Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2010, Mojave National Preserve / Day 7: Eagle Rocks day hike from Mid Hills campground, Mojave National Preserve 62
Today is a nice lazy day, a good break that I need. It's chilly enough up here in the desert mountains that I wear my sweater most of the day.
I was thinking of leaving Mid Hills today to go to Nipton for a shower, café food and beer. I'll put that off until tomorrow! 4.4 hiking miles and the GPS estimates 1100 feet of elevation gain.
One of several juniper trees around my campsite at Mid Hills campground that has been chopped down by campers for firewood
An elderly pinon pine near my tent at Mid Hills campground drools sticky and waxy
I ride down to the entrance kiosk of Mid Hills campground to sign up for an extra night of camping and deposit my fees
I start the short hike from Mid Hills campground over to Eagle Rocks and pass these diminutive flowers near the campground road
Except for this campsite, Mid Hills campground is almost empty this morning, which is surprising for a Saturday morning
A few mariposa lilies bloom in a rocky area at Mid Hills campground
Reaching the turrets of Eagle Rocks from Mid Hills campground requires climbing down into an intervening wide canyon
I choose to follow a drainage downward into the canyon below Eagle Rocks
I pass a patch of white thistles on the way down to the canyon below Eagle Rocks
After crossing the canyon, I climb up the hill toward the Eagle Rocks turrets
I passed the south end of Eagle Rocks while hiking to Chicken Water Spring last year, but didn't have time to explore the rocks
The big rock outcrop ahead at the top looks insurmountable to non-rock-climbers, but I'll continue upward to see how close I get
I turn around to take in the views northeast, toward Mid Hills campground on the first ridge, between a couple of rock piles
I climb up the eroded rock in the upper area of the Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
Manzanitas, which are not usually a desert plant, grow here and there in the Eagle Rocks area
Also in the Eagle Rocks area are occasional patches of Palmer's penstemon
It looks like there's a saddle on each side of the Eagle Rocks pinnacle above
From this saddle in the Eagle Rocks, I look into the haze southwest across Mojave National Preserve
Looking straight down from the saddle, instead of toward Kelso Dunes, reveals a rather steep drop
A boulder crowns other boulders at Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
Rock-scrambling at Mojave National Preserve's Eagle Rocks can include scrambling under boulders, not just over them
A manzanita grows out of a crack in the boulders at Eagle Rocks
Well, here's a rock summit at Eagle Rocks that I don't think I can climb
A Claret cup cactus blooms in a shady area of Eagle Rocks where I wouldn't expect to find one
I might be able to climb this Eagle Rocks pinnacle from the right side
I reach a somewhat open area in the Eagle Rocks on the way to the next pinnacles
In the shade of some big rocks, I look up through the canopy of a couple of burned trees
A substantial rock overhang at Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
This area of Eagle Rocks is a lot of fun
More burned trees at Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
Under boulders at Eagle Rocks, I peer out toward the sunshine
I run across a patch of young Palmer's penstemons in the burned area on the way back to Mid Hills campground
It's amazing how a few trees manage to grow in the cracks between rocks in the steep slopes of Eagle Rocks
I look up through another burned-tree canopy toward rock towers at Eagle Rocks
Peering between boulders at Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
I back up a few feet under a big boulder, still looking at the slot between the rocks in front of me
I haven't seen any large animals here today, but this scat shows that some are indeed here somewhere
A completely burned mound cactus at Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
I walk across this flat area, between cholla cactus skeletons, to the next pile of rocks
This rock has teeth!
At the south end of Eagle Rocks sits a patch of blooming desert mallows
Desert mallow close-up at Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
I'm at the south end of the Eagle Rocks now, looking southwest toward the pointy hills around Wildcat and Chicken Water Springs
What's that red speck poking out of that boulder?
Somehow, a Claret cup cactus is managing to eke out an existence in that crack in the boulder
I'm constantly fascinated by the ability of some trees to grow in the upper reaches of the boulders, where soil is almost absent
I take a final look up at the Eagle Rocks before starting the hike back to Mid Hills campground
Just east of the south end of Eagle Rocks, I head east (right) across the broad canyon
Instead of climbing straight up the hills back to Mid Hills campground, I head south briefly on an old road
The old road that heads south from Eagle Rocks passes through an area that escaped the 2005 brush fires
When I reach a patch of mature, unburned sagebrush, I turn east (left) and begin hiking cross-country to Mid Hills campground
On the way back to Mid Hills campground, I reach an open area with views spanning all the way down to Wild Horse Mesa
Hiking cross-country back to Mid Hills campground, I exit the boundary of the unburned area
Five years after the 2005 brush fires here, many of the burned trees are finally falling down
A mound cactus and a desert four o'clock grow in the burned area near Mid Hills campground, Mojave National Preserve
Hurray, this might be a pinon pine seedling growing in the burned area of Mid Hills campground
I walk up the hill near my tent to catch another great sunset from Mid Hills campground
Eagle Rocks pinnacles at sunset, from Mid Hills campground, Mojave National Preserve
Close-up of sunset behind Eagle Rocks
Brrr! It's really cold up here at Mid Hills campground tonight
Eagle Rocks hike from Mid Hills campground elevation profile
Eagle Rocks hiking route from Mid Hills campground