Petroglyphs in the Southern Eagle Mountains - Joshua Tree
National Park photos

petrosFinally, after some wet and unsettled weather, the second weekend of January looks like a good one for the long day hike that we've been planning into the canyons of the Southern Eagle Mountains. These mountains form the southeastern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park. Even though they're part of JTNP, they're rarely visited due to the fact that they're dry, remote and any hiking into them is of the cross country variety.

Why did we pick this spot? Well, in doing some research we came upon a few clues regarding possible prehistoric Indian use that raised a few questions that got our curiosity going and you know what that leads to! What the heck is in this area, anyway? Nobody ever goes there and it seems that precious little is known about it. So we decided that, kinda like a desert version of Columbus, we'd set off on a hike of discovery. We weren't really worried about falling off the edge of the Earth like Columbus was, but it would be awfully embarrassing to hike all day and not find a thing. The pressure was on! In case we struck out in the rock art department, we loaded the coordinates of an old gold mine into our GPS and figured that we could always check that out if all else fails. So, do you like to gamble? If so, you'll definitely want to join us for a day of hiking and exploring. You might just want to set your headlamp and some snacks down by your mouse, though, because something tells me that this could be a long but eventful day! Click on the photo link below to get going now because these winter days are short and we'll need all the light we can get!

 

Click here for photos.