Bushwhacking near Ryan Mountain

What started out as a hike to Lost Horse Mine via Ryan campground turned into an off-trail bushwhacking adventure south of Ryan mountain and east of Keys View road. After setting up camp at Ryan campground, we headed east down the California Riding and Hiking Trail (CRHT). After missing the 90 degree right turn, we turned around and headed west on CRHT, but missed the turn again! Finally, on the third try we were able to spot it. For your own notes, the turn is east of Ryan campground and right next to a National Park Service sign noting that the you are in a fragile burn recovery area. It's just after the CRHT makes a sharp(ish) left turn heading East.

South of CRHT & Ryan Mountain, Looking West

It was clear that this trail is not actively maintained and you should be confident in your backcountry navigation skills if you're going to head in this direction. Sections of the trail appear to be a long abandoned access road. Other sections will make you wonder if you are on any sort of trail at all! We wound up between a few small hills directly South of the CHRT turn off. This area was absolutely perfect for some backcountry camping so we will be back soon.

After passing through the hills, we started to turn slightly southeast and down into a wash. We hit what appeared to be a junction, consulted the map and made a left turn. There were plenty of footprints in this area, and the left turn appeared to be more heavily traveled. Post-hike analysis of the GPS trek and the trail map have indicated we should have continued straight, so this must have been the beginning of our backcountry bushwhacking adventure. We wound up eastward through a wash that had clearly been traveled by many before us. The scenery started to change as we gained a little bit of elevation. There was more shade and even a few pine trees as the trail narrowed and continued along a fold in between the hills.

Heading Through the Wash

We finally traveled far enough up the wash to where there was no longer a clear path forward. It was getting late in the afternoon as well, so we decided to turn around and bushwhack our way back to the trail junction. The hike back was smooth with one small exception: I walked straight into a cactus. When you have to really concentrate on finding the trail, punting a small cactus is easier than you might think. After continuing skin irritation and a little research, it turns out I bumped into a silver cholla cactus. They are native to the region and left mosquito-bite looking bumps on my legs for a few weeks. Luckily, it's all healed up now and the marks are barely noticeable.

Overall, this was a beautiful area of Joshua Tree and we noted a few great looking backcountry camping locations. We were disappointed about not making it to Lost Horse Mine, but I am really looking forward to the backcountry camping areas we scoped out. Another great thing about exploring roads less traveled is the opportunity for solitude. We didn't spot a single soul (except the bunnies of course)!

Willow Hole via Boy Scout Trailhead South

Joshua Tree National Park at long last! I have been looking forward to this trip since the government shutdown forced us to cancel our first trip. We arrived at the park around 10:00 AM Saturday morning, planning to car camp and do a few 7-9 mile hikes but every campground was already full. Lesson learned: call ahead next time, and plan to camp on the trail. Due to an unfortunate series of events, we didn't have our tent and sleeping bags on us and we had planned to sleep in a campsite in the back of the truck. So, long story short, we called an audible and turned an overnight trip into a longer, one day trip. Looking for campsites had already killed over an hour, and noon was approaching so we needed to get on a trail. We settled on Willow Hole via the Boy Scout Trailhead South. Given the amount of time we had, and the fact that we would be driving home that night, a 7 mile hike was just what we were looking for.

Boy Scout Trailhead South

View Northeast From BST

The fastest way to access the Boy Scout Trail is through the West Entrance in Joshua Tree (the city). Head south on Park Boulevard and you will eventually see the trail markers on your left. There was plenty of parking, even though we arrived at noon and the park was packed. There is a back country registration board at this trail head, in case you plan on spending the night. Just be sure to camp on the West side of the trail, the East side is Day Use Only area.

Willow Hole Junction

Travel about 1.25 miles north on the Boy Scout trail and you will come to the Willow Hole junction. The first 1.25 miles is mostly flat and takes you through a forest of incredible Joshua Trees. It's very well marked and both trails are well-traveled. Bear right to head into the Wonderland of Rocks and on to Willow Hole!

I'll put a short disclaimer here: while the trail is very well marked, it's crucial to pay attention to your surroundings. The Wonderland of Rocks is a famously disorienting and confusing place. Having a reliable compass and an accurate topo trail map is an absolute MUST for heading off this way. We also brought our Garmin Oregon 450t with pre-programmed waypoints. Pay attention to trail markers and don't wander too far off the trail without confidence that you can navigate back with your map and compass - visual landmarks are not reliable for navigation here.

The Wonderland of Rocks

Willow Hole is about 2.5 miles from the junction. The terrain stays much the same for the first mile, but then begins to change as you head deeper into the Wonderland of Rocks. You will pass by a small trail marker pointing north to Outer Mongolia, and might be lucky enough to see some rock climbers scaling it's face. Keep heading northeast into the Wonderland, and you will start to encounter some new scenery and terrain. The rock formations start towering above you and the plant life starts to change slightly. While the beginning portion of the trail offers no shade at all, there are plenty of large rock formations and bushes right next to the trail that provide some shade and resting points if necessary.

