Mojave Natl. Preserve: Midhills to Castle Mtns Nov. 26-28, 2021

John Morrow

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n Nov 26th I headed for Mid Hills Campground. After setting up I did the short hike to Eagle Rocks. Near sunset I walked out to the unnamed mountains at the head of Black Canyon on the south side of the Mid Hills road. To summit Eagle Rocks requires climbing a pure granitic 40 foot steep face with a convenient vertical crack. Joshua Tree like.




Eagle Rocks
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Mid Hills
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Route
by John Morrow, on Flickr



Kelso Valley by John Morrow, on Flickr




view, evening hike to hills at left under Table Mtn.
by John Morrow, on Flickr



On Nov 27th I drove the longish slow drive from the campground to hackberry Spring Road but stopped at the corral. It was a good staging location for a long neat loop across the northern slopes of the Hackberry Mountains to Guitar Mountain. Then on to Hackberry Mountain, before returning running the ridge over Peak 4925 (1501T). I went over to the Eagle Mtns in the evening by Eagle Well.




Hackberry Mountains
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Guitar Mountain east bowl
by John Morrow, on Flickr




tuffs
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Guitar shape
by John Morrow, on Flickr




view west
by John Morrow, on Flickr





Over to Hackberry Mountain
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Providence Mountains
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Hackberry Canyon
by John Morrow, on Flickr




great ridge descent
by John Morrow, on Flickr



Evening walk:




petroglyphs
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Up to Butte
by John Morrow, on Flickr



On Nov 28th I relocated to the newish Castle Mountains National Monument adjacent to the Preserve. My goal was a loop crosscountry and on old jeep trails that feel more like trails. I took the excellent Walking Box Ranch Road to a high clearance spur at 1400 Meters that is NW of Castle Mountain and Linder Peak. My goal was to explore the area for future loop hikes while summiting the peaks on a crest walk and then return on the old jeep routes west of the crest. It was a fine hike. The scrambling can be avoided and a nice loop hike can be done lower around the peaks on the east side. Some of these little used jeep routes could be returned to single track trails in my opinion. They were little used.




Castle Peaks
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Hart Mountain
by John Morrow, on Flickr




crest
by John Morrow, on Flickr



A couple of arches were fun finds.




arch and Avi Kwa Ame
by John Morrow, on Flickr





solid gully ahead
by John Morrow, on Flickr




descent route
by John Morrow, on Flickr




barrel
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Linder north side
by John Morrow, on Flickr




late light
by John Morrow, on Flickr




Castle Peaks crest
by John Morrow, on Flickr



Mojave NP and Castle Mtns NM really aren't jaw dropping scenery. But there is something about the Mojave that grabs me over and over.
 
"Mojave NP and Castle Mtns NM really aren't jaw dropping scenery. But there is something about the Mojave that grabs me over and over."
Lot of truth in the statement @John Morrow!
 
Thanks for sharing John, I like it too. We should have listened to @Reef&Ruins and gone there instead of heading back home to a grey sky and an iced up driveway.
 

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