Archive for California

Route 66 from Victorville to Helendale

May 12, 2012 Cliff California, Mojave Desert, Road Trips Easy
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Trip Date: March 2012

Route 66 on side of building

Route 66 on side of building

The Mother Road.  America’s Main Street.  It would be a fair guess that everyone in the World has heard of Route 66. People make the trip down Route 66 to see the nostalgic sites and perhaps experience a once forgotten slower-paced lifestyle.

Many segments of the original Route 66 were literally erased when the more modern Interstate freeways were built on top of the old roadbed.  When engineers building the Interstate system found shorter routes to use, some old segments of Route 66 were saved and remain in use today.  Thankfully, some of the old nostalgia can still be seen along these segments, along with newer Route 66 pop-culture consisting of things that people have constructed after the highway was decommissioned in 1985.

The segment of Route 66 that stretches between Victorville and Barstow, which passes through the towns of Oro Grande and Helendale, is a great 38 mile (60 km) mini road trip that can be experienced when driving I-15 in Southern California.  Exit the busy freeway in either Victorville or Barstow and follow the signs for Historic Route 66 and get back on I-15 when you encounter it 38 miles later.  It’s a great little break from any hectic road trip and there’s plenty of nostalgia and pop-culture to see along the way.

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Willow Hole in Joshua Tree National Park

February 26, 2012 Cliff California, Hikes, Joshua Tree N.P., Mojave Desert
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Trip Date: December 2011

Willow Hole Trail

Willow Hole Trail

In our opinion, the hike to Willow Hole, which is located in the Wonderland of Rocks region of Joshua Tree National Park, is one of the most rewarding hikes in the park. The trail passes through all of the scenery that Joshua Tree National Park is known for, not only the famous yucca that the park is named after, but all of those beautifully sculptured granite boulders and long desert vistas that has captivated visitors to this park for decades.

We’ve gone on many hikes all over the park in search of that perfect trail that leads into the heart of the Wonderland of Rocks.  In all our travels through the deserts of Southern California, granite rock outcroppings are a photographer’s dream because of the endless formations created by Mother Nature.  There are numerous outcroppings in the Mojave National Preserve, as well as historic Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, but nothing beats the granites of Joshua Tree.  We thought that the trail into Rattlesnake Canyon from Indian Cove would give us good access.  But after going on a hike with an experienced guide, we learned it took lots of rock climbing and trail finding skills to find your way.  Perhaps a hike into Rattlesnake Canyon will be a future post in this blog.  But we found that the Willow Hole Trail is much easier.

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Owl Canyon in Rainbow Basin

January 8, 2012 Cliff California, Hikes, Mojave Desert
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Trip Date: November 2011

Owl Canyon

A narrow stretch of Owl Canyon

A hike up Owl Canyon will take most people by surprise.  After crossing the wide open spaces of the Mojave Desert near Barstow, one would not expect a canyon full of odd geologic formations and wild colors. Owl Canyon is located inside what is known as the Rainbow Basin Natural Area.  This “Natural Area” is managed by the BLM office in Barstow.  Rainbow Basin itself speaks for itself – it is a big basin full of colorful geological layers that are warped into what geologists call anticlines and synclines.

Although there are more trips to be taken in this immediate area, the centerpiece of this trip focuses on the hike up Owl Canyon.  Owl Canyon covers the eastern section of Rainbow Basin.  In this section is the Owl Canyon campground, which is actually comprised of two – the main campground and an equestrian campground.  As of 2011, the BLM did some significant upgrades to the entire campground, making it look first rate.

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A Tour of Death Valley

December 23, 2011 Cliff California, Death Valley, Regional Overview
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Trip Date: 2010

Death Valley - Dante's View

Death Valley - Dante's View

This is an introductory tour to the places to see and experience in and around Death Valley National Park. We’ve all heard of Death Valley. Maybe, some of us have been attracted to the name Death Valley because there might be a hint of danger and adventure. Others may have been attracted to its unique features, such as its colorful geology and history. But what is in Death Valley, what does it look like and where is it located? Well, this virtual tour might just help you grasp just that.

Extreme heat, extreme dryness and extreme beauty. It is one of North America’s most unique regions and one of the biggest national parks. The combinations of geological forces here have created a magnificently rugged and colorful desert landscape that’s surrounded by 11,000+ ft. snow-capped peaks making it a place without equal!
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Golden Canyon Hike Death Valley

November 30, 2011 Cliff California, Death Valley, Hikes, Mojave Desert
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Trip Date: February 2005

Golden Canyon Badlands in Death Valley

Golden Canyon Badlands

This is one of our favorite hikes in Death Valley because of all of the colors and endless shapes and contours of the eroded badlands. The hike up Golden Canyon is a popular one because of many reasons.  For one, it showcases what Death Valley is all about: stark barren beauty.  Two, it is close to Death Valley’s central settlement: Furnace Creek.  Three, it is an easy and rewarding hike, even if you simply walk a few hundred feet into the canyon from your vehicle.  The bottom line, a visit to Death Valley should include a small or long hike into Golden Canyon, just like a visit to Death Valley should include a stop in Badwater.

