Turtle Rock Walk

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Turtle Rock Walk

Adjacent to the parking area for the Hidden Valley Nature Trail is a massive rock formation known as Turtle Rock. If you're a rock climber, you've probably heard the stories of Turtle Rock, and maybe climbed to the top via one of the numerous routes on either the south or east face. Perhaps you chose Wandering Tortoise or Give a Mouse a Cookie, or maybe Turtle Soup. Atop Turtle Rock you surveyed your kingdom, and proclaimed in a majestic voice to your Joshua Tree subjects, "Follow me!"

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Planet X Area - Joshua Tree National Park

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Planet X Area - Joshua Tree National Park

Ok, so after hearing about an area in JTree referred to as the "Planet X Area," who wouldn't want to hike out there and Xplore? Parking GrayTac at a convenient turnout, I headed into the mystery to see what I could find: Aliens? Planets? X? Follow along my wanderings....

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Reflecting on Barker Dam - Joshua Tree National Park

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Reflecting on Barker Dam - Joshua Tree National Park

I was looking for water, in the desert. To be more precise, I was looking for large bodies of open water, in the desert. In Joshua Tree National Park. Where the average rainfall during January is less than 1 inch. However, during January of 2017, the park received between 5 - 7 inches of rain thanks to an "atmospheric river" that unleashed powerful storms throughout the entire state.

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Grand Tank - Joshua Tree National Park

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Grand Tank - Joshua Tree National Park

Grand Tank is a reservoir located near White Tank campgound. From reports I've read, it apparently holds water after any significant amount of rain in the area. I've visited several times over the years, but have never found water behind the dam wall. With all the rain the park received during the last half of January, I thought, "what the heck, I'll go check it out. Maybe there'll be water there this time." 

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