Tanzbodeli on Queen Mountain - 3.15.2019
From the west entrance pay station at Joshua Tree National Park we drove 15.1 miles on Park Blvd and turned left onto Big Horn Pass Road... then stayed right after driving .4 miles and continued another 1.4 miles to the trailhead at the end of the road.
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This is not a signed trailhead... and starts out on an abandoned dirt road.
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After hiking the abandoned road for a quarter-mile we turned left onto a faint path and headed for the SW end of Queen Mountain.
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Heading for the 'V' above... still on a faint path.
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Denali Girl on the faint path leading up to the SW end of Queen Mountain... looking out to Queen Valley.
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At ~4700 feet we reached a little shelf that pretty much told us that the rock formations were going to be awesome.
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The path will take us another 100 feet higher as we get deeper into the canyon.
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Continuing up on a faint path.
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A pano shot from ~4800 feet on the SW end of Queen Mountain.
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Continuing down a wash on the west end of Queen Mountain.
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Lots of rock formations on the west side of Queen Mountain.
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Denali Girl heads into the orange rocks.
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Denali Girl heads up the orange rock staircase.
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Our guide leads us toward Tanzbodeli (aka little dance floor).
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Welcome to Queen Mountain's version of Tanzbodeli... we could see it two weeks ago from the summit of Queen Mountain and knew that we had to pay it a visit.
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Tanzbodeli is an amazing place... a snow capped San Gorgonio Mountain is on the left horizon.
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Well... lets head out to Tanzbodeli's high point in the center of the photo.
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Looking back over the little dance floor as I head for the high point... looks like a huge water slide out there on the left.
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Still have some work to do to reach the high point out there on the left.
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Working my way to the high point on the left.
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Looking back across the little dance floor as I continue for the high point... Denali Girl (wearing blue) is coming toward me... good luck finding her.
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Almost on top of the high point... it looks steeper here than it really is... more like a walk in the park.
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I'm on the high point... and Denali Girl is getting close.
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Our guide took this photo of Denali Girl and me on the Tanzbodeli high point (~4850').
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We left the high point and are going back past the water slide.
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That gap up there looks interesting... and I'm going to give it a shot.
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Denali Girl is following me across Tanzbodeli toward my gap of interest.
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My gap of interest looks a bit more difficult than it did from a distance... but how about the one-step-at-a-time approach.
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Heading up.
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Perhaps I can use that mini-canyon to advantage.
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Looks like it will go!
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Our guide took this photo of me standing up on top of the gap.
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From the gap (~4900') I'm looking up toward the summit of Queen Mountain... but I'm not sure which bump is the true summit... Queen Mountain is a huge mountain... roughly 4 miles by 4 miles.
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From the gap I'm looking back down on Tanzbodeli.
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A closer look down on Tanzbodeli... our guide and Denali Girl are right below me... San Jacinto Mountain is on the left horizon... with San Gorgonio Mountain on the center horizon.
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I have crossed over the gap and looking for a good way down... getting below this rock wall was the first challenge... and I made it in one piece.
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Continuing down... there were some nice little benches on this slab that allowed me to zig-zag my way down part of the way.
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Looking back up at my route down from the gap.
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This gully will get me down to the floor.
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Coming out of the gully and looking up toward the summit area of Queen Mountain.
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Looking up at my full route down from the gap.
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Time to call it a day and head back to the car... here looking back as we leave the Tanzbodeli area.
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Denali Girl on the faint path we followed in.
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We can see Queen Valley below... tracing out steps back to the car.
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Only a few steps remain to reach the car... did I mention that Queen Mountain is a huge mountain?... our hike was a total of 7.4 miles, gaining 1300 feet of elevation.
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