We didn't plan to go to the Mojave. In fact, I've felt as though - over the last year - I've spent too much time in California, and I've had an urge to find myself back in places like Utah and Colorado. Alas, with a fantastic trip planned to hike the canyons of the Grand Gulch and Cedar Mesa, the weather did not cooperate. Snow - and lots of it - blanketed southeast Utah, rain spread across much of the lowland south. And so, at the last minute, I whipped up an itinerary to the only place I could find with clear skies: the Mojave Preserve.
Of course, there's always plenty to do in the Mojave, and having last visited in 2020 I had no shortage of places that we'd missed on previous visits, that fellow explorers had suggested I'd enjoy, or that I'd seen mentioned in a trip report I'd read online.
With less than 12 hours to departure, I'd pulled together a loop that would:
- take us to some pictographs,
- expose us to the highest concentration of petroglyphs in the preserve,
- and have us wandering through wonderlands of rock and rock formations.
It would be a trip full of rocks. And art. Rock Art Three Ways.
Far Below and High Above | Three Ways #1 - We didn't plan to go to the Mojave. In fact, I've felt as though - over the last year - I've spent too much time in California, and I've had an urge to find myself back in places like Utah and Colorado. Alas, with a fantastic trip planned to hike the canyons of the Grand Gulch and Cedar Mesa, the weather did not cooperate. Snow - and lots of it - blanketed southeast Utah; rain spread across much of the lowland south. And so, at the last minute, I whipped up an itinerary to the only place I could find with clear skies: the…
A Stroll through the Rocks | Three Ways #2 - Having drifted off to sleep to the pleasant pitter-patter of rain, it was extra nice to wake up just before sunrise to clear skies and a completely dry tent. Letting @mrs.turbodb bank a few more minutes of shut-eye, I headed to a nearby ridge to watch the sun crest the horizon. Surrounded by mountain fingers, any westerly winds had been kept at bay through the night. Half an hour later, my whistle - carried across the sandy slopes on a cool breeze - was answered in kind as @mrs.turbodb started her morning routine while I retraced my steps back to…
An Ancient Highway | Three Ways #3 - Even with the wind - and intermittent snow - buffeting the tent through much of the night, a good pair of ear plugs enabled us to get a reasonable night's sleep at the southern end of the Mojave Preserve's Mid Hills, near Hole in the Wall. We'd camped in this spot once before - when there was much more snow on the ground - and so upon waking up just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, I climbed out of the tent to do a bit of exploration. Good morning swiss cheese butte. Knowing of some nearby petroglyphs,…
In Search of the Blueprint Petroglyph | Three Ways #4 - With little wind - or with our position sheltered from the worst of it - at the mouth of , sleep came easily and was welcome after the sandy miles we'd put on our personal odometers the previous day. As with every other morning, my internal alarm kicked in a few minutes before the electronic one, and soon enough I was climbing the hillside behind camp in order to get a shot of our surroundings. Camped on the edge of wilderness. Table Mountain in the distance, bathed in morning glow. Being that we were in no real rush at this…