Coxcomb Mountains, Joshua Tree

Wild · Post by **Wild** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:06 am

What's up folks,

Just got back from eastern JTree.. Went backpacking and climbing around the Coxcomb Mountains. It is a very rugged and lesser known area of jtree where you are sure to find pure solitude.. To get there from LA, take the 10 East then the 62 East and find a Road Closed sign and gate about 10 miles short of Highway 177. Then, follow the main wash if you will, or straight up follow your heart.

We pretty much just followed various washes and canyons until we reached the big spires, then camped for two nights out there and spent a lot of time backpacking and rock climbing. This area is absolutely insane.. I had many strange experiences out there. Lots of spooky things out at night.. the terrain is wild and rugged, and there's just an eerie feel to the place man. This was but a reconaissance mission.. I am definitely captivated with the place and am already planning to go back soon.

Anybody familiar with the place? I am really interested about the history of that place. Take it easy!

Pics http://picasaweb.google.com/bushidanny/ ... tY7C9Z-5HQ#

Post by **Taco** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:44 am

Looks beautiful, boss.

Johnny Bronson · Post by **Johnny Bronson** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:00 am

sweet stuff,great place to be Wild! Very peaceful,as far as being spooky, you may have heard a tweeker from 29palms scurrying through the desert at night

hahaa j/k

Wild · Post by **Wild** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 3:18 pm

Thanks guys!

Haha yeah Johnny, we kept talking about the show breaking bad out there. We figured that if we came up on a random camper in the middle of nowhere with clouds of smoke pouring out of it, we could probably deviate from the original route and take a detour.... hehehehe

IcyBacon · Post by **IcyBacon** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:11 pm

That looks like an awesome trip, those mountains sure look different from the park road through Pinto Basin. How much water did you wind up going through for that?

I'm planning on a trip up Eagle Mountain and another overnight to Porcupine Wash this spring, have you ever been in those parts of eastern J-Tree?

Wild · Post by **Wild** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:02 pm

IcyBacon wrote: ↑That looks like an awesome trip, those mountains sure look different from the park road through Pinto Basin. How much water did you wind up going through for that?

I'm planning on a trip up Eagle Mountain and another overnight to Porcupine Wash this spring, have you ever been in those parts of eastern J-Tree?

Hey what's up IcyBacon!

Yeah those mountains are pretty unique out there. I personally took a gallon+my 300 oz bladder+two bottles of gatorade. I would recommend taking more though. I had enough but I always seem to drink less than most (maybe because I'm a pretty short guy).

I have never been to either the eagle mtns or to porcupine, but I do know that there are multiple mines around the eagles. I don't know about the statuses of the mines at present, but we did hear a lot of loud, bassy rumbles coming from somewhere around those mountains. We thought it was either some military bombing nearby, or most likely work being done in the nearby mines.

Let us know how it is if you go!!

davantalus · Post by **davantalus** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 9:48 am

Was that an animal burrow of some sort?

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:08 am

Mmm. Fresh water!

Awesome exploratory, dude! Serious remoteness.

HJ

He219 · Post by **He219** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:16 pm

Niice. Thanks for the TR, Wild!
Gonna have to czech it out sometime ..

Wild · Post by **Wild** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:04 pm

Hi there davantalus. Yeah, it kindda looked like a coyote den to us, but we could be wrong.. there's lots of critters out there! Apparently, there are bighorn sheeps, lions, bobcats, ring tailed cats, desert foxes, coyotes, jackrabbits, badgers, and many more species out there.

The only wildlife we came across is a nice floating hawk at the beginning, a few crows, and a few jack rabbits displaying some impressive running/jumping skills through the rocks. Then we heard some weird noises at night.. Kindda sounded like air blowing out of nostrils, but really loud, and there were multiples of those surrounding our camp at night. We could hear a pretty heavy bass toned one not too far away, and suddenly the same noise, yet a lot less bass in that one, RIGHT behind us. My buddy Zach eventually yelled out loud once, and we did not hear anything at all after that. ...and speaking of yelling.. if you are a fan of echo, you MUST go out there and scream your lungs out. The echo waves are unreal out there!

HJ, thank you sir! Yeah we were surprised to find that. But you know, lately, I keep finding little water spots all over the desert. I'm thinking of camping/hiding out near one sometime just to see some critters come refresh themselves.

He219, Howdy! Thank you as well! Yes sir, you must check it out. I promise you it is worth it.

One piece of advice for you climbers that are thinking of going out there... Don't act on your impulses out there! I seriously was going crazy and wanted to climb everything, but I felt like the mountain was just enticing me.. I think it wanted to eat me alive.

There are some strange forces at work in that area.. and I'm not a superstitious person..
Be careful!!