Jumbo Rocks Loop - 2.3.2019
From the north entrance pay station of Joshua Tree National Park... drive 6.8 miles on Park Blvd and turn left onto the unpaved Live Oak Road which is directly across the road from Split Rock Road... then drive a tenth of a mile and park. Note that there are several parking areas in the Live Oak area. It doesn't really matter which area you park in because all of them provide great places to roam around.
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Hiking south and SW from where we parked... here we are looking at the east side of the Jumbo Rocks.
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Awesome rock formations in this area.
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The washes show the evidence of the previous day's rain.
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Still hiking SW... that ramp looks like a fun scramble... we will check it out.
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The ramp looks like a stairway to heaven... up we go.
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I'm at the top of the ramp... looking down at Denali Girl as she starts to come up.
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Denali Girl at the top of the ramp.
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Coming back down the ramp.
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Off of the ramp and looking for the next adventure.
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Rocks.
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Denali Girl has found another ramp.
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Denali Girl comes up using a water-carved trough to get higher.
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Quite the bivouac.
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Leaving the bivouac behind and climbing higher.
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Relaxing.
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Hey lets head down and then over to those two high points... the one on the left looks problematic... but the one on the right looks very feasible.
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We have come down from the bivouac we found and are continuing SW.
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We are heading up the easier of the two rock formations we saw from the bivouac.
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Looking back at the Jumbo Rocks area... with Queen Mountain on the horizon.
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Denali Girl at our high point (4531') for the day... broad views in every direction.
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Looking over to the left at the gnarly looking rock formation we saw earlier on the hike... still don't see an obvious route up to the top... but the formation out there on the right might just have a weakness that a person could use to advantage... but that will have to wait for another day.
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Looking west from our high point to Ryan Mountain (center).
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From our high point we are looking NW to Jumbo Rocks and Queen Mountain.
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Looking down on the Jumbo Rocks Campground.
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Back down from our high point and heading for the car.
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Hiking back along the east side of Jumbo Rocks.
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Denali Girl looks like she is crossing over a pass.
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Hiking across a little dance floor as we head for the car.
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Damn... that looks like a dam... a trickle of water was running here.
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Now we know why this area is called the 'Live Oak' area.
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Relaxing in one of the many windows in the area.
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That is one big oak tree.
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Soaring.
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Closing our loop trip at the parking lot... our trip was 3.3 miles, gaining 600 feet of elevation.
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