Our Hike
The past few times we have hiked the Art Smith Trail, we have seen Peninsular bighorn sheep in Dead Indian Canyon near the rust-colored metal sign that marks the Art Smith trailhead, not far from the parking lot.  They were listed as a federally endangered species in 1998.  This morning, the sun shone brightly on the deep-walled Dead Indian Canyon and a group of ewes with their lambs.  This trail, just west of Palm Desert, links to trails leading into the Indian Canyons in Palm Springs.

The Coachella Valley is a special place for me and I carry memories of hiking all of its trails with dear friends that I will always keep in touch with.  It's my "old stomping ground", or more aptly put, my old hiking ground.  Living there in the 1980's and 1990's, we climbed, traversed, slid, sweat, laughed, got stuck with cactus spines, boulder-hopped, and celebrated our hikes and friendships.  I am grateful I can still be able to hike these wonderful trails and when I do, all of the memories come back vividly.   I met Fred on Mt. San Jacinto, and he automatically became a part of our hiking clan.

Not many people venture off Art Smith to climb Haystack Mountain.  To our surprise, we found the same notepad in which we had made our 2011 entry in the summit register can!  I guess the dry climate and the sparse number of Haystack Mountain visitors helped preserve this small note pad.  It's a simple message:   "12/21/11  -  Fred, Sue and Scott - old friends who love to hike."  We missed Scott this year, but were looking forward to hiking with him to Pinto Mountain in the next few days.
​
Walking on Art Smith Trail is a treat in itself, a meandering path with weathering rock piles, beavertail cactus and brittlebush blooming in the spring, and that satisfying crunch of gravel with each step.  One can imagine Cahuilla Indians walking to water sources on the trail and equestrians from the Desert Riders on horseback winding through washes across the open desert.  But to pick your own route cross country, dodging cholla cactus, sharp-toothed agave leaves and cat claw acacia shrubs, climbing up and sliding down boulders and dry waterfalls is the greatest satisfaction.

Art Smith Trail was busy due to the Christmas holiday.   This trail treks through a possible plutonic synform (a downward-closing or concave fold of topography).  Shimmering green California fan palms pop up occasionally to the left of the trail, and the valley patchwork of forest green golf courses sprawl to your right.

We left Art Smith at 3.4 miles from the trailhead at a wide wash and headed west-southwest across relatively flat, open low desert.  From here, it was 1.3 miles to the summit.  We encountered no major rock barriers, only a few very small waterfalls and sandy benches covered with rounded boulders.  I was surprised to see a few small junipers; the land is generously dotted with hedgehog cacti with their inch-long needle-spines.

I recommend returning by the same route unless you are open for more adventure and willing to negotiate the steeper and rockier terrain to the southeast.  We did just that but also ended up in a thick and tangled palm oasis, the palm fronds  clashing in the breeze.  Briefly crossing the oasis, crunching through dead fronds, we found our way out by ascending a steep canyon wall.  Out into the open again, we saw not far from us two mountain bikers on the Art Smith Trail.  Back to civilization. 

As we hike back along this very familiar trail, I picture a scene from 25 years ago - a faint image of a group of friends, walking in rhythm, boots crunching, happy voices laughing and talking, celebrating friendship and this great land.

​I bet we find both of our summit register entries the next time we summit Haystack.

References:

Bighorn Institute.  2019.  Endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep. 
Retrieved from https://www.bighorninstitute.org/endangered-peninsular-bighorn

Dibblee, T.W., and Minch, J.A., 2008 Geologic map of the Palm Desert and Coachella 15-minute quadrangles, Riverside County, California.  Dibblee Geological Foundation.

Patten, Carolyn. "The Desert Riders."  Palm Springs Life, October 1, 2010.  Desert Publications, Inc.
Retrieved from https://www.palmspringslife.com/the-desert-riders/

Pearce, Al.  "Dunn's Road Could be One of the Most Beautiful in Desert."  Desert Sun, Volume 45, Number 214, 11 April 1972.  In website:  UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research.
Retrieved from https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19720411.2.59&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1

Schumann, W.  1993.  Handbook of Rocks, Minerals and Gemstones.  Harper-Collins Publishers and Houghton Mifflin Company.

Taylor, Joan.  "The Dunn Road:  A Checkered Past."  Desert Report, 2007.  Sierra Club publication.

Winter, John D.  2010.  Principles of Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, 2nd Ed.  Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey.

Our Hike
Some of our best and most memorable adventures have been on hikes to desert summits in Southern California with our friend Scott, a Desert Peaks Section hiking veteran.  Last year we hiked Monument Mountain in Joshua Tree National Park.  This year, drawn to Joshua Tree again, we stepped it up (literally) with a tougher hike to Pinto Mountain summit.

We parked at the Turkey Flats trailhead and signboard, a 20-mile drive into Joshua Tree National Park south entrance from California I-10.  Scott had good directions for locating the ridge we would ascend:  locate the summit at 32° then locate our ridge climb at 36°.   Pretty straightforward direction and approach.  We made a beeline toward the smaller ridge to the right of a large, shadowed canyon which is just to the right of Pinto Mountain summit (see directions, above).  The flat 2.5 mile distance to the toe of the ridge accentuates the immensity of this sublime desert.  A feeling of space and solitude.

