Joshua Tree Hike

[Michael Chamoun]

Hey all-
I want to do a 2 day 50-60 mile hike in Joshua Tree this weekend or the next but I am unfamiliar with this park. Does anyone have any recommendations about a good loop or out and back?

[Joshua Billings]

Mike Sawchuck is the Joshua tree expert. He knows some stuff.
You can find his post in the trip report forum.
Josh
P.S. if you can find it, he said that he couldn't find his last buried beer supply. It was four paces west of the east leaning J-tree next to the cool rock.

[Anonymous]

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[Michael Chamoun]

I'm going there next weekend. Thanks for the input and I'll be sure to look for the beers! As far as caching water, should I do it, is it necessary? I think I'm going to hike the CRHT.

[Michael Skwarczek]

I almost went this weekend, 3/29, but drove up to SF instead. I would really like to join you but next weekend will be only two days of recovery after having 6 teeth pulled.

I got your PM, I'll contact you directly. But check out my JT trip with Douglas Johnson back in Feb, you'll find it in the "trip reports" forum.

You can do the CRHT as a one way, 37.5 miler, if you have a buddy and stage cars at either end. Otherwise yer looking at a yo-yo. I would advise starting at Black Rock Canyon, rather than the East entrance, to avoid a bunch of uphill. If you yo-yo you can plan on 40 miles from Black Rock to Ryan and back. Or 60 miles from Black Rock to White Tanks and back.

Regarding water, I would suggest dropping a water cache at either Ryan or White Tank, depending on your trip. If you decide against this, consider your water consumption to be 2.5-3L a day (with cooking). That'll be 6L+ in your pack, making for over 12lbs of extra weight. Convinced?

I'll chat with you directly.

cheers,
-Michael

oh, and bring a bottle opener. ::gaped toothed grin::

[Michael Chamoun]

Hiked the CHRT from Black Rock Canyon to Geologic Tour Rd. and back to Ryan on Sat which was a physically exhausting 34 miles (including a few miles lost in one of the washed out routes early on). The next morning I backpacked from Ryan back to Black Rock by 1pm which was around 20 miles. It was a wonderful experience where I met some great people at Ryan and the weather and cosmos were absolutely perfect. My MLD Soul bivy is something new I tried and it worked perfectly. Definitely going on every trip from now on. Didn't take a tarp because you didn't need one! :D

[Michael Skwarczek]

34 the first day!?!? That sounds awesome and totally exhausting. I'm glad I didn't make it out with you, that woulda killed me.

Did you night hike that early section and find yourself wandering down dry washes instead of the trail? Funny. We talked about that, it's nearly unavoidable. And after we talked, I started thinking it may actually be that the trail is never taking advantage of the washes, it's always established and only crossing. So, keeping that in mind, if yer in the wash for more than 10 yards, you should back track a tad and find the trail again.

But now that you're a veteran, you can ignore it altogether and b-line to your landmarks.

Cheers brother!
-Michael

[Michael Chamoun]

I didn't end up night-hiking the first night so I just stayed at Black Rock Canyon which was for the better because I definitely would have gotten lost in a hurry. I'll have to explore more of the park later on because there is so much out there!
Thanks for your advice and help in regards to the trip because it definitely made the trip better, especially the water cache idea at Ryan. That is one awesome campground.
Thanks Mike!

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