"Jeep Trail" Hike

I'm going through... let's call it a phase... where I like to find places to hike within Joshua Tree National Park that are not marked by trails or identified on NPS maps. I spend hours spying down on Joshua Tree using Google Maps satellite view and looking for something interesting, then planning my hike accordingly. I don't dislike the standard hikes or following a trail, but there's something about "freestyle" hiking across open desert with no idea exactly what you might find that appeals to my wacky sense of adventure.

My so called "Jeep Trail" hike is a good example. I noticed a fairly well defined "jeep trail" (parallel tire tracks) a little west of the turnoff to Jumbo Rocks Campground. Driving off road (except on marked/approved roads) is strictly forbidden within the Park, and has been for many years, but that wasn't the case back in the pre-monument days. And, unfortunately, the desert heals slowly and car tracks can be visible for many years. Miners, homesteaders and others drove all over this area back in the day. And I've learned that when you find the faint signs of car tracts, there is generally a reason they are there. They lead to something, although it may no longer be around (such as a homestead cabin that long ago disappeared).

Enough blabbering. Let me share a few pics from my "Jeep Trail" hike of a few weeks ago.

See the car tracks heading off into the open desert in the above photo? That's the start of the "Jeep Trail" hike. The NPS has done a nice job of putting big boulders in front of jeep trails like this. It keeps everyone honest and off of the unapproved roads.

I have a new app on my phone called TinType. It reproduces the old tin plate photos of yesteryear, and does a pretty good job in my opinion. A bargain for $.99. So I was wandering around in the open desert on a very hot day alternating between cell phone and DSLR photos and looking like a crazy man. Nothing new there. I'll sprinkle a few of these tintype photos into my post.

I'll call this one "melting rock". It looks like a giant glob of ice cream melting in the sun. Or maybe that's me... mid 90's, no shade, a little heat stroke setting in and your mind starts playing tricks on you!

Oops... accidental selfie. Walking along, stepping over a rock, juggling DSLR, phone, and hiking stick and pressed the wrong button!

Nearing the end of the jeep trail, I came across this huge jumble of rocks. I could also see a large cleft in the rocks that looked interesting. Let's go check it out.

There's the cleft or opening. Getting to it proved much harder than I thought. Somewhere in this area I ended up dropping my one and only water bottle under a huge slanted boulder and spent quite a bit of time and energy retrieving it. If I hadn't been able to get it back, things would have gotten dicey!

Inside the cleft. In my younger days, I would have climbed this and pushed through that opening under the large hanging rock. These days I'm content to just look and take a photo!

I'm calling this one "molar rock". Reminds me of an upside down tooth. All the rocks in this area had really interesting erosion markings, and I'm guessing it would be a rock climber's paradise!

A primary objective for this hike was to find some spiral "zen rocks" at the end of the jeep trail that I had spotted using Google Maps. It's a big mystery to me why someone made this rock design on national park property out in virtually the middle of nowhere!

It wasn't too hard to find. I had put the coordinates in my phone, and, as they say, piece of cake. But what is this spiral rock formation? Who made it and why?

Even more interesting, the middle of the spiral rock formation contains "offering rocks" where people had left coins, keys, and even fabric. Is there something spiritual about this rock, or simply a good luck offering, like tossing a coin in a fountain? I've Googled "zen rock formation" and "spiral rock formation" but have found nothing so far.

I didn't find any old mines or cabins that you sometimes find at the end of an old road. I did find some old rusty cans in one area, which makes me think there must have been an old mine or homestead cabin in the area at one time. But it was a great hike and I took a ton of photos. Stay tuned, I'll definitely be sharing more in the future. I'll leave you with a shot of my favorite sunset photo from the "Jeep Trail" hike. 

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