3/29/21 A quick trip to Joshua Tree National Park with Dr. Rock and his family. We took several short hikes for a nice tour of the West and Central areas of the park including Hidden Valley, Barker Dam, Skull Rock, Ryan Mtn, and Keys View.
1 We started out the day with a short loop around the Hidden Valley trail. Every rock pile was just begging to be scrambled up.
2 Our group almost to the end of the Hidden Valley loop. The trails were pretty crowded today given that it was Spring Break.
3 Barker Dam, a very small dam creating the only lake in the National Park. It's pretty much bone dry right now.
4 Desert and Joshua Trees in the foreground with a snow capped San Gorgonio in the background.
5 Heading through a nice little grove of Joshua Trees.
6 The Native American petroglyphs along the Barker Dam trail. Unfortunately some of them have been ruined by people trying to paint over them.
7 This place is definitely bouldering heaven.
8 Next stop was Skull Rock, one of the most popular spots in JTNP.
9 The whole gang posing in front of Skull Rock.
10 After doing a few mile loop around the Skull Rock and Jumbo Rocks area, we headed over to Ryan Mtn for one more hike.
11 Some awesome, expansive views in this area.
12 The valley floor below looks like a moonscape.
13 It's a little over 1,000' of gain from the valley floor to the top.
14 360 view from the top of Ryan Mtn. The winds almost knocked me off the rock pile as I was rotating around.
15 View from the top.
16 Dr. Rock and his wife on top of Ryan Mtn.
17 Heading down now.
18 After finishing the Ryan Mtn trail, we took a detour up to Keys View on our way out of the park. It's an awesome viewpoint overlooking the Coachella Valley. It's a little reminiscent of some of the Death Valley views.
19 Panorama from Keys View and end to a nice day in JTNP.