Mojave National Preserve - December 2019

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Part one of our winter adventure

Snow in the Desert

"It would be best to make a phone call, and let's do it before we leave Hawthorne and cell service," I suggested..

I was driving after stopping for gas and it was nearing three in the afternoon on this very cold christmas eve. We had left home later than we had wanted on this beginning of a multi week adventure. The Lady was doing an admirable job learning to operate our first smart phone and internet access but a phone call was much simpler. We had a few options for an overnight camping spot along our route but this one we were pursuing with a phone call would make for a wonderful night and special start to our trip. The call was answered by a pleasant woman's voice. "Yes, we have openings for tonight. Let me look. You can have your choice of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, or 11."

"We'll take tub 3 and it will be just driving time from Hawthorne," the Lady answered.

We arrived at Benton before dark after dropping down from Montgomery Pass, our Nevada route avoiding chain controls and lingering winter storm on highway 395.

It was a beautiful, cold, and memorable christmas eve.

The Lady diligently watched the sky above for Santa and his reindeer.

On christmas morning we drove south from Benton and intersected 395 at Bishop and continued south to Lone Pine where we turned toward Death Valley. The highways were quiet with few other travelers on the road. That was until we reached Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley. We had never seen so many people in the Park. We tried to make a stop at the Visitor's Center in Furnace Creek. Cars were stopped waiting for parking spots to open. The decision was easy to continue driving south. Evidence of a major downpour - standing water everywhere - began at Death Valley Junction. Shoshone was a continuous puddle as we filled up the gas tank with obscenely priced fuel. We sought out high ground for the night's camp spot. Camping in bottom country would be a miserable sloppy mistake. We headed into the Ibex Hills, and a few miles in on a narrow dirt road put us at a wonderful high lonely spot. The clouds overhead looked angry and mean. We were ready for all hell to break loose.

We walked after dinner and into the night. Surprisingly the rain did not come. We sat out in the ink black night and soaked in the quiet. We climbed in our warm cozy bed and drifted into deep sleep.

"There's not a cloud in the sky," the Lady announced when she returned in the middle of the night from a trip outside to pee. "The sky is filled with stars and beautiful!"

I should have gotten right up and went outside to see. Rain was pounding relentlessly on the roof at 5:30 am when my morning need woke me. This was a real storm. I got wet.

We packed up after breakfast inside the camper and headed south on highway 127. The wipers slashed back and forth across the windshield with the heavy rain. Even under the canopy of the gas station in Baker, the wind whipped the rain straight into us.

We stopped along Kelbaker Road to document a milestone.

The rain subsided as we pulled into the Kelso Depot, the Mojave National Preserve's Visitor's Center, but the wind bit into us and clouds raced across the landscape.

Colder air moved in and wet snow smashed against the truck as we left Kelso. Snow stuck to the road as we climbed over the Granite Mountains, so much so we worried about the lack of winter driving skills of the continuous line of southern Californians coming at us. Finding highway 66 to the east closed due to a bridge out, we were forced on to the interstate. We drove out of the storm when past Essex and made the decision to continue on to the KOA in Needles for lower elevation and a hoped for dry night. Rain pounded down on the roof just as we turned in for the night and continued until dawn. When we awoke the KOA campground was a standing pool of water but it looked like a little morning sun would be possible.

With breaks of sunlight through the clouds, we drove west and returned to the Mojave, now a winter wonderland.

We drove up the rough paved road to the Visitor's Center at Providence Mountains State Park.

We talked with Andy and asked about any chance for the two of us to get in on a tour of Mitchell Caverns - offered only twice a day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and limited to 15 people each tour and booked up months in advance. With the storm, Andy said there could be a chance but we'd only know as people showed up. We walked the trails until it was time learn our fate.

"You two are good!" Andy announced as we returned and we joined the tour group walking out to the "Eyes of the Mountain", the entrance to Mitchell Caverns.

The tour was excellent and we recommend it. Two facts presented  were stand outs. One, there is an outcropping of flowstone exposed in the canyon side prior to reaching the cavern entrance showing that the cavern was once much larger and a large piece was taken away by the erosion that created the canyon. Second was the story of the Shasta Sloth and the key role this now extinct creature played in the distribution of Joshua Trees.

Shasta Sloth fossils were found in Mitchell Caverns and many other caverns in the southwest.

The snow storm got us a tour of the cavern. It also cut the holiday crowd we were concerned we'd find at Hole in the Wall Campground.

The campground was about half full and we easily found a nice site for the next two nights.

The next morning dawned clear and cold. The early light was spectacular.

We especially enjoyed this view through the Hole in the Wall and across Wild Horse Mesa with the towering Providence Mountains beyond.

Our adventure for this day was to circle around the base of Barber Peak. The best guide for hiking in the Mojave Desert is Digonnet's Hiking the Mojave Desert. All of Michel Digonnet's guide books are impressive in their detail and excellent writing.

It was a glorious morning and well below freezing with a brisk wind. We dressed appropriately for the conditions. We started north from the Hole in the Wall Visitor's Center.

The banded Woods Mountains to the east - right side in above photo - is the western edge of a cataclysmic volcanic caldera that exploded around 17.8 million years ago and produced these multi layers of pyroclasts that formed Woods Mountains, Wild Horse Mesa, and Barber Peak.

This was indeed a very special day to be in the Mojave Desert backcountry.

Fresh snow gave the opportunity to view fresh animal tracks such as fox......

bobcat...............

and the elusive and once thought to be extinct Mojave Moose.

The extremely rare Mojave Moose has the uncanny survival tactic of disguising itself to look like a cow when it senses danger.

The snow was deepest at the northern part of this loop around Barber Peak.

We'd like to return and explore the area around the Opalite Cliffs at the northern end of Wild Horse Mesa.

We turned south and skirted the western flank of Barber Peak.

If the wind was not so bitter cold, we would have added the short climb to Barber's summit to today's hike.

Here's a view back at the Opalite Cliffs.

The route climbed out of the drainage between Barber Peak and Wild Horse Mesa and up to the pass that would drop us down to Wild Horse Canyon.

It was amazing how lush this area was with desert flora dominated by Cholla and Mojave Yucca.

We hiked down into the flats below Wild Horse Canyon.

The loop took us to the bottom entrance of Banshee Canyon, an abyss where winds wail and send shivers of fear up your spine on dark desert nights.

The little amphitheater before entering Banshee's slot canyon is a wondrous place to stop and soak in the feel of this wild place.

Banshee Canyon is to the left in the shadows. The canyon to the right quickly ended in an 18 foot pourover where steps have been chipped into the welded volcanic ash.

Banshee's slot canyon was short and spectacular.

Two vertical sections have steel rings anchored in the rock to aid climbing. Here is looking down after we ascended the first set of rings - quite easily done.

The Lady posed for photos while climbing the second set.

We topped out and looked back at the eerie formations above Banshee Canyon.

We returned  to camp and grabbed a quick hot shower before the sunlight left. The temperature only reached into the mid thirties this day. We ate a simple and quick dinner so we could walk and watch the evening light work its magic on this powerful landscape.

Coyotes sang for us both nights we stayed at Hole in the Wall. The cold weather kept our camping neighbors inside and made for a wonderful quiet night in a campground. The next morning we packed up and turned our truck and camper toward southern Arizona, our next stop on this winter adventure. 

Click here for Part Two.