I have a favorite spot in Joshua Tree National Park... very remote, very secret. It's one of those locations that I don't share for fear of someone spoiling it. In this Designated Wilderness Area, conventional wisdom says there are almost no signs that Native Americans spent time here. There is little to no rock art, bedrock mortars or grinding stones, or even pottery sherds in this part of the park. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a location with all of these features! Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, there is a water source. It's the only water source that I've ever seen in the area, and I'm certain it why Native Americans spent time here. That discovery happened in 2019, and I've been making occasional visits back to the area ever since.
For quite a while I've wanted to take my friend Mitch out to see it. He's certainly trustworthy, and if I ask him not to share the site, I know he won't. So off we went...
It's been a couple years since I was last here. We come across this dry water hole. In past visits this will a slight depression filled with sand. This visit, the sand is gone and it's much deeper. It would probably hold water for at least a week or two after a rain. Continuing on just a short distance past this water hole, we reach a narrow miniature slot canyon. In the past, I've always hiked/climbed up this slot (it's only about 100 yards long) and then climbed out where it dead ends. Not this time! This miniature slot canyon is shaped like the letter T, and where I'm hiking (photo above) is the base of the T. I'm surprised to find a large pool of water. In the past, this was full of sand and easy to hike.
I manage to climb past this pool of water without getting my boots wet, but directly behind me is another, larger pool of water. No way past it without getting wet, so we're forced to turn back. I'm guessing the storms we had 4-5 months ago must have pushed huge amounts of water through this area, and took all the loose sand with it, leaving these bedrock pools behind. It's amazing to me that in this dry desert there is still standing water months after the last rain! I tell Mitch I think I know a short-cut (don't ever follow me if I tell you that!) that will keep us from having to backtrack too far. It requires some climbing and scrambling, and in the process I manage to get us turned around and semi-lost. We eventually recover and make it to the top of the T-shaped miniature slot canyon. The section of the slot between my right foot and where Mitch is standing it the top of the "T". If the pools of water hadn't forced us to turn back, we would have climbed out of the slot right were I'm sitting. Below my right foot the sand is wet and there is standing water. There is also a small water pool over below Mitch. Very close to the water source, Mitch surveys a bedrock mortar where Native Americans would grind plants and seeds. There is a second mortar site nearby. They are fairly common in the higher elevations of the park, where there is more rainfall, but these are the only mortar sites I know of in this area. From the bedrock mortars, I take Mitch to see the water dagger petroglyph. The glyph is a series of etched dots forming something that resembles a sword or dagger, pointing upward. It's really unique, and I've not seen anything like it in the park. After visiting this area a few times, it struck me like a lightning bolt: The dagger could also be an upside down T. And if you look closely, there are circles or swirls on either side of the T. I've read that these circular swirls represent a water source or spring. The T is shaped just like the miniature slot canyon, and the swirls correspond nicely with the location of the two water sources at either end of the T. For the first time, I felt certain I knew what the creator of this petroglyph was communicating: That there is a nearby water source in an area shaped like a T. It could be critical information for a person traveling through this desolate, dry area!
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| Time to rest. Not sure why my right leg is so long! |
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| Mitch relaxes under the grumpy old man with the big nose! |
Another intriguing find in the area: These old glass jugs stashed away in a shallow cave. This must have been someones old water cache. The original lids are still on securely, but all the water has long ago evaporated (how many years would that take??). These must have been stashed before plastic gallon bottles were available. When full of water, these old glass jugs would be really heavy! I discovered these back in 2019, and it does my heart good that they are still just as I found them 5 years ago, and no one has touched them. More petroglyphs and pictographs in the immediate area:
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| This one is hard to find! |
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| Reminds me of a cowboy had. Dstretch used to enhance color. |
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| Mitch getting sand out of his hiking boots. |
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| The rocks erode in such amazing ways! |
We take a detour to visit an old friend. I've spent the night here in my sleeping bag, waiting for the Milky Way to rise. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed this visit to a
remote and unique part of the desert!
