Mystery "Oasis" in the Desert

 I'm keeping the location of this hike a secret. If there are any intrepid desert explorers out there who recognize the location, please don't share it. It's a controversial location because the direct way in is definitely off limits ("administratively closed" to use Park Service jargon). But if you are crazy enough to hike over/under/around rocks and boulders, you can get to this oasis legally. Then the question becomes: Once you reach the oasis, how much can you explore? There are no fences or signs posted to tell you what is off limits. So a while back, I took the initiative to reach out to a Park Ranger that I know and asked him. I still have his answer in a written email: I am welcome to explore and photograph the perimeter of the oasis. The water "footprint" of the oasis is off limits. So this is exactly what my friend and I did.

We spotted this beautiful arch on the hike in. A good omen?

I discover what looks like a small shelter under this large boulder. Let's go check it out!

 

The boulder is hollowed out and surprisingly roomy. I'm surprised to find what looks like an ancient pile of firewood. There's a very slight indication of soot on the rocky ceiling above the firewood. Try as I might, I see no rock art anywhere in the shelter.

 

This rock is intriguing to me. If I ever go back, I would like to look again more closely. The shape is very unusual, and the center area seems to be much smoother that the two arms protruding out. A possible grinding stone or sharpening stone?

 

The view from inside the shelter, looking out.

I found this stone on the opposite side of the shelter from the wood. The top looks to be much smoother than the sides. Another grinding stone, perhaps? This little shelter turns out to be a really interesting find!

 

I found this old can under a ledge, and was hoping it might be a soldered can from mining days. But look closely... Campbells soup! Probably a modern day hiker who backpacked into the area and spent the night here. I returned the can to where I found it and moved on.

 

Circular erosion.

Our first sighting of the oasis. By the way, this is not a true oasis, but calling it that helps me keep it anonymous. This photo was taken in late June. It's been a super-dry year, and I'm not expecting to see any water here (even Barker Dam was just a mud puddle when this photo was taken). But the splash of green in the middle of the dry desert makes an impression, and tells you there must be water nearby.

 

Wow, just amazing to see all this green! And I'm extremely surprised to see what looks like water up ahead. During wet times, this entire area would be covered by water, so I would consider this to be part of the "footprint". Rather than walk across it, we work our way around the back to cross over to the other side.
 

Another interesting find: A very old rock ring. Whether this ring was put here by miners and cattlemen, or perhaps older and built by Native Americans, is impossible to say. All I know is that it is quite large and looks to be very old!
 

Looking back at the canyon we have just hiked through. A tough hike, and my legs are aching and totally spent. Fingers crossed they will be strong enough to get me back to the car! The cloud cover is a real luxury. June hikes in Joshua Tree are usually sweltering, but today has been pretty nice. Even a few isolated rain drops!
 

As I said earlier, I wasn't expecting any water. This is amazing! It's like being transported out of Joshua Tree National Park desert and dropped next to a mountain pond. Absolute stillness... not another human being around for miles. Look closely at the rocks for water marks showing how high the water gets in wet years.
 

Not your typical desert view! See the raindrop rings on the water surface?

    

This has been an incredible hike. It's one of the very few places in JTNP that likely has year round water. We hiked back out leaving everything exactly as we found it, leaving only footprints and taking only pictures.

 

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!