From 3/16 to 3/18, Tony Wong and I hiked the Joshua Tree section of the California Riding and Hiking Trail, which is a 37.5 mile trail.
Tony has a lot more pics than I do and will probably post something eventually, but thought I’d throw up some stuff in the meantime.
We drove all day from the Bay Area and car camped Thursday 3/15 in Indian Cove Campground.
By the time we got there, I desperately needed a beer. Luckily, I had one.
We eat a giant bag of fried chicken from the local grocery store and then threw two duraflame logs in the fire pit and off we went with a campfire. Tony was drinking a 3.4% abv grapefruit radler, which is a bit strong for him, so he quickly took to pontificating.
There’s no water on the trail, so the next morning, we dropped caches along the route. After an awesome breakfast at Country Kitchen in Joshua Tree, we ended up dropping three caches. One at Upper Covington Flat (long dirt road to get there), one at Key’s Road, and one at the road that goes south to Cottonwood Springs. Then we drove to the North Entrance, left the car, and took an Uber back to Black Rock Campground, where the trail began.
So, here’s the hiking part:
Day 1, starting at around 2pm, we hiked about 10 miles. The weather had been nice the day before, but it was pretty windy and chilly. I think high temps for the day were around 60 F.
Most of the first part of the day were spent hiking up a wash. It was about 1,000 feet up over several miles, so pretty gentle rise. Here’s a shot of the wash.
We camped near the top of a valley. No other people in site. Campsite shot:
Tony bundled up for the evening:
Day 2 we hiked 21 miles. Started at about 8 in the morning and hiked until about 6 pm. It was pretty darn cold most of the day. Clouds and sun off and on, but never really warmed up above the mid 50s at best.
Here’s a morning shot at the top of the valley we started in before heading downhill again. In the distance, you can see the Salton Sea:
Tony looking confused about something:
Tony checking out the view:
Tony hiking off ahead of me into Joshua Tree land:
After getting our last water cache, we crossed the highway and left the trail and headed for a big area of granite boulders and set up camp:
Tony chilling in camp as the sun goes down:
Tony always taking pics. He was unaware that this vicious Joshua Tree was stalking him and was about to grab him and eat him:
Had a windy night where I had set up. Got a cactus thorn in my foot in the middle of the night while I was refastening a guyline that had blown loose. Made me feel like I was a genuine desert camper.
We finished the hike with about 6.5 miles on day 3 and made it to the North entrance backcountry trailhead parking by around 11 a.m.
Tony at the finish. Still taking pictures.
Had a very good Mexican meal in Yucca Valley and then headed for home.
This was a trip I had on my list for many years. Glad I finally got a chance to do it. Hope Tony posts some better pics.
Jeremy
