Cecelia's Birthday Scramble

TRs for desert ranges.
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

For Cecelia's birthday I took her to the Mojave National Preserve for a bit of desert scrambling. We left LA at 4:00 AM, shopped in Barstow, and rolled into the Preserve at 7:50 AM.
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We then reached Hole-in-the-Wall by 8:15 AM.
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Cecelia and I parked at the visitor center, which wouldn't open until 10 AM. We checked out the exterior displays and water station. Then, to Cecelia's surprise, Jeff magically appeared. I had invited him but kept it a secret from Cecelia. Now we were a trio!

Jeff had spent a cold, windy, sleep-deprived night at Hole-in-the-Wall Campground. But he still had hot chocolate ready for Cecelia. We all sat around the picnic table and relaxed before our big hike. The wooden visitor center looked like it belonged in its spot among the desert vegetation, below a stretch of rocky cliffs.

By 9:15 AM we hit the trail that left from the visitor center parking. It took us around the cliffs to an area with a few faint petroglyphs. But our goal was further down the path.
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Barber Peak is really a horseshoe-shaped mountain, and we were following a loop trail to the opening in that horseshoe.
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It's quite a beautiful mountain with plenty of scrambling options. We abandoned the trail and crossed the gullies responsible for the opening in the horseshoe. Then we started up a steep slope toward the south ridge.
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We aimed for an opening in the first layer of rock cliffs. The steep grade held solid rocks and animal tracks which helped our footing. A shallow cave in the next band of cliffs offered a nice resting spot.
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While refueling, we gazed across the canyon at the opposite ridge of the horseshoe. I yelled into the space, causing several echoes. Cecelia took a photo of Jeff peeking through a hole in the rock. There were lots of holes in the rocks.

Rumor has it that these holes are caused by Bigfoot. Each time he steps on a cactus he screams in pain and puts his clenched fist straight through the rock wall. Yes, there are Bigfoots in the desert. Huge, angry, rock-smashing Bigfoots. Don't doubt it!

Finally we reached the ridgetop, where the adventure continued.
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We found beautiful rock outcroppings to negotiate, and beautiful cactus specimens to lick.
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Personally I prefer the rock climbing over the cactus licking.
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Mostly the climbing is difficult class 2 with class 3 mixed in periodically. After scrambling over a layer of rock, we would then have a relatively easy, open section to cross, dotted with cacti. It was a fun, leisurely ascent, and we made the summit in time for lunch and birthday cupcakes.
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Near the summit benchmark all the trees had burned, but on the east side of the mountain there were unburned trees. It was a little windy but not super cold. Actually it was a nice day, and we had specifically come to the desert to escape the rain in Los Angeles.

After lunch we strolled along the flattish summit area and found a steep but doable descent route off the north side. We made a beeline for the loop trail and hurried back in time to see the visitor center before it closed at 4:00 PM. And since I've apparently reached the attachment limit for this post, I'll spare you images from the return route.
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tekewin
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Post by tekewin »

Thank you for the report. That looked pretty sweet! I had to check a map to see where you were. Pretty deep in the Mojave and pretty far north.

I'll pass on the cactus licking.
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JeffH
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Post by JeffH »

It was a fun hike, different for me because I usually just walk along trails so this was a slightly more technical journey. I spent the night on Saturday, while setting up camp I realized that I didn't have any trekking poles to support my tent- they are usually in my vehicle but I'm driving a loaner from the dealer while mine is in the shop. Oh well, the big Ford Edge has just enough room for me to lay down and I managed to get a few fitful hours of sleep. Not sure the tent would have held up as the wind was really howling around 2am, I woke up to the entire car rocking back and forth. I had just enough signal to get text messages so I was near the visitor center when Sean and Cecilia arrived even though it was 30 minutes early. :)

On to the hike- by taking the Ring trail we got to see some petroglyphs.
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Common to the desert areas, the views here are big. Second picture is looking at the ridge heading toward Barber third is looking back from the middle of the first incline.
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Break spot in this cool cave.
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Rock climbing. Last photo is the gap where we had to down climb about 15-20 feet and then up the other side.
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Summit approach
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The descent was a sidehill scramble down some relatively steep areas, we cliffed out a couple times and easily found a way around.
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Gaia GPS track.
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"Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours".
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Girl Hiker
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Post by Girl Hiker »

It certainly was quite the adventure!
Thank you Sean for planning my special birthday hike. I loved the rock scrambling.

Thank you Jeff for driving out there and freezing your butt just to surprise me and share my special day.
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Nate U
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Post by Nate U »

Never explored (or even heard of) the Mojave National Preserve! Cool!
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wesweswes
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Post by wesweswes »

Yeah, I haven't heard of it either; cooool
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