Wonderland of Rocks and circumnavigation of Barker Dam - 2.3.2024
We parked at the paved parking lot for Barker Dam... and we will head for the huge boulders out there in the center of the photo.
|
It only took a few steps from the parking lot to reach the huge boulders... where we joined the trail that connects the Barker Dam parking lot with the unpaved parking lot for the Wall Street Mill.
|
Getting ready to take a side door entrance into the Barker Dam area.
|
The side door entrance into the Barker Dam area requires a little bit of scrambling.
|
We are hiking north as we parallel the main trail for Barker Dam... we are approximately a quarter mile east of the main Trail..
|
Continuing to hike north as we parallel the main trail for Barker Dam.
|
Continuing to hike north as we parallel the main trail for Barker Dam.
|
After hiking a total of .6 miles we have reached the Barker Dam area... the dam is located over there on the far left and there might be a puddle of water over by the dam... but we will continue hiking north as we cross the dry lake area.
|
Continuing north beyond the dry lake area.
|
After hiking north for a total of one mile we will start hiking NW in a little canyon that will get us up on a plateau on the west side of the South Astro Dome.
|
Continuing to work our way up to the plateau on the west side of the South Astro Dome.
|
Continuing to work our way up to the plateau on the west side of the South Astro Dome.
|
Continuing to work our way up to the plateau on the west side of the South Astro Dome.
|
After hiking a total of 1.1 miles we have reached one of the many plateaus in the Wonderland of Rocks... again hiking north on the west side of the South Astro Dome.
|
After hiking a total of 1.3 miles we are looking up at the South Astro Dome on the right... and the North Astro Dome in the middle of the photo.
|
I wanted to show Stalker and photoman how to get up to the South Astro Dome... so we are entering the narrow little canyon on the west side of the domes.
|
photoman took this photo of Stalker and me dodging prickly pear cactus in that narrow little canyon.
|
photoman goes through a narrow passage in the narrow little canyon on the west side of the South Astro Dome... and we didn't need to go much beyond this spot to find the place where the 250 foot ascent of the dome begins.
|
We have come out of the little narrow canyon on the west side of South Astro Dome... here looking back at a shortcut we found coming out of the little canyon... and using the shortcut made it possible to avoid the prickly pear cactus.
|
Now hiking south in an area with a lot of vegetation.
|
photoman works his way through some prickly pear cactus.
|
Star Dancer took this photo of photoman and Stalker visiting their new home.
|
Leaving the vegetated area.
|
Getting ready to begin hiking SW... searching for a place to exit this incredible plateau in the Wonderland of Rocks.
|
Continuing to hike SW... searching for a place to exit the plateau.
|
Still looking for a place to exit the plateau.
|
Getting ready to exit the plateau.
|
Hiking south as we exit the plateau... with Ryan Mountain on the horizon in the middle of the photo.
|
Stalker and photoman working their way down to the desert floor.
|
After hiking a total of 2.1 miles we have returned to the desert floor.
|
Star Dancer leads us up to a beautiful cave.
|
I took this pano from the cave... we came down from the the Wonderland of Rocks over on the far right of this photo.
|
Hiking SW toward Echo Rock in the center of the photo.
|
Passing by a rock formation that Denali Girl and I did 4 years ago... I called it 'Little Echo Rock'.
|
Hiking over to take a look at the 'Schwarzenegger Wall'.
|
After hiking a total of 2.8 miles we are looking up at the 'Schwarzenegger Wall'... climbing, bouldering and scrambling on the wall is no longer permitted.
|
Exploring rock formations as we continue to close our loop hike.
|
Exploring rock formations as we continue to close our loop hike.
|
A nice place to take a break.
|
photoman took this photo of me rolling a little boulder.
|
Looking for another rock formation to explore.
|
More rock exploration.
|
Another photo from photoman... this is why he is a photographer... and I am not!
|
Amazing rock... with Echo Rock on the far right.
|
Leaving this amazing rock formation and returning to the desert floor to continue hiking SE to find the petroglyphs in the Barker Dam loop hike.
|
Hiking SE toward the location of the petroglyphs in the Barker Dam Loop.
|
After hiking a total of 3.8 miles we have reached the petroglyphs located in the Barker Dam loop hike... the Walt Disney film crew painted over the petroglyphs in 1961 to make the petroglyphs 'pop' when on film... and today this is illegal and referred to as vandalism.
|
We have left the petroglyphs... and this trail would take us over to the 'Echo T' parking lot... but we will leave this trail and head cross country to the left (SE) and work on closing our loop hike.
|
Taking the cross country route from the petroglyphs.
|
Now hiking east... and we can see the roofs of cars in the parking lot... the loop hike was a total of 4.3 miles, gaining 378 feet of elevation.
|