To hike Pinto Mountain is to experience two distinctly different terrain types with very little transition in between:  flat, soft and casual to steep and rocky.  The last half climbs 2,000+ feet over rough and angular rocks and also requires route-finding, occasionally reaching for a handhold. The easy walk across Pinto Basin takes you through soft sand flats and beautifully rippled "dunes", through minor washes before crossing Pinto Wash.  We saw a desert tortoise burrow near the dunes.   I was surprised at the bright purple blooms of sand verbena vines draped across the sand dunes and an abundance of bright green vegetation in December.  The fractured and curled "clayey" soils in Pinto Wash also give a clue to recent saturating rains.   As you make the short descent off the dunes, stay just to the left (west) of a long low hill cut by a wash.  

The ridge walk was very windy, especially on the saddles.  We took a lunch break on the lee side of a bump on the ridge to avoid being battered by the wind.  From our spot we could see the alternating light and dark rock; although we couldn't see a trail, we could see our ridge to the top.

​Rocks and Joshua trees define Joshua Tree National Park, but if you look closely, you will find among them smaller creatures and plants brightly colored in contrast to the neutral tones.  Groups of red barrel cacti randomly dot the landscape, with mounds of curved red spines spectacularly lit by the sun.  Scott pointed out a tiny round cactus with a bright red fruit and sharp white spines, sheltered by a "shelf" of equally sharp quartzite - a common fishhook cactus.  There was a strange black caterpillar with bright yellow dots and stripes that went from crawling to a curled position as soon as I cast my shadow over it.  The best match I could find for this caterpillar is the white-lined sphinx moth, AKA hummingbird moth that has a long proboscis to reach deep for nectar in penstemons, among other flowers.

Nothing gets in the way of the expansive views of mountain ranges perched on the desert floor in every direction as you near the summit.  It doesn't take long before you feel like you are standing far above the immense basin.   Creosote bushes make tiny dots on the smooth floor below and washes braid toward the low point of Pinto Basin.   The hike goes through several rock units.

Sharp and angular quartzite crunches and clinks under boots and becomes loose and steep as you near the summit.  A few trails can be seen through the steep section where I had to hold onto fractured rocks; they all make their way up the ridge line.  I looked down the trail to see that Scott had temporarily disappeared under the crags I was on, so I waited until he climbed and appeared again.   Suddenly, the  flat crown of the summit appears as you emerge from the steep rocks and take a short walk to the summit cairn.  We took shelter from the persistent northwest wind at the lee side of the cairn, procured the metal box containing the summit register, and found a page to put our entry for 12/26/2018:  "PEACE - from Sue, Scott and Fred - 3 friends who like to hike together".  

The wind was cold and blowing steadily, so we stayed long enough to get our photos, revel in our accomplishment, and grab some food for the journey down.  The bumpy ridge extended from our feet to the basin.  The walk across the alluvial fan, then across Pinto Wash was a welcome change from the quad-burning descent down the last part of the ridge.  This time we followed the trail all the way down and found a cairn marking the entry to the ridge.

In the late afternoon, the wind finally stopped blowing; we took another rest, lounging on the rocks and basking in the sun before our flat and long walk across the sand.  Colors became more vibrant as we walked toward the sun lowering toward the hulk of mountains across the valley.  The light yellow sand we walked in the morning was now a deep golden hue, and the sky above Pinto Mountain now held wispy light gray clouds, tinged with purple.  I turned a few times to watch the light changes on Pinto; the white summit, where we had just been a few hours ago, was glowing.  The next time I turned around, it was blue-gray in the dusk shadow.  The temperature dropped as we walked across soft sand, avoiding burrows.  Getting back to the parking lot and throwing off boots, a few cars drove up and people got out to snap a quick photo of Pinto.  We got to be on top of that beautiful place today.  We were the lucky ones - three friends who like to hike together. 

The flatter valley wash soon turns into an alluvial fan with larger rocks and braided channels at the toe of the ridge.  As you look north, you see a rise and it is best to get to the top of it and onto the ridge as soon as possible; that will take you to the top of Monument Mountain.  Walking on the ridge is pleasant with less vegetation and rocks to navigate than walking on the slopes beneath the ridge.  The trail on top of the ridge is faint and marked at somewhat regular intervals with small cairns.  Once on the ridge, the route is a gentle rolling climb to the summit cone of rocks with washes on both sides.  Some dry washes have deep rock cuts at the top.

As seen from the Google Earth map above, we took a less efficient way up (pink line), side-hilling and navigating rocks.  Sometimes you don't figure out the "right" way up until you go down!  Although there is no "right or wrong" way, just more efficient and therefore more enjoyable routes.

About 2/3 of hike distance, (1.7 - 2.0 miles), Monument Mountain finally comes into view.  You can see faint trail leading up to the ridge after descending slightly down from the ridge into a broad sloping valley on your left and a saddle to your right.  The climb up the stable metamorphic rocks to the summit is relatively easy.  Nothing matches the feeling of so much desert around you, and unobstructed, airy 360-degree views.

The way down is straightforward - follow the ridge!  This is a good first-time cross country hike for the hiker that wants to get off a well-trodden path and do some fairly easy navigation with a good topo map.  There's a smaller ridge to the right (southwest) as you head down and we took it for a little while about 1/2 mile down, but then got back on the main ridge.  To avoid being pulled off the ridge and side-hilling over rock-cluttered and vegetation-thick (watch for the cactus spines!), sighting in the next cairn as one is passed is helpful.

As we got closer to the valley, we got sucked into a canyon - easy to do if you get off the ridge.  By this time, we could see a glint of sunlight off the truck that was far across the wash.  Further down we regained the ridge that at its end was a broad slope we descended easily to the alluvial fan and then finally to the wash.  The walk across the broad valley passes over many small channels, through cholla and yucca.

Once we finally found the truck on Pinkham Canyon Road, we savored the setting sun illuminating the cholla cactus making them glow among the yucca and creosote.