We reentered the park leisurely stopping and reading all the roadside displays. Our plan is to exit the park at the Southern Entrance Station so we were not going to be on this road again. Didn’t want to miss anything. The displays are really nice. A good example of one is shown in the above image. There must be a dozen of the displays between the Entrance Station and Juniper Flats Backpacker Parking area.

We stopped at a couple of turnouts in the Jumbo Rocks area to take some pictures and walk around a bid. Skull rock is quite the site. I also noticed another unnamed rock, which I’m calling Happy Rock, that was further back and higher than Skull Rock. Bob named the pair within the Jumbo Rock Mound, Boob Rock. I can’t Imagen why, I don’t see it. Anyway I posted the picture just in case you all can see what he’s talking about.

The main reason for this trip was to view the flowering desert. The timing to see this is very tricky. There needs to be the right combination of rainfall, if there is such a thing in the desert, and warm sunshine, not a lack of. We actually arrived 1 - 2 weeks early. As you can see from the photos below, we did get to see an impressive desert flower show despite that fact.

The next area we stopped at was Ryan Mountain Trailhead. From here you can also hike to Ryan Ranch then on to Ryan Campground and Cap Rock Nature Trail. This would have made a better place to start the hike. Would have been nice hiking through the old Ryan Ranch.

Trail 1 - Lost Horse Trail - Day 1:

Well, lets get this over. Yes, we missed the trail sign. Ok, go ahead and laugh. We could hardly believe it either. As you can see from the picture, it is easily missed. We were busy taking pictures, talking and watching out for snakes and we missed it. Usually the trail signs are turned so they are facing you as you walk up to them. This one, like many in the park, is not. Took this picture on our way out.

Anyway we WERE headed for Lost Horse Mine. Ended up walking 5.5 miles along The California Riding Trail then hiked another 4 miles cross country to try and get over to the Lost Horse Mine area. To pour salt onto a wound, my GPS unit was also giving me readings that didn’t match up with the map. I had the unit set on the incorrect grid setting. We had an idea, according to the map, where we had to get to. The map I was using on this trip did not have elevation markings, so we didn't know if we had to cross over the ridge line. We found that we indeed needed to make it over the top. It was getting too late in the day to backtrack so we hiked to a point where we could see a part of the trail where we had lunch and setup camp.

The day was not a complete loss. We did get some nice pictures. And if we hadn’t gone cross county, we would have missed the desert turtle we found along the way. Just before stopping for lunch we also came across a gopher snake sunning himself in the middle of the trail. I was very surprised, we only saw 3 snakes the entire trip. I am getting ahead of myself, so on with the trail info.

After leaving the Juniper Flats parking lot, it's a quick .8 mile walk over to Ryan Campground. According to the camping reservation page, this campground is always full. There is a nice rock used for climbing in the center of the campground. While hiking around the campground boundary we noticed a guy carrying, what looked to be, a portable table or bed. It had shoulder pads attached to it so he could carry it on his back. We found out later it was a landing pad or platform which is used as a target just in case you fall while climbing. Your aim better be good, it’s not all that big of a target.

Heading out of the Ryan Campground area was quite beautiful. We were walking through a grove of Joshua Trees the first couple of miles. We were walking in kind of a canyon area so I was not worried about heading in the wrong direction. There will surely be a sign post where we need to turn. There will also be a road intersecting with the trail within 3 miles, coming in from a side canyon. Well we did see a couple of side canyons that could have supported a road, which we thought may have gotten washed out, so we kept on heading up hill and get a look over the pass. Once there and a little ways past the summit, we stopped for lunch.

During lunch I turned on my GPS and it showed we had walked about 3 miles, 1.5 or so more to go. Didn't think again to look at the GPS map. The trail was heading around to our left into a canyon area, so again I thought we were OK. However to our right (West) was a ridge line, we were suppose to be on the other side of it. We were about to head further away (East) from where we were suppose to be.

