Over the past few days my wife and I have had the pleasure of activating summits in Joshua tree national Park. We started with W6/SD-037 Inspiration Peak, then moved over to W6/CD-016 Ryan Mountain. Both of these summits were accomplished in one day, neither disappointed. The landscape in the park feels surreal, other worldly even. A high desert environment plastered with the unique Joshua tree, various cacti, succulents, and desert wildlife. Both summits had relatively short hikes, and I would consider them accessible for most activators. Highly recommend!
My wife and I decided to attempt W6/CD-012 Quail Mountain. This is the tallest peak in the park at 5817 feet. The round trip ended up being about 11 miles with 2000 feet of elevation gain. This one definitely feels more adventurous, it’s about 30% bush whacking through the desert, when there is a trail, it is generally faint. There are no water sources along the trail, so this will increase the weight of your pack with some extra fluids. The summit was benchmarked and provides a sense of accomplishment. Despite not being the tallest one out there, I found the peak to be rather enjoyable. I would highly recommend for the more able-bodied activators.
Big thanks to all the stations I’ve worked over the past few days, I’m looking forward to hearing from many of you tomorrow. We are packing up here in Joshua tree and taking a rest/driving day. We expect to be in the Phoenix area this evening, I will get an alert up tomorrow for the summit we choose. It’s looking like five days in Phoenix with four of them having activations and one rest day before we head on to New Mexico.
Thanks for reading the write up, we started the hike on the hidden Valley trail. I would highly recommend that, there’s a little bit of private property, but you can skirt around it with no problem. It feels like total rattlesnake territory, I brought snake stick😉
Thanks for reading, we had a really good time. Joshua tree is such a special place, this was my wife’s first time in the park so I was incredibly happy to introduce her to it. Cheers, my friend.
Thanks for the story and the great pictures.
My partner and I spent a few days in the Coachella valley last year beginning of September, which gave me the opportunity to activate a nearby SOTA summit. It was hot: up to 122F near Salton Sea. Nevertheless I hiked up to W6/SD-037, Inspiration Benchmark, one day very early in the morning. The weather god was kind to me and kept some clouds in the sky so that I could comfortably stay long enough on the summit to complete my activation.
No surprise I earned my first ever summer bonus points. (Here we get the bonus points only in winter!)
Joshua park is unique, very special and an awesome place.
Fritz HB9CYX
Thanks for the report and the photos! I have not had the opportunity to activate Quail Mountain but have hiked over the top starting from the Juniper Flats trailhead, then up the South side of the mountain to the summit, then down the canyons on the North side finishing at Quail Springs during a SAR operation. We didn’t find our subject, but did encounter a huge bighorn ram on the summit who seemed to be very proud of his mountain. It’s a beautiful spot.
If you go back and want another challenging summit, Queen Mountain is one of my favorite areas of the park. Beautiful, rugged summit where there are still a decent number of pine trees mixed in.
Thank you for the comment. We were going to drag queen mountain, but decided to move onto the Phoenix Arizona area instead. I will definitely check it out next time we’re in the park. This was my first time, hiking in Joshua tree, I’ve been on several climbing trips out there, amazing place.
I’m just waking up getting ready to set off on Organ Needle W5N/OR-001. If you’ve never heard of this one, check it out. The shift in weather from Alaska to California was great, enjoy the blue skies.
That looks like a blast! I really need to get to NM for some mountain exploring. My YL went to NM Tech for undergrad and spent a few years in the area.