The Wash

The last portion of the trail follows a large wash, so expect your progress to be slowed. Be careful to follow the posted signs and other not-so-natural looking trail markers to stay on the trail. Occasionally it leaves and re-joins the wash, which could be confusing and disorienting for someone not paying close attention to the trail. Take note of the small flowers and other plants that would not survive outside of the cooler wash area. We also heard a lot more birds singing on this part of the trail than at earlier points.

Willow Hole

Keep traveling through the wash as it bends slightly south, and then back to the north. Enjoy the magnificence and beauty of this complicated environment. The boulders and rock formation tower above, providing shade and relief for some of the smallest flowers. Stop and enjoy a break and the abundant shade at Willow Hole before either heading back to the Boy Scout Trail.

This was a wonderful hike and a perfect representation of what Joshua Tree has to offer. In just 7 miles, you can experience the vast forests of Joshua Trees and the diversity of the Wonderland of Rocks. I highly recommend this trail for a half-day excursion in Joshua Tree.

Bottle Cap Coasters

I can't help but save all of our bottle caps. Maybe it's from playing a little bit too much Fallout, but I just can't bring myself to throw them all away. The last couple of weeks I've been on a mission to find something to do with them, and this is what I came up with. Well, I take that back. It's not really fair to say I came up with them, it was actually my sister's idea and I'll be shipping these six to her tomorrow. 

These coasters are a great way to recycle extra bottle caps and cork board and I love the unique feel they add to our apartment. Here's what you will need:

-Bottle Caps (9 per coaster)
-Cork (1/4" thick)
-Glue Gun
-Hot Glue Sticks (~1 per coaster)

Line up your bottle caps on the cork, three caps wide by three caps tall. Then add a generous glob of glue to the underside of each cap, and place it on the cork. Be careful, the caps will get really hot. You will have a little bit of time to adjust the positioning of the caps, but not much, so I find it helpful to lay them out beforehand. Wait for the glue to cool and harden, then cut the coasters out of the cork board with a sharp knife or sturdy scissors. I like to cut the four corners at an angle to finish it off. And there you go! A nice new set of bottle cap drink coasters!

*Update: A few of my bottle caps have been popping right off the hot glue because of the smooth plastic coating on the inside of the bottle cap. If the glue remains attached to the cork (which I have found is always the case), just add a dab of craft glue or superglue to the top of the hot glue glob, and stick the cork right back on. This has been working perfectly for me and it's a quicker fix than hauling out the hot glue gun.

Happy bottle capping!

Mugu Peak Trail (Malibu, CA)

Ray Miller Trailhead

Mugu Peak at last! My hip was finally feeling well enough for a longer hike so we decided to head to Santa Monica State Park in Malibu. We combined the La Jolla Canyon Trail with the Mugu Peak Trail for a nice 6.5 mile (round trip) trek to Mugu Peak. It was about 20 minutes farther up Pacific Coast Highway than the Escondido Falls trailhead, but it was definitely worth the drive.

We started the hike at the Ray Miller Trailhead and headed straight onto the La Jolla Canyon Trail toward the La Jolla waterfall. The trail is very well-maintained, but it was evident that a large fire had just recently routed the area. We headed past the remains of a pubic bathroom into the canyon area. Our first waypoint was the seasonal La Jolla canyon waterfall. It's about 6-7 feet high, and if we had been here in the spring, we would have needed to ford the small creek to continue along the trail.

La Jolla Canyon Waterfall

Just after the seasonal falls was a very small set of switchbacks (there were only two or three). We gained a little altitude and kept heading back into the canyon. This was a nice part of the trail because it is heavily shaded as you hug the hillside. Soon after we hit the main elbow in the trail. Head right to continue on the La Jolla Canyon Loop Trail, but veer left like we did to head to Mugu Peak. Both trails will get you to the top, but the Mugu Peak trail is a bit shorter.

Ocean View

We wound around the hillside and came out of the canyon and were met by sweeping views of the ocean and surrounding mountains. It was an interesting time to be hiking in the area because of the recent fire. The landscape was barren, charred and seemingly lifeless but still beautiful in a very unique way.

We wound through the valley like area down toward a dry creek bed. This creek bed is a good marker for the final stretch up the mountain. Unfortunately, we picked a day with extremely high winds (we didn't notice the weather advisory before we headed out) and were unable to make it to the top of the mountain. Yeah, the winds were that strong! The view from the trail near the peak was incredible though. We could see for miles in every direction. I can't wait to go back when the winds aren't so bad and there is a little more green in the hills.

Looking Toward Mugu Peak

Overall, this was a wonderful hike and only moderately strenuous. It took us just about 2 hours factoring in the winds and a couple of picture breaks. I would strongly recommend it. The views from the top are well worth the thousand feet of elevation gain. We will post a .gpx file of the trek from our new Garmin very soon! And once again, another shout out to hikepeak.com for helping us map out this hike!

Government Shutdown

Well it looks like we are going to have to shelf our backpacking trip to Joshua Tree in a couple weeks unless the government can get itself together. I would encourage everyone to start writing their respective congressmen and women. Get involved because this is just downright silly.