The place we stopped for lunch was a nice spot. Had great views down the valley and comfortable rocks to take a short nap on. The weather was perfect for a hike in the desert. My watch was showing that the temperature was 85º and not a cloud in the sky. Could not have asked for a better place to stop. At first I was a little worried about snakes in this rocky area, we had just past one on the trail, but there was none to be found.

Hit the trail thinking that we would be looking for a camp site within the hour. The canyon and mine I was looking for never appeared. In fact we started heading across more open terrain crossing a couple of washes. We decided to walk a little further to see if the trail was going to head back up into a canyon. It didn’t and was actually heading away from the hills.

Time to breakout the map and GPS. Nothing was matching up. The UTM (Long and Lat) showing on my GPS was not matching the terrain we were in. Matching those concordance’s to the map, which was a National Geographic series, to the map terrain was not matching either. Now was not a good time to find out that the National Geographic Trails Illustrated Maps is not the best to use on the trail. They sure look good, however this one is covering too large of an area to be of much use. We figured that the GPS and Map was showing us at different locations by about one click. That’s a lot of ground. We went with the trail map location to figure where we were and used the GPS to give us the general direction of where we need to be headed to. The Lost Horse Mine was showing on the GPS, but there was also a couple of trails showing that we knew were not actually there. So we headed in the direction of the Lost Horse Mine splitting the difference between the map location and GPS UTM bearing.

Long story short, I found out after returning home that my GPS was completely setup incorrectly. According to the REI class I took, I should have been on a boat. At least that’s what the GPS was setup for. The UTM was also showing off because I was using the incorrect GPS map set. We were indeed off by 1 click between what the map was showing and our actual location. By matching the actual terrain with the map’s terrain, what we figured as our location ended up being very close.

We decided not to backtrack the trail. So we headed cross country towards the Lost Horse Mine. As you can see on the map, we ended up making a long arch getting no where quick. We didn’t have the energy to climb over the, what turned out being a 6000’ ridge, so we made camp at a point where we could see the trail to start on the next day.

Trail 1 - California Riding Trail - Day 2:

Guess I had better call the trail we have been walking on by it’s correct name: The California Riding Trail. Now we needed to figure what to do about going to the Lost Horse Mine.

After sleeping on it, we decided not to backtrack and go to the Lost Horse Mine. Figured the trail and landscape would not be much different than what we have already been through.Also the idea a nice lunch in town, then head to Willow Hole for the night sounded real good. Willow Hole is located in the Northern part of the park and we are hoping to see something a little different, and we did.

So off we headed back to the car. The hike back was uneventful, with the exception of seeing our second snake of the trip. Hopped into the car and drive into town for a GREAT lunch at the Crossroads Cafe and Bar. After lunch we headed back into the Park to Keys West parking lot, which is the trailhead for The Boy Scout and Willow Hole Trails.

What a nice day for a hike. The temperature must be in the mid 80’s and not a cloud in the sky. The Keys West parking lot was full. I thought it was going to be crazy with people along the trail. The first thing we did was quickly go through our packs and remove the excess. Then we didn’t waste any time and headed out to Willow Hole, which became a small problem a little further down the trail. Reading trailhead signs can be very important.

About 1 mile into the hike we began to see people camping along the rocks just off the trail to the west. There was plenty of camping spots so no group was bunched together with others. Also to the West there was beautiful views of Mt. San Gorgonio. It was still caped with snow.

What a nice trail. Started with a slight grade up and was sandy in spots and very wide. This is a well used trail for rock climbers. All along the way we saw groups climbing in different sections. This is a rock climbers heaven, we didn’t see anyone else just hiking on the trail.

About 1.5 miles into the hike we took a short break under the shade of a Joshua Tree near the Boy Scout and Willow Hole trail split. Here we found a problem. As you can see by the picture of the trail sign, there is no overnight camping at Willow Hole. When we left the trailhead parking lot, we didn't read the posted area map. OOPS, well at this point there was no since in turning back. Already almost half way there, so we continued to Willow Hole and would figure out what to do once we arrived.

