Valhalla Dome - 10.30.2024
In Joshua Tree National Park we parked in the dirt parking lot located a quarter-mile NE of the very popular paved parking lot for Barker Dam... and we started hiking on the Wall Street Mill Trail.
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Star Dancer took this photo of 5 bighorn sheep that were hanging out near where we parked our car... little did we know at this time, but we were going to see this same family again up near the summit of Valhalla Dome.
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Less than 50 yards from the trailhead for Wall Street Mill we will take an unnamed path to the left (north) and head over to the Worth Bagley Ranch.
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Less than 50 yards after leaving the Wall Street Mill Trail we found the Worth Bagley Ranch... also called the 'Pink House'.
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We found the easiest southern entrance to the Wonderland of Rocks behind the Worth Bagley Ranch.
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Continuing to hike north in the Wonderland of Rocks.
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After hiking a total of approximately .75 miles we got our first good look at the South Astro Dome on the left... we will continue to hike north another quarter mile in the Wonderland of Rocks and angle over toward the South Astro Dome.
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After hiking a total of .9 miles we have left the wash of the Wonderland of Rocks and started to gain some elevation.
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Scrambling in the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Scrambling in the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Scrambling in the Wonderland of Rocks... looks like a dead end... but we will squeeze between these two big rocks.
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Since leaving the wash of the Wonderland of Rocks we have gained 100 feet of elevation and found what seems like a shelf or bench that is completely hidden when hiking in the wash. Valhalla Dome is out there in the right-center of the photo... and we will head for the pass in the left-center of the photo to find a way up to the Valhalla Dome summit.
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Star Dancer took this photo of us heading for the pass in the middle of the photo... and I have put a red circle around the family of 5 bighorn sheep... at the time we did not realize that it would be the same 5 that we saw near where we parked earlier in the day.
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This zoom shot of the bighorn sheep did not turn out very well... but it does give a little better look at them... I wonder if they will still be there when we get a lot closer.
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Continuing to hike north up toward that pass that we saw in the three previous photos.
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It looks like and it feels like a tunnel.
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In the tunnel.
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Climbing out of the tunnel.
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A second tunnel.
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Climbing up out of the second tunnel.
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Just out of the tunnel... and the family of 5 bighorn sheep are waiting on us... they are probably laughing at how long it took us to reach them.
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A closer look at the family of 5 bighorn sheep.
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We have left the bighorn sheep behind and are nearing the summit of Valhalla Dome.
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After hiking a total of 1.3 miles Denali Girl took this photo of me on the 4,502 foot summit of Valhalla Dome.
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Looking north from Valhalla Dome... with a lot of the southern portion of the Wonderland of Rocks visible... Queen Mountain is on the right horizon... with the Little San Bernardino Mountains and San Bernardino Mountains on the far left and left horizon.
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From the Valhalla Dome summit... looking SE (left) into Queen Valley... and looking SW (right-center) into Lost Horse Valley.
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After reaching the summit of Valhalla Dome we roamed around the dome some... and I took this photo of the 5 bighorn sheep leaving the area via the route we used to get up here.
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Tracing our steps back down from Valhalla Dome.
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Dropping down into the second tunnel that we dealt with earlier.
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Now entering the first tunnel we dealt with earlier.
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Exiting the first tunnel.
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Heading for the pass out there in the middle of the photo... we are going a lot slower than the bighorn sheep did earlier.
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Getting ready to drop down from the bench we used to access Valhalla Dome.
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Working our way back down to the wash of the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Working our way back down to the wash of the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Almost back down to the wash of the Wonderland of Rocks.
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Back in the wash and heading south.
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Hiking south and looking for the Worth Bagley Ranch.
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The back side of the Worth Bagley Ranch.
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The parking lot is a stone's throw away... the total hike was 2.9 miles, gaining 283 feet of elevation... not very much elevation gain, but there was a fair amount of scrambling.
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