I had heard about this legend of a hidden fortress in the 'Wonderland of Rocks' in Joshua Tree national park. Needless to say I was really intrigued and immediately started researching about it. It was called Oh-bay-yo-yo, and was built into a large overhanging boulder. It was rumored to have been built by teenagers from Twentynine Palms back in the 1930’s. They would store supplies in it for their regular hikes up to the Barker Dam to go swimming. So I got all the info and planned out a 3 day backpacking loop. I got all my gear together and headed out to the desert!
The start of the trail
I started (and ended) this hike at the Indian Cove campground. I filled out my permit and headed out the "Boyscout trail". The trail headed across the desert through the yucca and creosote bushes towards the western edge of the Wonderland of rocks. I stopped to climb a few cool rock formations on the way and then headed up a big wash up into the mountains.
Rock formations
Getting on top of one of the rock formations
Views across the desert
Following the wash up into the mountains
I continued up the wash a ways and eventually found the cairn marking the spot where I start to climb up through the mountains. As I got up into the mountains the rock formations got bigger and bigger. And there were also lots of really cool cacti including some huge 'red barrel' cacti. I took my time getting through this section. Stopping often to climb a boulder or check out the interesting desert flora. Eventually I made my way up through the mountains and into the main part of the park. Here the rock covered mountains gave way to a huge, flat, open valley full of Joshua trees. I continued another mile or so on the trail and then left the trail and headed west to find a spot to setup camp. It didn't take me long. I found a great spot, got the tent setup, and still had plenty of time in the day to explore the area. Checking out all the Joshua trees and climbing on the rock formations. It was a great spot to spend my first evening.
Cacti
Climbing up through the western edge of the Wonderland of Rocks
Huge Red Barrel cactus
Some of the first Joshua trees of the trip
Joshua tree
"Hey there Mr. J-tree know any good spots to camp around here?"
Camp
Time to climb some rocks!
Enjoying the view from the rocks
Climbing on the rock formations
Checking out the Joshua trees
Playing with the J-trees
Rock formations
Playing with the J-trees
Views from camp
Two Red Barrel cacti by the camp
The next morning it was really cold, but I got up and got everything packed up. Today was the day I was going to try and penetrate into the heart of the Wonderland of Rocks and find the legendary Oh-bay-yo-yo! So I got back onto the Boyscout trail and followed it SSE across the valley passing all kinds of cool Joshua trees and rock formations finally reaching the trail junction where I turned NE onto the Willow hole trail.
Crossing the valley on the Boyscout trail
A Joshua tree hanging over the Boyscout trail
Looking back across the valley from the Willow hole trail junction
The Willow hole trail took me deep into the Wonderland of Rocks following a sandy wash through the maze of gigantic monzogranite rock formations. It got more and more impressive as I went. The sandy wash ended at a couple of tiny ponds surrounded by Willow trees... the "Willow Hole". I filtered some water from the pond and climbed up onto some of the rocks to get a good view and have a lunch break. This area of the Wonderland of Rocks is incredible! The Willow hole is surrounded by huge rock formations including the Mega Dome which towers over it all... all I can say is wow, this is a truly special place.
Entering the Wonderland of Rocks on the Willow Hole trail
The Wonderland of Rocks
The Wonderland of Rocks
Getting close to the Willow hole
The Willow hole
Views of Mega Dome from my lunch rocks
Lunchtime views
Lunchtime views
Overlooking the Willow Hole
Mega Dome from the Willow Hole
From the Willow Hole I continued beyond the trail, farther into the Wonderland of Rocks in search of Oh-bay-yo-yo. I climbed up over a rise, through a clearing, and dropped into a wash between the large boulder piles. From there the boulders just got larger and finding my way through them was getting quite difficult requiring lots of route finding and several technical down climbs. Huge boulders from the size of cars to the size of multiple story buildings! It truly is a Wonderland of Rocks. After painstakingly making my way through the boulders I arrived at a small open valley where multiple drainages merge. This was supposed to be the valley of Oh-Bay-Yo-Yo! I headed across the valley in search of the legendary fortress... and before long I had found it!! The rumors were true!! Oh-bay-yo-yo is real, and I found it!!!! After the difficult journey there I decided to take a little rest, and then I headed out to explore around the area a bit before settling into my boulder home for the night.
Working my way through the Wonderland of Rocks
The Wonderland of Rocks
Dropping into Oh-bay-yo-yo valley
Rocks... rocks everywhere!
Oh-bay-yo-yo valley
Oh-bay-yo-yo
I found it!
Welcome to my home for the night!
