My last hike of the Snowbird season was actually two short loops in Joshua Tree Park. The first was Hidden Valley named either because the area is framed in by rock walls or the fact that in the 1800's rustlers used to hide cattle here. The natural vegetation is coming back in this area and it was good to wander through reading the posted signs to find out a bit more information about what we were looking at.
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| The entrance to the valley is not obvious. If you took away the fenced in path you would have to be facing due west to see the valley opening. |
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| Trees get their water by running long roots through the cracks in the rock. |
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| This is what you see as you enter the valley |
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| Some of the rock walls that hide the valley. It is amazing the variety of rock forms that have been created. |
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| Prickly Pear Cactus |
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| This rock formation is called the 'Big Burrito'. Rock climbers named this giant; probably by someone hungry for some good Mexican fare. |
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| The Joshua trees lend themselves to the landscapes vertical beauty |
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| The hiking trail is made up of sand and small stones of granite that have worn off the surrounding rock. |
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| The pinyon pine cone was used by the first natives as a valuable food source. They would knock down green cones and burn them so the cones would open and the seeds could be extracted. You won't get any out of this one as it appears to have already opened. |
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| Standing on the saddle of the valley entrance you can see the Joshua trees growing all over the plain below. |
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| Rock climbers have made it to the top and are enjoying a well deserved view. Below you can see the Hidden Valley picnic area. |
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| An Antelope Ground Squirrel watching us eat some lunch in the Barker Dam parking lot. He probably did his rounds after we left for our hike. |
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| A hummingbird trying to gather some warmth from the sun. |
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| Why you don't want to fall into a cactus... |
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| More unique rock formations |
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| Panorama of the Barker Dam Basin. The dam was built in the early 1900's to hold water for cattle and mining. There was no water source just rain water fed and it is now used by all the wildlife in the area. |
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| A moment to reflect |
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| Dam Inspectors? |
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| The Dam Face looks like there has been some maintenance or they did a great job during construction for it to look so strong. |
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| The cattle trough was feed by a pipe from the dam. It is located at the base of the dam in the wash area. |
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| This natural cave is a site of petroglyphs. It is unfortunate that some visitors figured they would look better coloured. |
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