Hike to Willow Hole

I slept in just a little today, made some espresso, and spent a couple hours on work before getting ready to head for good hike. Today's destination was Willow Hole, accessed off Boy Scout Trail, a seven mile trek into the heart of the Wonderland of Rocks, the area north of Park Blvd that's filled with monzogranite formations. With my little side explorations and stops for photos, it took me just a bit more than four hours. The trail is reasonably easy, starting off across the desert, then following washes to Willow Hole, which is above Rattlesnake Canyon and Indian Cove, a spot I've hiked to from the other side. There is a connecting path that makes for a nice, long, one-way hike, but alas I have just the one car. There was another hiker on the trail, we took turns passing each other, he had a full pack and was making that hike. Willow Hole indeed has many willows, and clearly sees a good amount of moisture, though today the mud was dry, the flies were still active, grasses grow in abundance, and the air has a tinge of rotting plant smell. All together, it made this area feel like being briefly transported to another ecosystem.

Returning home, I started some laundry, fixed dinner, and spent an hour painting the edges of two of the canvases of the collaborative paintings, one of the last finishing touches they needed. Then came the very length process of downloading images off camera and phone, made longer tonight by the fact that I have now filled the 128GB SD card in my phone. Yikes. Will have to make time soon to ensure that everything is double backed up, then clear some space for the next hike.

Starting out on Boy Scout Trail.

It's definitely a sparse year for the spring bloom, but there are some flowers to be found. Woolly Marigold, I believe.

I can't find this tiny plant in my guidebooks, will have to hunt for a name.

Another I can't find, looks close to malacothrix glabrata, but not quite.

I'm on a roll, another to look up.

Another hiker, headed to Willow Hole and beyond.

A dense assortment of flowering plants.

Prickly Pear, but no flowers yet.

Mojave Mound Cactus.

Yucca framing a silver cholla.

Rushing water has carved some fascinating shapes in the rock.

A wide spot in the wash, but still a ways to go.

Blooming Parry Nolina.

More and more vegetation at this point, getting closer.

Looking up a tall boulder pile.

Grasses growing from the crack in a rock.

A last big opening in the wash, up and to the right leads under the willows.

Willow Hole.

Heading back through the willows for the return trip.

Such a gorgeous area.

A couple barrel cacti making a home on the rocks.

The wash narrows.

More great erosion shapes.

It's a blurry photo, but sharing anyway. I accidentally startled this red tailed hawk who had been hanging out in a Joshua tree.

Yet another plant to look up.

On all my hikes I've noticed an abundance of what looks like a dense cobweb or large, loosely woven cucoon. For the first time, I found evidence of what it is.

I forgot to bring my bird books. I don't think this is a cactus wren, coloring looks different.

Life and death in the Wonderland of Rocks.

Cactus wren, I think, on top of a Joshua tree.

Not sure I've seen this plant before, another to check.

Mojave Mound Cactus blooms.

A delicate purple flower vining up a yucca. Another species to find.

Lucky Boy

I had to stop by the school again to have the kids sign their names on a display that will accompany our paintings. Then I headed into the park to hike the Lucky Boy Vista and Lucky Boy Loop trails. Today was an insanely windy day, which made the temperature blissful, almost cool, for hiking. I love being able to wear a long sleeve layer for the sun, but I hate to overheat. The wind also created areas of blowing sand that would intermittently obscure some of the hills and mountains. The trail out to Lucky Boy Vista is an easy one, with just one, reasonably brief, incline to get to the top of a plateau. On the plateau are numerous mine shafts, this is the location of the Elton Mine. At the end of this trail is a spectacular view looking down on the Split Rock area, and I was able to pick out a number of the rock formations you can see when hiking the loop trail down there. The trail used to connect the two, but it has not been maintained for some time, and by accounts that I read, it requires using one's map and compass skills. Since I was looking for something easy today, I headed back to where the Lucky Boy Loop trail leaves the Vista trail, and took that, wandering through washes in the Desert Queen Valley, eventually ending at the parking area for the Desert Queen Mine, and then a half mile or more hike back to the Lucky Boy parking area. This loop is a newer hike, and it's quite nice. If you keep your eyes open, there are some interesting finds.

I returned to my housing in late afternoon, grabbed a shower and got ready to head down to Palm Springs with Ranger A for a fun evening. We had dinner at Rubio's and wandered the weekly street fair. As miserable as the wind was up here in the high desert, it was still more intense down in the Coachella Valley, blasting her car with sand. To be expected, but luckily the location of Palm Springs shelters it a little, and walking around in the warm evening air was lovely. Crossing the valley, the sand blows like snow in the midwest, fingers of it reaching across the road.