Ancient Shoreline?

 On my last post I shared the experience of finding something that looks interesting on Google Earth but maybe not as interesting when seeing it at ground level. You just never know. That's OK because you ALWAYS find something interesting in the desert no matter where you hike. Today's hike turned out to be similar: Interesting when viewed from space but meh when viewed from the ground. It's in the same general location as my last hike, but with an excursion further east.

I had discovered an area using Google Earth that looks a little like an ancient shoreline. Who cares about an ancient shoreline, you ask? Good question. Finding ancient shorelines in the Pinto Basin of Joshua Tree National Park has in the past been a productive way of coming across interesting Native American cultural sites going all the way back to the research by the Campbells in the early 20th century. This was a real long shot, but it intrigued me and I figured it was worth checking out. The other plus was I had never hiked to this area (likely not many others have either). 

There's only one problem: I calculated it would be close to 12 miles round trip, which is pushing my upper limit of how far I'm able to hike. Hot weather was a factor too, and I would need to carry a lot of water.

 

**Side note**

If you give me a choice between 12 miles in the open desert (no trail, dodging boulders and cactus, soft sand, climbing in and out of washes, etc.) and 15 miles on a trail going through the forest with similar elevation changes, I'll take the 15 miles any day of the week. Much easier to follow an established trail and far fewer obstructions and detours. I thought about doing an over-nighter and spliting the hike into two 6 mile segments, but decided against it.

So I had two clear goals for this hike:

1] Visit what I called "No Name Arch" in my last hike and see if I could climb up to it, check it out, and get some good photos. By the way, a reader suggested "Elephant Head Arch" and I can see the resemblence, so I'm going with that name. Thank you!!

2] Time and energy permitting, head east to the "Ancient Shoreline" (if that's what it turns out to be) and explore the area.

 

On my way to re-visit Elephant Head Arch, I found another arch! Not too surprising, as there are many interesting arches in this area.

 

There it is... Elephant Head Arch. Hmm, the climb up looks a little more challenging than I recall 😟. Well, let's take it one rock at a time and see how far we can get. 
 

 

I made it! I'd like to try to climb up and get inside the arch and look out the other side, but the granite is steep and smooth. Let's give it a try.

 

Success! This is the view from inside the arch looking east.

 

One last photo of Elephant Head Arch before I start the challenging climb back down. My 4' hiking stick is in the foreground for size perspective.
 

Back down safely off the rocks and in the wash below, I come across a group of tall, spindly plants. I only find these "plants" (they often look like bare dead sticks coming out of the ground) out in NE Joshua Tree. They are usually 6' - 10' tall, and these caught my eye because they are flowering! I think they are some kind of desert milkweed, and you can see flowers and seedpods in the photo above.

 

This tall, stick-like plant actually has pretty flowers, and it's unusual to see them in bloom.

 

The strange, twisted, tortured rock formations keep me coming back to this area!

 

These desert tortoises have a very tough life indeed. I rarely see living tortoses, but come across their shells (like the one above) on a regular basis. Kind of sad.

 

I've made the decision that I have the time and energy to go check out goal #2: The ancient shoreline. I'll be traveling E/SE (toward the Coxcombs), and I've come across this odd clearing, and wondering why nothing is growing here. Was vegetation scrapped away at some point? And what's that line on the right that looks like a game trail or native trail? I have no answers but plenty of questions!

 

What's left of someones dinner. Rabbit bones, perhaps?

 

This line of rock in the middle of the photo (above) is what I thought might be ancient shoreline when viewed on Google Earth (goal #2). Ground level view looks to me more like a natural rock formation rather than shoreline debris accumulation or erosion, but I'm no expert. Not as impressive as I was hoping for, but interesting nonetheless.

 

It's a barren, bleak landscape. I've decided to go a little further, following the rocks on my right to the SE, until I have a clear view of the southern end of the Coxcombs and the Pinto Basin to the south. It's been a long time since I've seen any human footprints, and this area is rarely visited.
 

Strangely eroded rock wall.

 

Early tablet prototype!

 

Snaggletooth monster!

 

Hello old friend!

 

I'm falling!!

 

Thanks for joining me on another adventure. No ancient shoreline, but a fascinating and remote area!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.