Tired of breathing smoke and ash from the Eaton Fire, I decided to drive to the high desert and hike around the Barstow area. Thankfully Jeff was able to join me at the last minute, so I wasn't alone for the Owl Canyon and Rainbow Basin scramble. Stavros Basis describes this beautiful loop hike at his
website. He does a good job providing all the important information.
Jeff and I began hiking from the Owl Canyon Trailhead. The trail drops you into a wash, which then turns into a class 2 scramble through a narrow canyon with colorful rock formations.
We found a neat cave that connected the main canyon with a side branch.
There were thoughts of trying to find a different way back to the main canyon, but it seemed like too much effort, so we backtracked through the cave and continued along the normal route.
After a narrow stretch of fun scrambling, the canyon opened up and we found multicolored rock formations.
At the top of Owl Canyon we turned west and passed through a series of whitewashed gullies.
Then we climbed out of the canyon to reach Rainbow Basin Overlook (3964').
On the ridge, cold wind became an issue. It was blowing hard enough to potentially knock us off our feet. Fortunately summit rocks provided shelter and we ate lunch in relative comfort with a beautiful view into Rainbow Basin, which would be our descent destination.
To be continued...