Overlooking Oh-bay-yo-yo
Night time inside Oh-bay-yo-yo
The next morning I woke up early and went outside because I had to pee and I was startled by a noise. I look up to see a heard of twenty or so bighorn sheep not very far away! But they had already noticed me and got startled and ran off up into the boulders before I could get any photos. It was incredible to see how easily they traverse such rugged terrain. I headed back to the fort and made some breakfast and had a leisurely morning before packing up and starting my journey out of the Wonderland of Rocks. I hiked across Oh-Bay-yo-yo valley and dropped down a rocky gulch full of huge boulders, caves, and dry waterfalls. This section was really tough and required a lot of route finding and patience and included several technical down climbs. But I got through it fine and reached Rattlesnake canyon.
Morning in Oh-bay-yo-yo valley
I found some old bullets in the middle of nowhere
Wonderland of Rocks
One of many caves in the boulders
Making my way down into Rattlesnake canyon
Some bones
Rattlesnake canyon
The sandy wash in the bottom of Rattlesnake canyon was much easier to follow. The canyon was actually very nice and even had a little water flowing in it. Getting near to the end of the canyon the water dropped into a narrow slot canyon filled with little potholes and waterfalls. Going down through this section requires several rappels so I opted for the high trail up and around the slot canyon, which provided some nice views. Not far beyond the slot canyon I reached the Rattlesnake canyon trailhead and my final destination at the Indian Cove campground where I had started this journey 2 day earlier. Success!!
Rattlesnake Canyon
Views from the high route around the slot canyon
Looking back up at the slot canyon
Rattlesnake canyon trailhead
Back at the Indian Cove campground after a successful adventure
Map - !steemitworldmap 34.081686 lat -116.148916 long 'Oh-bay-yo-yo' D3SCRhttp://www.steemitworldmap.com
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Congrats on the appreciate boost! Really great post! Wonderful pictures. You saw so much more of the wonders if Joshua Tree than I did through the car window on my one visit! Thanks for taking me along on your hike. I loved every minute. Tip!
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Thank you so much Melinda! I'm really happy that you enjoyed reading about my adventure.
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Hi @derekrichardson! You have received 0.1 tip SBD + @tipU upvote
from @melinda010100 :)
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amazing place
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wow its amazing adventure , but you have to be careful, i think this kind of place have a lot of rattlesnake . its better to have accompany 2 to 3 person.
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Yes, you are right. There are rattlesnakes out there. Luckily when its cold they are not very active. But the danger is still there. So ya, I would definitely reccomend going with at least one other person. Just in case.
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yeah sir don't go alone , we are the same sir, i like adventure, specially hiking like that,
i love the feeling of being attach myself to nature, i really thankful you share it to us,
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I believe that’s the state tree here in Nevada. Loved the photos thanks for sharing!!!
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Actually, the Singleleaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and the Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) are the 2 official state trees of Nevada. But Joshua trees do grow in Nevada. I'm really glad you enjoyed my photos, thanks for checking out my post!
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What an incredible adventure and such fantastic pictures to give us at least a sense of coming along. Thank you for sharing!
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Thanks @drwillwho. Its my pleasure to share my adventures. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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It looks like a very hard, but very rewarding trek. Thank you so much for excellent story and beautiful photos!
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It was exactly that. Very hard, but very rewarding. Definitely a trip I will never forget. Thanks for checking it out, I'm so glad you enjoyed my post!
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This post is sponsored by @appreciator in collaboration with #steemitbloggers. Keep up the good work
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Hey! That's so awesome. Thank you @appreciator! I'm really glad you enjoyed my post.
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Ive said wow so many times hhhhaaaaaaà. Amazing. Resteeming and upvote.
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Thanks!
I'm glad you enjoyed reading about my adventure. I was saying "WOW" the whole trip!!
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:D youre welcome!
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Awesome!!!! Youre welcome!!! Wish i had those kinds of adventures too :) one day
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Don't wait!! The day is now! Someday we will be old and unable to do these kinds of things, and at that time we'll look back and regret putting it off. I may not ever get rich living the way I do, but I like to think I live a rich life full of fun and adventure!
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thats so true :D
youre right :)
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wow, what a trip, and what a long post. Looks like a real challenge to go on this walk. Its amazing what creeps, crawls and grows in a desert! Lovely adventure and a real opener, thanks for sharing!
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It was a challenging but very fun trip. I love the desert when it's not super hot, and J-Tree is my favorite desert area to go explore. It's got so much character.
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I have been to the Namib and Karoo desert in South Africa, what an experience! Hot during the day and cold at night! great experience though.
