Rock Garden Valley Dam
/Trek Date: February 29, 2016
I wonder how many of these stone and cement dams there are in JTree. And I wonder how many will still hold water after the rains. I've discovered a few on my own, but the intrepid 3-D photographer and rock charter - I'm talking about Murbachi - has found even more. Including one of the best, Surprise Tank.
There's a dirt road just north of Hemingway, it heads south to a number of small parking areas. Park in the third one you come to, it'll be on your left. You'll be looking up a rocky canyon and thinking, "why would anyone want to go up there." The answer? To see what you can find.
Rock climbers wander and crawl up and over these rocks for hours, just to reach a starting point for a dangerous climb. Me, I'm not that limber anymore, so I stick to hiking and scrambling.
Here's the view looking up at tons of boulders. If you start walking up the wash, you'll soon come to a small stone and cement dam. Who built it? I don't know, haven't found any information on it and there was no helpful writing in the cement from whoever built it. Why was it built? To capture and hold water for cattle is my guess.
First view.
Inside view.
Another outside view.
This pipe is located at the lower end of the dam, towards the bottom. It most likely piped water to a trough a little way down the canyon, to a point that was more accessible for cattle and/or horses.
Another arch for my collection. I think this makes #5.
And another dead tree for my Dead Tree collection. I think this makes #1849.
Less than 3 minutes from Park Blvd., and less than a 3 minute hike from T Red, I recommend spending 10-15 minutes for this short side-trip and who knows what you might find?
Thanks for reading, and if any of these pictures capture your interest, feel free to left click on them for a larger version and then right click to save them. Use them for whatever you like, credit back to Cali49.com would be nice, but it's not required. And if you're on Facebook, please "Like" my Cali49 page.
