Joshua Tree: Hike to Willow Hole

Today was our last chance for a longer hike in Joshua Tree National Park (at least this stay), and we found a very special one.  A ranger recommended we consider hiking through the Wonderland of Rocks to Willow Hole, in the northwest corner of the park.  About 7.5 miles out-and-back, this seemed to fit the ticket.  The ranger, however, would not tell us what we would find.  All the better to discover for ourselves!

A storm system passed through the area two nights ago, and yesterday witnessed high winds.  While the winds had passed this morning, a cold Canadian high perched atop the area, so we started our hike at about 44F.  You can see below that David, as he poses at the trailhead and points the way, is bundled up against the cold breeze.  It felt as if it were in the high 30's.

But the storm cleared out the dust and L.A. smog from the Coachella Valley and our area, so we had crystal clear views.  Here is dear old Mount San Gorgonio, with a full mantle of snow and its own little cloudcap, in the distance over the joshua tree valley we hiked through along the Boy Scout Trail:

The desert in winter isn't nearly as colorful as in the spring, but it has its own surprises.  Walking along the trail, we were pleased to spot these three little flora buddying up for warmth:  a beavertail cactus, a cholla, and a baby Josh still in his nursery plant:

About 1.2 miles into the hike, the Willow Hole Trail departs the Boy Scout Trail, and we headed more northeast.  As we approached one rock formation known as the "Siberia Buttress," we saw this sign, which first took us aback because we were pretty sure we weren't anywhere near Outer Mongolia:

As we read the sign, we realized that we were being directed to one of the many rock climbing routes in the park.  While we saw no one climbing as we hiked out, on our return hike we spotted three climbers working patiently up the buttress and, while amazed, reaffirmed that that sort of adrenaline rush is not for us.

We continued our hike across the desert, and slowly approached and worked our way around ridges of monzogranite, which became more rounded and idiosyncratic the closer we got to Wonderland of Rocks.  Eventually, we descended into a sandy wash that started to conduct us into the Wonderland of Rocks, and shortly we were surrounded by every sort of magical creature:

There were even great smooth slabs of granite made just for leaning against and sunning:

Our trail slowly entered a maze of boulders, where we weren't sure which way to turn.  In this case, our track lay around the edge of this huge granite presence.  Note Kathy peeking back around the rock and summoning me forward:

Each rock formation was more unique than the last, with colors ranging from white to grey to gold to orange, to nearly red or blue or black:

Sometimes the cliffs to each side demonstrated the geologic history of fracturing monzogranite, just as the Park Service had illustrated in its brochures:

In other cases, we were sure that whatever force shaped this rock was a Great Cartoonist who, in this case, caught some rocky plumber unawares as he exposed his great butt crack to the universe:

Deeper into the maze, we had to make some nonintuitive course corrections in order to continue toward our quarry:  Willow Hole.  At one point, we were at a loss for the direction to walk, when we thought to look on the topo map in our GPS to see what wisdom it might impart.  Lo and behold, there, on the electronic topo map was a little point, marked "Willow Hole," and it was at N 34.06874 degrees, W 116.15285 degrees, just 500 feet from where we stood.  We looked up and concluded that we were just about there!

We explored Willow Hole a little, examining the wintery trees there to verify that, indeed, they were willow trees.  David spotted a path through the willow grove and out the far side, so we continued hiking until we found a lovely, sunny perch.  We ate our lunch, looking back at the willow grove --

-- and forward to a gigantic bowl of rock below us, into which whatever water fed the willow trees must have spilled on its long, torurous journey to the plains far below.

David filmed a 360 video of Willow Hole, where we ate lunch.  It gives some sense of this beautiful, wild, strange place.  We were proud that we had managed to find this little secret spot when, clearly, other less prepared hikers probably never reached it.

Our hike back out to our truck at the trailhead went without misadventure.  We snapped more photos, discussed the biology, geology and philosophy of the desert, and encountered some other hikers.  We observed a young couple who had clambered up a high, round-bouldered cliff and waved to us from a quarter mile away or so.  Out on the desert plain and exposed to the wind, we grew chilly again as the clouds blew in and covered the sun.  But our pace was swift and we were back to the warmth of the truck before we knew it.

We think this was our last hike here at Joshua Tree this visit.  Hasta manana, parque.  Vaya con Dios, you fragile joshua trees and dusky chipmunks, you tortoises and kangaroo rats sheltering from the winter under our feet, you silent boulders pantomiming our Earthly history before our eyes.