Hidden Valley Loop - 2.8.2021
We drove 8.8 miles from the west entrance pay station in Joshua Tree National Park and turned right into the Hidden Valley Picnic Area... someone has a new Subaru.
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Starting out on the Hidden Valley Trail.
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A little history on Hidden Valley... a haven for cattle rustlers many years ago.
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Hiking through what the sign called a funnel.
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After hiking a little more than a third of a mile we have entered Hidden Valley... where we decided to leave the main trail and follow a less traveled path that will take us over to the large rock formation in the left center foreground of the photo.
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Denali Girl found some interesting rock.
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Star Dancer has found some major erosion in the rock.
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Our high point will be up on the rock on the right horizon.
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Star Dancer is already heading up toward our high point.
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How far will we be able to go up?
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After hiking .33 miles Denali Girl took this photo of me... this is as high as I was willing to go today... that is what a serious car accident will do to a person.
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Looking NE from our high point... down into Hidden Valley and beyond to the Wonderland of Rocks... with Queen Mountain on the horizon.
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Looking SE from our high point... with the entrance we used to get to Hidden Valley in the left foreground... with Ryan Mountain on the center horizon.
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I took this photo of Denali Girl as we were coming down from our high point.
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After hiking a half-mile we have rejoined the Hidden Valley Trail... we will continue in a clockwise direction around the loop.
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Awesome rock everywhere in Hidden Valley... the rock formation on the right was where we reached our high point for the day... we will do the summit on another day.
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Took this photo from the west end of the loop trail... looking east back to where we entered the valley... the 'Great Burrito' is the sheer wall on the far left of the photo.
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Continuing the clockwise loop... there are a few ups and downs on the loop trail... but not a lot of elevation gain.
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Did I mention that there are a ton of awesome rocks in Hidden Valley.
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We have closed the loop portion of the hike and are returning to the parking lot by tracing our steps back through the funnel... the rock formation accross the road in the foreground is 'Turtle Rock'... a very popular rock climbing area... the hike was 1.5 miles, gaining 353 feet of elevation.
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