to watch.

Split Rock also went a little quicker than intended, so I was early arriving for the first speaker for the park's annual Night Sky Festival. I chatted for a little with the superintendent before he gave a talk and introduced the speaker, Dr. Tyler Nordgren, an Astronomer, photographer, artist, author, and more. He was fun to listen to, his interests and activities are very akin to the things that excite me in my work. Interestingly, he had hoped to get to NW Alaska this fall to do the artist-in-residency up there that I did last summer. Small world.

After the talk, I headed to the Oasis Visitors Center to look through some of the telescopes they have set up this weekend. I saw Uranus, the owl constellation, and a binary star system.

Hiking along this old two track to Crown Prince Lookout.

Raven with a find.

Headed to that distant mound.

Much smaller, but another neat monzogranite formation.

Closer look at the Crown Prince formation.

The back side.

Looking south across the southern end of Queen Valley, Pleasant Valley, and the Hexie Mountains.

Looking up at the mound I hope to get on top of. There is just no way to convey the scale of those distant boulders. They are enormous, most bigger than a school bus. The elevation change on this hike is about 180 feet, and one hikes downhill to get to this mound, so chances are good that it is more than 180 feet tall.

Looking south.

Looking southeast from part way up along a somewhat gradual approach to the summit.

There's no scale here, but this is what I had to climb up, images of the route are coming.

One of several small pieces of evidence that this site was used by humans.

This concrete slab is a remnant from the lookout. It has a piece of wire wrapped around it that leads down over the edge. Really not sure what it could be for.

The wire, trailing down. Those tiny rocks on the left are the huge boulders from the previous photos, looking up at the mound.

Pano of the view south, Hexie and Little San Bernardino Mountains.

Looking west toward Lost Horse Mountain and Ryan Mountain.

Another human artifact.

Looking southeast toward Pinto Basin in the far distance.

Looking across the summit.

Looking another direction across the summit.

Looking northeast toward Jumbo Rocks.

The trail down.

Tough to grasp scale here, but this is what I climbed up, also the way down, in the gap between the rocks on the left and the large face on the right.

Looking up form below at the same spot, the way up and down.

Behind the angled rock in the center is the spot from the two previous images.

A last view southeast on the way down.

I have a distinct fondness for the granite formations in this park.

Looking back at where I was.

A last look back on my hike out.

Starting out on Split Rock Loop.

I love the round rock that looks like it should keep rolling down the slope.

Some of the nicest trail steps I've ever seen.

I really enjoy the granite, what follows is a plethora of images.

Face Rock.

This huge formation looks to me something like a serpent with open mouth and eye, slithering out from the boulders, patiently waiting.

Quail Springs

The day started with coffee and some work, last night I kept dozing off while trying to organize photos from my blog so I did that while waiting on a load of laundry. I headed out at mid day for a hike, deciding to explore the trails around Quail Springs. Looking at the map and the time of day, I knew I couldn't hike everything, not even as far as the springs, so planned on a couple hours, maybe 4-5 miles with time for photos. The reality played out a little differently. Despite good directions and tips for staying on the trail, it was a struggle. Often the trail runs down a wash, which is fine enough in most areas, footprints are easy to see and follow. However in some areas the wash was compacted and showed no footprints. There are myriad interlacing washes here, and I repeatedly had to backtrack and try other washes to find and stay on the trail. I ended up following a trail that diverted significantly from where I intended to be, but eventually found a system of washes that I zigzagged through and succeeded in finding the trail I meant to be on. In the process of trying to get onto the trail I wanted, I stumbled upon an area I read about, which I thought was much too far away to try to get to today: the area around an old homestead site. There are a collection of rock slabs with engravings, as well as other finds. So many of the cultural sites in this park, such as this one, have seen damage and vandalism, it was comforting to see this location in good condition. Please, if you spend any time on trails in rural areas or on public lands, respect these irreplaceable treasures. If left untouched, they can last for future generations to discover and enjoy, and will be there for you to visit again. This applies to things as obvious as these boulders, and also to items that may seem unimportant such as rusty bed frames or tin cans. These areas fall under federal protections, it's not only morally right to preserve them as-is, but also legally.

At this point I had to turn around in order to reach my car before the dark of night fell. I did manage to find and stay on the road/trail I wanted. Parts were in good shape, I presume that this was the road out to the homestead, but parts were very overgrown and/or washed away, so there were still some minor challenges. This is why you always have a topo map and compass, and know how to use them, even when you think you're just going to follow an easy trail. I was never lost, it was an easy, open area to navigate by the land forms, and I'm lucky to have a consistently good sense of direction. Still, always better safe than sorry. I made it back to my car about 30 minutes after sunset with sufficient twilight, just as I figured. Terribly hungry, I decided to go for some pizza at Pie for the People on my way home. With eyes even bigger than my stomach, I ordered a salad and 16" pizza, easily enough for four meals. Not a problem since I enjoy leftovers.