Queen Mountain Exploration - 2.8.2023
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 unsigned trailhead at the end of the road.
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Heading for the mountain (not in this photo)... but there are lots of Prickly Pear Cactus... and it is kind of rare to see hairy ones.
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We have been on the summit several times... so today we will head up the gully on the left and do some exploring before returning via a portion of the main trail that goes up to the summit.
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We have reached the base of Queen Mountain... preparing to head up the gully that goes up to the 'V' shaped area above.
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Denali Girl working her way up the gully... pretty easy terrain compared to what we will see a little later.
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The higher we get the more narrow the gully becomes.
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Looking back across Queen Valley as we continue up the gully.
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The gully narrows more as we near the top of it.
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Almost to the top of the gully.
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After hiking 1.2 miles we have reached the top of the gully.
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We have found a kind of plateau... and will continue hiking out to the left-center of the photo as we work our way around the perimeter of the huge rock formations.
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Relaxing for lunch before continuing out to the left.
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Looking back out to Queen Valley from our lunch spot.
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Still hiking on fairly easy terrain.
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Continuing to hike along the perimeter of the massive rock formations.
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After hiking a total of 1.8 miles we will give up a little elevation and try to find a route through the massive rock formations where the gullies are filled with vegetation.
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Our first attempt to get into a gully didn't work very well and we hit a dead end and had to back track and try another route.
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Our second attempt didn't work either... so perhaps the third try will be a charm.
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Fingers crossed that this will work.
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Leaving this gully and hoping for the best.
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Still plenty of work to do.
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Back down into another gully.
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Also some down trees to deal with.
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Looking back and wondering how we got through that stuff.
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Hoping for the best as we continue hiking up a gully.
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Ugh... time to get out of the gully... fortunately there was an escape route.
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Working our way up out of the gully... with fingers still crossed!
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Still working our way up out of the gully.
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Still working our way up out of the gully... and we can see Yucca Valley out there on the horizon.
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Hey Denali Girl... come over here and join me... I think I can see easier terrain over on the far right... the Queen Mountain summit is up there in the center of the photo.
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Working our way over to the easier terrain.
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Back in another gully... now giving up elevation as we work our way out of the interior of Queen Mountain.
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Working our way down the gully.
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Nice to see Queen Valley again as we continue down the gully.
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The gully gets really steep here... but it looks like there is a bench that goes around the huge rock formation on the far left... and if the bench will work, it will get us over to the summit trail that will get us back to the car.
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Denali Girl on the bench that will get over to the main trail.
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Wow... finally on the main trail after hiking a total of 3 miles... and it took us 3.5 hours to cover that last mile.
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Looking back at Denali Girl as she hikes down the main trail.
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Back on the desert floor... heading for the car... with Ryan Mountain on the horizon.
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We can see the car... the total hike was 4.2 miles, gaining 1156 feet of elevation... and we will never forget the one mile portion that took us 3.5 hours to complete.
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