Stirrup Tank and White Tank Campground

 Stirrup Tank goal: Find a petroglyph site that a friend told me about. I even had coordinates, so it should be a piece of cake, right? A relatively short hike, so my plan was to cross the highway to White Tank Campground for part two of my hike after finding the glyphs at Stirrup Tank.

Roar!!

 

Water in a tinaja after recent rains.

 

 

Can you see the petroglyphs? They are faded and hard to see, and these are NOT the glyphs I was looking for. I continued to scour the area around the coordinates for the glyphs, but no luck. Even so, I was thrilled to stumble upon these glyphs.
 

A closer look.

 

I even found a small, faded pictograph, but still not the petroglyph pannel I was looking for.

 

Using d-stretch to enhance pictograph color.

 

Face-shaped Native American morteros, filled with rain water!

 

So I'm forced to give up on finding the glyphs, but that's OK. I decide to continue my hike and just enjoy the unusual rock formations Stirrup Tank has to offer.

 

One of the few Joshua trees in the Stirrup Tank area.

 

Native American steps??

 

Tuft

 

The creature!

  

Leaning left!

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Time to make the short drive over to White Tank Campground. My goal for this hike: Find Grand Tank, and, with luck, it will be holding water from recent rains. White Tank is relatively easy to find and I've been there before. Grand Tank is more elusive and I've never been there.

 

Upon arriving at the campground, my first observation: There are LOTS of people and parking areas are overflowing! This being Joshua Tree National Park on a Saturday in peak season, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I was expecting crowds, just not to this extent.

 

After a fair amount of hiking, I manage to find Grand Tank. From this view, I can't tell if it's holding any water. Lets try to get around the boulders to get a closer look.
 

Dang!! No water behind Grand Tank. It's easy to see from the hard water markings on the rocks that it occasionally fills up. Someday I hope to see this full of water. It would be quite a sight!
 

I end up hiking and exploring the White Tank area until after sunset, but way too many photos to add to this post. I'll leave you with a final photo of a wonderful view of the boulders just north of White Tank Campground. Stop by next week for photos of some of the most beautiful rock formations in all of Joshua Tree National Park!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Consider the Ocotillo

 They often look like dry sticks coming out of the ground, just waiting for the next big wind to blow them over. You would swear they were dead.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

 

But give them some water, and magic happens. Just a single rain that soaks the ground is all it takes, and within a day or two small greenish leaves cover those dead-looking sticks. And shortly after that, you will see some unusual red flowers at the very end of the sticks (see photo below). Like I said, it's magic!

Photo credit: Pithandvigor.com

Ocotillo is described as a woody shrub that grows in the deserts of the southwestern US and northern Mexico. It's also know as candlewood, coachwhip, or vine cactus, although I've never heard anyone refer to Ocotillo by those names. Ocotillo means "little torch" in Spanish, which seems like a perfect description, given those bright red flowers at the end of the long branches. And a side note, the hummingbirds go crazy over those flowers!

 

Ocotillo can be up to 20' tall. This one we came across recently is a good, tall specimen. Mitch is about 6'2" or 6'3", and this one is at least 3 Mitch's in height!

 

Here are some Ocotillo showing off in the late afternoon light. They tend to grow in "clumps" or patches. You can hike for long distances without seeing any, and then come across a grouping like this. If you are ever in Joshua Tree National Park, keep an eye out for the "Ocotillo Patch" along Pinto Basin Road. It's the largest patch of Ocotillo in the Park.

 

So I found myself driving home through the Park after a long, exhausing hike recently. It was about 8pm, unusually warm for February, and a beautiful clear sky. My mind was wandering, thinking about possible places to stop along the road to get a picture of the desert stars (I had my tripod with me), but also thinking about how tired and hungry I was (I hadn't eaten since lunch). There was a chicken pot pie and a cold beer with my name on it. About this time I see the sign for the Ocotillo Patch turnout. Well, dinner would just have to wait!

Ocotillo under the stars!

As we get closer to Milky Way season, I think it would be fun to return and get a shot of the Milky Way over an Ocotillo. I'll put it on my to-do list!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Fortune Cookie Arch and Jabba Rock

 We decided to revist Jabba Rock in the late afternoon, this time with long lenses to (hopefully) capture golden hour light on the rocks in the area.

Since we've hiked to Jabba Rock a few times, I spent some time on Google Earth putting together a new route that included some unhiked sections. It was a good idea, because we ended up seeing some new arches and windows that we hadn't seen before.

 

About 4 months ago I was hiking in this general area and noticed a profusion of green vines covering the plants. The vine-covered plants were almost totally limited to the washes, and I'm guessing it's a parasitic plant that grows very quickly after a rain. Fast forward about 4 months. See all the yellow stuff in the photo above? That same green vine is dead and is now orange in color. Sadly, it's still covering the plants, many of which appear to have died. 

 

Look at all those holes eroded in the rocks! That's one of the reasons we like hiking out here. As the rock erodes and the holes get bigger, they turn into alcoves, caves and arches. 

 

Case in point: A nice alcove. Let's climb up and take a look.

 

Mitch relaxing, enjoying the shade and the view from inside the alcove!

 

Strange find of the day: I come across this old enamel container in a rocky shelter. Perhaps used as a water cache? Much too heavy to carry in on a hike to this very remote area. I'm reminded that, prior to this area being designated as wilderness, people used to explore these rocky hills and sandy washes by jeep and set up camp.

 

Fortune Cookie Arch, which turns out to be harder to get to than I remembered!

 

Steep climb up to Fortune Cookie Arch.

 

A well deserved rest after the climb up!

 

Wonderful views from inside Fortune Cookie Arch

 

Those rocks remind me of a scout salute.

 

I've never seen this one before. Shark Fin seems like a good name!

 

We finally make it to our primary destination (Jabba Rock). I'm using this photo from a previous visit since I forgot to take one from here on this hike. We're going to be attempting to climb up to Jabba's hut (or should it be Hutt?), which is that alcove at the very top. I've done it before, but as I get older, for some strange reason the climb gets harder!🤣 It's not quite as bad as it looks, since we will take an approach on the back side of the rock.

 

Even this approach is steep, and I'm happy to have made it in one piece!

 

From inside Jabba's hut.

 

Mitch in silhouette, with the moon

 

Some amazing views from atop Jabba Rock (wide angle lens).

 

The view toward the Coxcomb Mountains (telephoto lens).

 

And is often the case, some of my favorite photos are taken during the return hike and after the sun has set. This was the last photo of the day!

 

Thanks for joining me on another desert adventure!!

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