Photo: Mel in wash near Willow Hole
Today we did a lovely 7+ mile hike to Willow Hole. I had done this one with Charlotte, the French woman we met the last time we were down here. It starts out on the Boy Scout Trail and branches off about 1.2 miles in. Again, we saw some great wildflowers including beautiful cactus blooms. The route is sandy. We passed many climbing areas but didn’t see any climbers. Sandy path leads off into a narrower canyon as we approached Willow Hole.
You can tell this area gets more moisture because of the type of plant life here…grasses and willows which grow due to the greater amount of water. We did not see running water, but there were a few spots that still were damp.
After snaking through an interesting bouldery area where the walls narrowed, we arrived at Willow Hole. There is a path through the greenery, and we followed it for a while until we came across a small pool of standing water. In a pinch, I would drink it! We sat in some shade, had some water and headed back. As we were leaving, we saw more people coming in. We got on the trail at 8:30am and probably should have started even earlier to avoid heat. But, all those coming in as we came out….phew – HOT.
We came back to our little casita and had a good salad for lunch. Tonight we have reservations at Kitchen in the Desert, but not until 7:45pm. I waited too long to reserve a table and that was the earliest time I could get. Finishing up chores this afternoon: doing pictures, blog posts, laundry, and packing my backpack.
The plan is to head to Kelso Dunes campground for Wednesday night. I will begin a 15-mile trek Thursday morning toward Hole in the Wall campground, where Yeti will meet me. I reserved two nights. I may do the hike all in one day if possible, but if too hot or too difficult I can do it as an overnight.
It’s been a nice stay here. The Airbnb is lovely and we both really like Joshua Tree and JTNP. Every hike, every area has a lot to offer and has unique features. We are still not sure about meeting up with Jac.