There are a few ways to plan a hike through Golden Canyon.  The most popular way is to hike from the entrance to Golden Canyon from the parking lot along Badwater Road.  Here, you can hike into the canyon as far as you wish and then turn around and head back to your vehicle.  For the more motivated hiker, you can make the complete loop hike up Golden Canyon, across Manly Beacon, skirt by Zabriskie Point, head down Gower Gulch and then back to the Golden Canyon parking lot.  Another method is to have someone drop you off at Zabriskie Point, hike down Golden Canyon and have that same someone pick you up at the Golden Canyon parking lot.
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Pumpkin Patch – Anza-Borrego

October 23, 2011 Cliff Anza-Borrego, California, Road Trips 4wd
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Trip Date: March 2009

The Pumpkin Patch

The Pumpkin Patch

Located just east of the Anza-Borrego State Park boundary is a unique geologic phenomenon known as the Pumpkin Patch. Here, you’ll find a patch of land, roughly the size of an average city block, covered with spherically-shaped rocks that are all the size of an average pumpkin.

The surrounding desert terrain is very consistent, with its soft rolling sandy hills covered with creosote bushes. It is the same terrain that you’ll pass for several miles after leaving the pavement of Hwy S-22. To finally reach and see this collection of round boulders strewn in just this small area is really quite a sight to see.
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Hellhole Canyon Hike to Maidenhair Falls

September 29, 2011 Cliff Anza-Borrego, California, Hikes
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Trip Date: March 2009

Maidenhair Falls in Hellhole Canyon

Maidenhair Falls

This fantastic desert hike up Hellhole Canyon to Maidenhair Falls is located in the heart of the Anza-Borrego State Park and not too far from the town of Borrego Springs. Hiking this trail will take you through classic Sonoran Desert landscape, pass through a wild grove of California fan palms and, after a little bit of boulder scrambling, to a pure desert miracle: a waterfall in the middle of the desert – not only one, but two.

The 5 mile roundtrip hike up Hellhole Canyon is somewhat similar to the more popular hike up Anza-Borrego State Park’s Borrego Palm Canyon.  The only difference is that Hellhole Canyon isn’t advertised much, so therefore it doesn’t have as many people hiking the trail.  Being closer to the Anza-Borrego visitors center, Borrego Palm Canyon typically attracts a lot of hikers.  Furthermore, Hellhole Canyon has an added attraction, a waterfall surrounded by maidenhair ferns, suitably named Maidenhair Falls.

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Blue Ridge in the San Gabriel Mountains

July 31, 2011 Cliff California, Road Trip & Hike
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Trip Date: July 2009

East Blue Ridge Road near Wrightwood

East Blue Ridge Road

Our July trip takes you into the cooler regions of the San Gabriel Mountains of the Los Angeles area. This entire trip can be done in a single day and is broken into two sections.  The first section explores a dirt road that runs along Blue Ridge above Mountain High and Wrightwood.  The second section is a hike to an old gold mining structure built in 1905 located on the slopes of Mt. Baden-Powell.

If you live in the Los Angeles area, more specifically the Inland Empire including the cities of San Bernardino, Ontario, Riverside and Pomona or the High Desert region including the cities of Apple Valley, Hesperia or Victorville, then you are probably looking for ways to escape the heat.  And this trip is perfect for doing just that because much of the trip will be at altitudes above 6,000 feet.

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Aiken Cinder Mine

June 27, 2011 Cliff California, Mojave Desert, Road Trips 4wd
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Trip Date: May 2006

Once a bustling, modern mining operation, the operators of this mine abruptly shut it down in 1990 and walked away – leaving all of their equipment behind. Today, that leftover equipment is one of the interesting things about this site, as well as being able to walk into the center of a volcanic cinder cone.

Aiken Cinder Mine

Aiken Cinder Mine

Aiken Cinder Mine is located in the heart of the Mojave National Preserve of California.  It is several miles of well-traveled Interstate 15 (I-15) which is the main highway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.  Aiken Cinder Mine is accessed from the dirt Aiken Mine Road which traverses the Mojave National Preserve between Cima Road and Kelbaker Road.

To read more about this trip, see our main article on the Aiken Cinder Mine.

Purchase our Virtual Tour Guide of the Mojave National Preserve:

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Mojave National Preserve

June 25, 2011 Cliff California, Mojave Desert, Regional Overview
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Trip Date: April 2006

This is an introduction to the various points of interest inside and nearby the Mojave National Preserve. It is a brief “Virtual Tour” of the various destinations.

The Mojave National Preserve covers an area that is approximately 1.6 million acres which makes it the third largest area controlled by the National Park Service within the contiguous United States (behind Death Valley and Yellowstone National Parks).  Within the boundaries of the Preserve you will find many different environments including parts of the Mojave Desert as well as transitional elements of the Great Basin and Sonoran deserts.
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