View Lost Horse Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park in a larger map
With one day of the family vacation to Disneyland set aside for peak bagging I explored several options, including San Jacinto and San Gorgiono. I settled on a few small mountains within Joshua Tree National Park, mainly because of the weather forecast and winter conditions at higher elevations in the area.
We left Anaheim at 5:45am and reached the guard post on Monument Road at 8. My wife and I have always enjoyed a nice road trip, and the alien landscape within Joshua Tree is filled with awesome sights. As we made our way through the park we could see several different stages of erosion laid out in the hills and mountains surrounding us.
Lost Horse Mountain was our first destination for the day. We started out under clear blue skies but the wind was fierce. About 2 miles in we were surprised by a few small patches of snow. Shortly afterward we left the road and followed the Southwest Ridge to the first of 3 false summits.
The wind speed continued to increase and nearly blew me over as I took pictures from the summit. The snow-capped San Jacinto and San Gorgiano mountains stood out to the West. I signed the summit log and headed down to the old mine, eyeballing or next destination, Ryan Mountain.
The old mine site is surrounded by interesting artifacts and traces of old structures.We traded pictures with another couple and then returned to the trailhead, passing several small groups on their way in.
View Ryan Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park in a larger map
On the drive between trailheads we stopped to take pictures at an interesting rock stack with a huge boulder teetering on-edge near the top, and passed a parking area with a sign that read simply "Hall of Horrors". Obviously we made a stopped on our way out to see what the fuss was about. A few hundred feet from the Ryan Mountain Trailhead I spotted an excellent photo opportunity on top of a massive rock pile.
A lot of time and energy has gone into the Ryan Mountain Trail, with set-in rock steps for the first mile or so. As we rounded the West face I noticed a few people scrambling around on a huge rock formation that seemed to burst out of the mountainside. We passed several tiny caves in the rock alongside the trail that provided some shelter from the intense wind for a quick breather.
Steffy had enough and chose to hang back just past the halfway point while I continued to the summit. I arrived at the top behind another solo hiker and we traded summit shots on top of a big rock pile. I could not find a summit log, though I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the wind blew it right of the mountain. On the way back I ran ahead for a super fun scramble up the aforementioned rock pile so that Steffy could take my picture from the parking lot below.
We stopped at the Hall of Horrors on the way to Inspiration Point, the last planned summit of the day. There were several groups exploring trails surrounding a huge oblong rock pile, obviously looking for the namesake. When I had almost given up, Steffy called me over to a crack in the rock just big enough for a person to squeeze through on their hands and knees. A few feet in the crack expanded enough to fit a dozen people standing up. Continuing on I climbed through another small gap towards the sunlight and ended up in a large channel running the length of the massive rock formation I was inside. I thoroughly enjoyed scrambling out to the far end and then ran back around to do it all once more.
Here is a video of the trip through the Hall of Horrors
When we reached Keys View I found signs near the bootpath to Inspiration Point indicating the area was closed for restoration. Through the haze we could see Pam Springs, San Jacinto and San Gorgiono, the Salton Sea to the East, and hundreds of windmills. We again traded pictures with a couple at the lookout and headed back to the hotel, stopping in Cabazon for pictures with the giant dinosaurs.
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