Valhalla Dome and the Wonderland of Rocks - 3.4.2019
From the west entrance pay station of Joshua Tree National Park... drive 8.9 miles on Park Blvd and turn left onto Hidden Valley Road... then drive 1.7 miles and turn left on the unsigned dirt surfaced Wall Street Mill Drive... then drive .3 miles to the dirt parking lot at the end of the road.
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We started hiking from the parking lot in the direction of the Wall Stree Mill... love the 3 blooms on the joshua tree above rocman.
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Sahale and Denali Girl check out the old truck along the trail to the Wall Street Mill.
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After hiking a quarter-mile or so we turned to the north and headed toward the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Approaching rocks and boulders along the southern border of the wonderland.
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Working some boulders as we enter the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Sahale has found a route through this first set of rocks.
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Denali Girl working the rocks near our entry to the wonderland.
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Heading north in a wash that will take us further into the wonderland.
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Here comes the gang.
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We are deep enough into the wonderland that we can see the two Astro Domes out there on the left... and 'The Camel' on the far right.
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Sahale and Denali Girl hanging out at one of the kitchens in the Wonderland... madman is screaming for help from within the oven.
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Another set of rocks and boulders.
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Another wash that we will use... the two Astro Domes are in the right-center of the photo.
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Continuing north in a wash... heading directly toward 'The Camel'.
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'The Camel'.
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The Red Obelisk Amphitheater.
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Freak Brothers Dome.
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madman in an ocean of prickly pear cacti.
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Petroglyphs in the Wonderland of Rocks.
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We decided to head over toward the Astro Domes... easier said than done in the wonderland.
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Working some boulders on our way over to the Astro Domes.
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Getting closer to the Astro Domes out there on the left.
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We will get off of the rocks and use this wash as long as it takes us in the proper direction.
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Sahale leads us down the wash.
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madman went up to get a better shot of the Astro Domes.
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madman leads us through a narrow wash... standing water made the trip more challenging in a few places.
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Back on some rocks... looking for one of the four dice in the wonderland.
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Denali Girl and Sahale enjoy the views... while a climber is on top of the South Astro Dome.
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rocman relaxes under one of the four dice.
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A view of 'The Camel' from near the dice.
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We decided to head for Barker Lake from the dice... there is a very faint path leading out to the rocks to the right of the dice.
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Heading for Barker Lake.
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The route was a little brushy in places.
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Heading down to a wash on the south side of the South Astro Dome.
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Looking back to the pass we crossed over on the right as Sahale and Denali Girl hike along the wash.
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Looking back as we continue toward Barker Lake.
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Continuing down the wash toward Barker Lake.
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A lot of the washes are still holding water from the recent storms.
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Barker Lake was so high that we had to skirt the east side of the lake on rocks.
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When we got to the lake we decided to take a short jaunt up to Valhalla Dome.
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Sahale and rocman working their way up to Valhalla Dome.
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rocman continues past some huge boulders on the way to the top of Valhalla Dome.
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Here comes madman and Denali Girl... Ryan Mountain on the left horizon.
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rocman and Sahale blend in with the rocks... the little tree in the distance is the top of Valhalla Dome.
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rocman and Sahale on the summit of Valhalla Dome.
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The Astro Domes are in the distance between rocman and Sahale... 'The Camel' is to the right of Sahale.
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Here come Denali Girl and madman... Ryan Mountain is on the left... Lost Horse Valley is in the distance.
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Looking north into the Wonderland of Rocks from Valhalla Dome... the Astro Domes and 'The Camel' are near the center of the photo... with the west end of Queen Mountain on the right horizon.
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Looking SW (left) to NW from Valhalla Dome.
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rocman, Sahale and madman take a break on a rock bench.
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Heading down from Valhalla Dome... Ryan Mountain in the distance on the left.
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Continuing down from Valhalla Dome.
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We are getting closer to the lake, but still have to stay up on the rocks to get around the east side of the lake.
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Here comes Denali Girl... a portion of Valhalla Dome is behind her.
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Ta-da... we have reached Barker Lake.
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Barker Lake.
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The trail into Barker Lake was closed for maintenance... so we hiked around to Barker Dam and hiked out that way.
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Working our way back to the parking lot on a climber's access trail.
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We have reached the main parking lot for Barker Dam... but still have a quarter mile hike to get to the unpaved parking lot where we started from earlier in the day... our loop hike was 4.5 miles, gaining 700 feet of elevation.
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