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!!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.