Once we hit the highest point along this trail and started heading down hill, the trail changed. The further down we went it got extremely sandy. The texture felt like sand through your boots, however it was small pebbles of granite. The trail became a sandy wash of granite pebbles. If you ran your hands along the sides of the rock walls, it would flake away into these pebbles. During times of heavy rain, you could tell that water really ran down this wash.

About 1/4 mile past this narrow spot in trail is Willow Hole. It's a magical spot. 5 or 6 Willow Trees and tall grass in the middle of nowhere. While resting at the edge of the grass, Bob even got a tick on him, unbelievable. The main tree was full of very loud bees going about their business. As we sat there, I dug into the sand and got into wet sand about 2” down. This would cause me problems during the night. When water does run down the wash we hiked down, the rocks at the end of the canyon would act as a spillway and would fill this area about 6’ deep. This winter was wet enough that there was still stagnate standing water along the bottom of the canyon walls. We hiked around these ponds to see what was over the other side. We didn’t see any other trees around.

With this a day use area only, we decided to setup camp as late as possible and make it look like we were not spending the night. We hiked the area for a while and Bob found a spring in a “Rock Slide Cave”, for the lack of a better term.

We had a fun time trying to get to the top. No mishap nor slips. The rock face is like sandpaper. Your boots stick to the the surface like glue. No wonder people love to climb here. Just have to watch out for loose gravel. That would have ruined our day real quick.

We setup camp earlier then I expected. We were all alone again and figured it was past the time for anyone to make the round trip hike to check on things. We also had a early dinner that was one of the worse yet
-  Mexican-Style Chicken with Rice -  I have to remember not to get that one again.

After dinner and doing a little reading, I brought out the deck of cards. Played past sundown using our flashlights. We both were hoping the Bighorn Sheep would show up. We saw some droppings while on our climb earlier. They never did.

As the sun went down, what did show up was the frogs. And man did they ever. Frogs in the middle of the Desert, I would not have believed it if I hadn’t heard them myself. There must have been 10 different songs going on. They kept the singing up all night. With the first rays of sunlight, they all stopped. All at the same time. Their song made for nice music during our nights sleep.

There was something interesting happening during our nights sleep also. It was the weather. Let me put it this way. Again, out in the middle of the Desert you would think you could sleep with you tent cover off so you could watch the stars...... . Well I made that mistake. Not thinking about our location, a few trees, damp sand about 3 inches down, and the spring Bob found earlier, basically underneath us. Add that all together and what do you have-  a very damp climate. Combine that with my 20º sleeping bag, that I had tried to sleep with open, made for a long night for me. The inside of my tent turned into a cold sauna. The tent trapped the damp air with water droplets dripping onto me. When that happened I zipped myself up in the bag where I started to sweat. So either way I could not keep dry all night. Wished I had my tent covered after a few hours. My sleeping bag was a damp mess by morning.

We were both up early and had a quick breakfast. I didn’t feel like cooking anything and just had my usual cup of tea and Bob had his usual 2 packets of oatmeal and tea. I had draped my sleeping bag across the tent and by the time came around to pack it away it was almost completely dry.

We packed up, and had a very nice hike back out to the car. While on our way out we came across this rock, shown below, which looked as if it was smiling at us. As if saying “Have a nice hike out”. The sun felt good on our backs as we hiked. We were again alone on the trail. As we got with a 1 from the parking lot we ran into a group of kids out for a day hike. To the west there was a few tents scattered with some cooking going on. The climbers had not made it this far yet. After we made a quick change of cloths at the car, we headed for the town of Yucca Valley. Had another great meal at the Roadhouse Cafe in Yucca Valley before heading home.

Well now we can say we hiked within a desert. We’ve done that and don’t have to do it again. Not that it was a bad outing. I just like the mountains better. We did pick a good time of year to do it and the flowers were almost at their peak. It was a good trip. As Bob says:

YOU GOT TO GO TO KNOW

The Smiling Rock