Lucky Boy Loop, Elton Mine and Morgan Kimball Well - 2.7.2020
From the west entrance pay station at Joshua Tree National Park... drive Park Blvd for 15.8 miles and turn left onto Desert Queen Mine Road... then drive .8 miles and park on the side of the road where there is room for four cars... note that the much larger Pine City parking lot is another half-mile or so further down the road.
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There is a trail sign where we parked... we will be heading for Lucky Boy Vista.
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An interesting view from right where we parked... 10,834 foot San Jacinto Mountain on the far left horizon... and a snow capped, 11,503 foot San Gorgonio Mountain on the far right horizon.
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Less than a half-mile of hiking brought us to what locals call the Quartz Dike... a mix of quartz and granite.
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Gaining a little elevation on our way to Lucky Boy Vista.
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A quarter mile from Lucky Boy Vista... we will go out to the vista and then stroll up to the high point on the horizon... checking out the Elton Mine which is on the hillside in the distance.
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One of the mine shafts at the Elton Mine.
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From the high point I'm looking at the Split Rock area in the left foreground... and the Jumbo Rocks and Skull Rock area in the center foreground.
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Another mine shaft at the Elton Mine.
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We have backtracked a quarter mile from the Elton Mine and started to loop back to where we parked.
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Losing a little elevation as we head down into a canyon... the canyon is unnamed, but I'm calling it Lucky Boy Canyon... Negro Hill is in the left-center foreground... with Queen Mountain on the right-center horizon.
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Denali Girl comes down into Lucky Boy Canyon.
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Awesome rock formations are everywhere.
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Denali Girl exploring in Lucky Boy Canyon.
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Is it a 'stairway to heaven'?
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Heading up the stairway.
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Easy Class 2 scrambling.
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Denali Girl at the top of the stairway.
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Relaxing at the top of the stairway... Negro Hill is above Denali Girl's head... with Queen Mountain on the right horizon.
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Luv the prickly pear cacti.
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In Lucky Boy Canyon as it snakes its way down to the valley.
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We noticed some kind of structure a short distance above the canyon.
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It turned out to be the 'Morgan and Kimball Well'.
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We could see a reflection from the bottom of the well... at least 50 or 60 feet deep.
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Following the canyon wash... here hiking directly toward Negro Hill.
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Really interesting rock here... we couldn't help but get up on the dance floor!
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Welcome to the ballroom floor.
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Heading cross country for the car... it is the same view that we had from where we parked earlier in the day... San Jacinto and San Gorgonio!
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More incredible rock.
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A stone's throw from the car... the trip was a 3.8 mile loop, gaining 465 feet of elevation.
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