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What an incredible trek! How long was the entire trip?
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This trip was 3 days. And actually only around 20 miles or so in total. But when going through some of the more technical parts in the Wonderland of Rocks it can take a long time just to go 1 mile.
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Love the images... You're the real Bear Grylls :) Resteemed it!
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Haha! I'm way cooler than Bear Grylls!!
I'm glad you liked the photos. Thanks for the resteem.
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That's a bad ass post.. I love the huge red barrel cacti... one of these days I'm gonna show up in SoCal and go on one of these adventures with you
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A bad ass trip makes for a bad ass post! Those red barrel cacti were really impressive. I've seen red barrels before, in fact I've got a few growing at my house, but usually a big one is 8-10 inches tall. Some of the biggest ones I saw here were probably almost 4 feet tall! That would be way cool if you came out for an adventure sometime. Let me know when you wanna do it and we'll plan it out.
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Holy .... I am absolutely mind blown after witnessing those rocks...my mind is just racing wondering: "What in the fuck happened there?!"...Looks insanely surreal and awesome.
Were you by yourself? That's so courageous. Did you have any powerful dreams, or spiritual experiences when you were out there, and especially during that night in the hut?
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Here's a great short article about how these incredible monzogranite rock formations in Joshua Tree came to be how they are today- https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/parks/joshua-trees-geology
Geology is so interesting! I love it.
Yes, I was by myself, although I would not recommend anyone do this trip solo. It is very difficult and even experienced hikers should go with a partner. In technical situations even experienced hikers can have critical accidents like the story of my buddy Ray in my last post. Having fun enjoying the scenery one minute and your completely screwed the next. A fall out in the Wonderland of Rocks can be deadly. Luckily for me I'm 3/4 mountain goat (at least according to some of my friends lol) and can usually easily handle all the challenges nature has to throw at me.
I think just actually finding and staying at Oh-bay-yo-yo was all kind of a spiritual "getting inside my own mind" kind of experience. Experiencing myself while simultaneously experiencing all the nature I guess. And really if I had to pick one thing it was probably watching all the bighorn sheep. They had scared me at first, then I accidentally scared them, but then I was just stuck there stunned, watching them run and jump over and through all the rocks. With so much ease and grace. It's really a beautiful thing to witness. Those creatures are just incredible. I actually watched them climbing the rocks for over half hour and I was so intrigued and focused that It didn't even cross my mind to go in and get the camera... unfortunately, lol!
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That's amazing, I thought it definitely looked melted...like their hypothesis in the article you shared.
I'm grateful that you are 3/4 mountain goat that is awesome that you're able to have such confidence out there. Thanks for sharing what it was like out there for you. I would love to go on a spirit quest like that one day :) :) :)
If you're interested, this is what seeing those Bighorn Sheep represents symbolically, what their medicine for you was: http://totemtalk.ning.com/group/b/forum/topics/big-horn-sheep
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Heck ya, isn't geology so cool! I'm always learning more.
Confidence is actually a very important factor when doing any high adrenaline activities. It really is both a mental and a physical challenge. If I am taking someone on a trip and they start showing signs of Acute Stress Reaction it's a red flag.
I'm loving that link about the Bighorn sheep symbolism...
Now I'm wondering if I really am 3/4 Bighorn. lol!
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Powerful medicine there!!!
So what do you do if someone you are hiking with starts to show signs of stress?
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Great question! That could really vary depending on the details of the situation. What is the cause and the severity of the ASR. But if the stress is the only problem, its just resting, breathing, staying hydrated, and especially just good calm mental reassurance. Then we can continue once the person can function effectively and safely. The stress is really just a mental thing from your brain releasing epinephrin(adrenaline). Often though in a high stress situation there is a larger problem causing the ASR and other environmental factors to consider that can change the diagnosis and the plan including anticipating any possible future problems. But ya pretty much, the cure for basic stress is gonna be rest and reassurance.
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That's so awesome, I would definitely trust you as my guide :) :)
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Heya, I'm just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in our Daily Travel Digest!
You did it again, what an amazing post! Next time I'm in the US, I should just follow all your hikes, haha!
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Heya! I'm glad you enjoyed this adventure! Your words in the travel digest are to kind. Thank you so much.
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Wow!! Fantastic place! Fantastic post! Congrats! Upvoted an follow.
Have a nice day
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Thanks. J-tree is a fantastic place for sure!
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Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
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Hi @derekrichardson! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @spiritualmatters!
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@derekrichardson Beautiful post! I love Joshua tree. I was there not to long ago, stay tuned for my post :) Best wishes!
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