Sunday, April 1, 2012

The Mojave National Preserve Part Deux…

On Saturday Morning, while we were camped out in the Mojave, Judy found a great hike that we wanted to give a try, before we packed up and left for Lake Havasu City.  They have great promotional material available, and promote the Park very well.

We decided on the Ring Loop Trail, which was only a mile long loop, but somehow felt a lot longer when we got going, maybe as it was real hot during the hike.  We started at 8:00 a.m.

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The hike started out as a normal hike, but we did not know it was about to turn into the hike of a life time!

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We were a little over 1/2 way, and then the fun began, as the mountains loomed in the background, and I could tell we were heading right for them.

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These are very unique hills and mountains, formed many years ago, after a huge volcano released a monster cloud of ash, which returned to earth and left an ash covering over a large area.   Over the years, the ash moulded into these mountains.

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I could not recall rocks like these ones on any of our hikes… really neat!

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They are potted by holes all over the place…

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This is where we were heading… dun dun dunnnnnn…..

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Yup, looks like maybe a bit of a slot canyon…

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Looking at the pic below, you might think… hey, he hit the end of the road!  WRONG… the fun was about to begin!

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After climbing up a bit, this is what we came across!   Let the fun begin now!

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This was a bit of a challenge, and took us a bit to work up two sets of these rings… you had to put your feet in the right places!  It was a blast!

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We made our way through, and laughed about this hike… it was a great one!  Love the Mojave, and will be back!  It is very desolate, but what a spot!  Put it on your list!

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We were on the road for a 2 1/2 hour trip over to Lake Havasu, and our new home for 2 weeks, The Lake Havasu State Park.  Here is our spot, which is just off Lake Havasu waterfront.  We have a great spot. 

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Cross the road, 20 seconds down a path, and this is what you see at our site.

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WARNING, WARNING, WARNING!  Rick, tell Paulettte not to read any further than this in this blog!  DANGER!  While Judy was taking a quick walk to the waterfront to snap a picture for the blog, she came across a little bit of a snake!  WOW… he was a big one, right on the foot path to the waterfront!  Judy had to wait for him to pass!  Looks to be at least 3 feet long, and it turns out to be a Pacific Gopher Snake.  They are harmless… phew!  It sure got Judy’s blood pumping!

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We have a nice cabana on our site to protect you from the relentless sun here… and the heat!

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Today we met up with our friends David and Angela, and took in the local market.  We went shopping for groceries, and I was impressed the local grocery store provided sun shades on the entire parking lot for patron’s cars!  You need them here!

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Enjoyed a nice dinner at the condo, and got caught up on a winter times length of items…

Till tomorrow…

6 comments:

  1. now that was an exciting hike!..and a snake to round it off...or was it an April fools joke!?

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  2. Looks like an awesome hike, and a nice campground for a couple weeks as well. Enjoy the heat!

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  3. SNAKE!!!!! Glad he's harmless but I still wouldn't want to run into him. Definitely getting warm here in AZ.

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  4. Snakes alive! That was a big one and if Paulette had seen that they would have heard her screams all the way up here in B.C.!

    Congrats to you and Judy on that hike especially going up using those rings! Amazing.

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  5. What a great hiking spot that is . Thanks for sharing it.

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  6. Thanks John for finding another hike for all of us to do !!

    We were thinking since the snake is harmless, we would like to see you holding it on tomorrow's blog post !!

    No ?? What if we say PLEASE .. lol

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