Since we enjoyed our hike to and exploration of Carey’s Castle, a docent/ranger at the west side visitor center recommended another hike to us, Eagle Cliff Mine. This one has a similar and just as impressive miner’s cabin in the rocks, but it is not as strongly a kept secret as Carey’s. In fact, the Eagle Cliff Mine hike was clearly and accurately described in one of our hiking guidebooks. A short hike from the Desert Queen Mine parking area, we were in and out in a jiffy and got to see some amazing relics of the mining era.
Next, we did the Geology Tour road. We avoided this over the weekend specifically because it can be a pain to drive this 4WD, one way road when there are a lot of people around (such as on a holiday weekend). We did the whole tour without seeing another soul until we got to the very end, and it included a stop at Pushwalla Canyon for a good hike.
The hike was supposed to take us to Pushwalla Plateau for an impressive view of the valley and mountains south of the park. However, the guidebook description was not very clear and we ended up taking a wrong fork in the maze of a canyon. We figured out later that we were right where we needed to be to get to the plateau, but didn’t really realize it at the time. Ah well – it gives us something to come back for.
We headed back to the hotel for what ended up being a pretty exciting laundry afternoon (involving the stealing of my duffel, a police report, recovery of said duffel, and a guy going to jail), and a great dinner at a not-so-fancy but oh-so-yummy BBQ joint in Twentynine Palms.
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