Wednesday, March 11, 2020 (Hole-In-The-Wall Campground, Mojave National Preserve, CA)

It rained and rained all night long...and was still raining when we got up early this morning. The mountains were completely socked in...

But eventually the rain stopped, the clouds started lifting and parted way for some occasional blue sky...

Around 10:30 we headed out for a hike. The start of the Barber Peak Loop Trail is at the end of the loop, not far from us...now the Barber Peak Trail is a 6 mile loop that goes around the mountain. We won't be doing that...but there is a section of that trail that goes up the mountainside and ends at the picnic area behind the Visitors Center...

Hole in The Wall Campground in the distance...

You can see why they call this area hole in the wall. The holes were caused by trapped gases when the area was volcanic...

Our rig in the distance...

Our rig again...

Signs of the Hackberry fire back in 2005 are still evident. Dry lightning storms sparked fires that burned 70,736 acres...to read more about it click here.

A hollow rock...

Even though a fire came through here years ago the plant life here is spectacular! Lots of rabbits, coyotes, quail and song birds too...

Lots of Barrel, Prickly Pear, and Yucca cactus along this section...

The only 2 Juniper Bushes we saw on the mountainside...

Lots of green lichen in this area...

We are at the trailhead at the picnic area. I'd love to do the Ring's Loop Trail, but that involves using rings to get through the Banshee Canyon...nope, not quite ready for that yet!

(Click to enlarge photos)

We started off on this trail...

Then it was hard to follow as it neared the canyon...

Steve went further than I did....trying to find the trail. There it is down there, a sign post with an arrow below. No way I can tackle this trail...

There is a short trail to a lookout but even that involved some big rock scrambling...so Steve went up to take a look. He was chatting with another couple up there....

Here's a short video Steve took from the lookout....

The trail we hiked was along the base of this mountain...

A couple of hours...and 2 miles...later, we were back home. What a fabulous hike with spectacular scenery...the pictures just don't do it justice!

After a bite to eat for lunch, we decided to head out to Mitchell Caverns in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area. It was 10 miles back to the junction with Essex Road and Black Canyon Road...and then right on Essex Road for 6 miles.

Unfortunately the road up to the caverns was closed...we didn't know they are only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Oh well...we tried. It was a long way to drive to find them closed but the scenery was lovely!

Back home, it was time to relax in the sunshine!

Steve went for a walk down to the wash...

The sun is almost down...

And the end to a perfect day!

We leave tomorrow but we will definitely be back!