Willow Hole, Wall Street Mill and the Wonderland of Rocks - 3.8.2019
From the west entrance pay station at Joshua Tree National Park we drove 6.5 miles on Park Blvd and parked at the trailhead for the Boy Scout Trail... this is a huge parking lot... since this will be a through hike we stashed a car over at the Barker Dam trailhead prior to starting from here.
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Hiking north along the Boy Scout Trail... passing by Ellsmere Island on the right... with a joshua tree in bloom on the left.
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After hiking the Boy Scout Trail for 1.2 miles we have started hiking on the Willow Hole Trail... Outer Mongolia is the rock formation on the left.
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On our way to Willow Hole... we decided to take a short cut to cut off a portion of the Willow Hole Trail... did it save any time?... a good question for which I have no answer.
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Off trail and heading for Willow Hole.
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Our shortcut involved a little scrambling.
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Hiking in a wash that will reconnect us with the Willow Hole Trail.
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We have rejoined the Willow Hole Trail... there are awesome things to look at in every direction.
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After hiking 3.5 miles we have arrived at a very wet Willow Hole.
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Sahale and BarbE cross some water at Willow Hole that will lead us out the backside of Willow Hole and into the Wonderland of Rocks... looks like they are polling a keelboat.
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tomman on a reasonable path at the backside of Willow Hole.
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Looking back as we continue down from Willow Hole into the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Working our way down into the wonderland.
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Looking back.
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Looking ahead as we continue down into the wonderland.
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Tight quarters in places.
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Here come the troops... hiking east deeper into the wonderland.
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Outstanding rock formations in every direction.
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Continuing east in the wonderland.
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Dealing with some big boulders along the way.
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Continuing east in the wonderland.
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Still losing elevation as we head east in the wonderland.
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Heading east in the wonderland... with a nice view of the west end of Queen Mountain in the distance.
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Water in the Wonderland of Rocks.
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BarbE caught me sinking up to my shin in the wet wash.
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The smart people are on the left... choosing to get out of the wet wash after watching me sink in it.
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We have turned to the south in the wonderland... and will parallel the west end of Queen Mountain as we hike and scramble out of the wonderland.
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Continuing south in the wonderland.
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Hiking south in the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Time to deal with some very large boulders.
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tomman and Denali Girl in the large boulders.
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Are we having fun yet?
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Denali Girl watches tomman go under a large boulder.
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The packs come off for this tight squeeze in the large boulders.
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tomman is down there at the end of the tunnel.
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BarbE enters the boulder tunnel.
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Continuing south in the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Continuing south in the wonderland.
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I took this photo of the troops in the wonderland... left-to-right... dksman, BarbE, Denali Girl, madman, Sahale, tomman and our guide.
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We have reached what I call 'Panorama Point' in the wonderland... looking north toward Indian Cove and the northern part of the wonderland.
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A nice place for a break.
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Queen Mountain on the left... taken from our break splot.
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Looks like the large boulders on the left and right are calling us to go through the gap between them... but we chose to stay in the wash and go around them.
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On the backside of those two large boulders in the previous photo... and continuing south in the wash.
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Our guide looks like she is heading for a cave.
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Our guide calls it 'The Chute'.
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Heading up 'The Chute'.
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Working our way up 'The Chute'.
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Sahale and madman come up out of 'The Chute'.
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The troops hold a town hall meeting on how to get me put in an insane asylum.
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Continuing south in the wonderland.
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Continuing south in the wonderland.
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More scrambling in the wonderland.
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Continuing south in the wonderland.
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Looking back as we continue south in the wonderland.
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Nothing wrong with an occassional butt move.
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Lots of peace signs... including the one up there on top of the rocks.
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The terrain is opening up some as we continue south in the wonderland.
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Our guide is leading us up to one of her favorite spots in the wonderland.
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Follow the leader up.
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Looking back at Queen Mountain as we continue south in the wonderland.
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Nice view of the wonderland from one our guide's favorite wonderland locations... Denali Girl and Sahale are on a bench in the right foreground.
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Time to head back down from our viewpoint and continue south in the wonderland.
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Entering what our guide refers to as 'Little Tibet'.
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Continuing down in 'Little Tibet'.
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Almost out of the wonderland.
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Getting close to the Wall Street Mill which is located on the southern border of the wonderland.
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Taking a short break before leaving the wonderland.
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The Wall Street Mill on the southern border of the Wonderland of Rocks... an easy hike will get us back to our second car which we stashed at the Barker Dam Trailhead before starting our hike earlier in the day on the Boy Scout Trail.
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Nearing the Barker Dam Trailhead... our through-hike was 8.4 miles, gaining 1060 feet of elevation... what an amazing day in the wonderland!
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