Riding and Hiking Trail (Part 1) - Black Rock to Covington Flats
- Mileage: 7.5 miles
- Time: 3-5 hours
- Difficulty: Moderate (uphill)
- Elevation Extremes: 3980' to 5120'
- Start at: Black Rock Backcountry Board [B] (3980')
- End at: Covington Flats Backcountry Board [B] (4820')
Here I am in my
hiking hat, standing next to the first trail marker for the route. The
Riding and Hiking Trail is well marked, and very easy to follow. The first
part leads up and over hills that give good views down into Yucca Valley.
There are lots of Joshua Trees, Pinon Pines, and Junipers along the trail.
There are two
ways to get to the Covington Flats road. One of them is to take the Eureka
Peak trail (to the south) which passes over Eureka Peak and has spectacular
views of the Palm Springs area. We decided to stick with the Riding and
Hiking Trail for this trip. Here Carl is passing one of the large pine trees
found in the area.
The wash gets
narrow and steep as it approaches the Covington Flats road. We are starting
to wish that we had not brought so much stuff with us!
We reach the road and follow it down and around to the Covington Flats Backcountry Board. We register our names on the Backcountry Registration Cards and continue on to the next leg of our journey.
Riding and Hiking Trail (Part 2) - Covington Flats to Keys View Road
- Mileage: 10 miles
- Time: 5-7 hours
- Difficulty: Moderately Strenuous (rocky)
- Elevation Extremes: 4160' to 5000'
- Start at: Covington Flats Backcountry Board [B] (4820')
- End at: Juniper Flats Backcountry Board [B] (4340')
At about 12:45 pm we start off from the Covington Flats Backcountry Board. As we follow the trail, we pass right by the largest Joshua Tree in the park. It stands about 35 feet high, and has a circumference of about 17 feet at the base.
We wind our
way down into a rocky valley, and find the first of the four gallons of
water that I have hidden along our route. (The blue crosses on the topo map
indicates the spots where I hid the water).
"He's
dead, Jim..."
Nah, he's just resting! Carl catches a short siesta while I check the map and figure out where we are.
There is a lot of
up and down travel in this section of the Riding and Hiking Trail, and we
are not doing the 2 miles per hour that I had figured in to our time table.
We finally reach the top of the 5000' foot climb, and can see the Salton Sea
far to the south. WOW!
Once past the
summit, we start down a narrow, rocky ridge. It is tough going, and our feet
are really starting to hurt. We take a break to wipe them down with baby
wipes (ahhh!) and to change our socks.
Finally the going gets easier, and we are back in Pinion Pine country. We stop for a quick snack, and a short rest.
We are almost to
Juniper Flats, which I had planned on for our overnight camping site, and
where I had hidden two gallons of our water. We are getting low on water as
we make the slow climb up to Juniper Flats.
We are still climbing as night falls. We have not reached our camp, or the water. I scout ahead and find a place for us to camp for the night. There is almost no water left to rehydrate our dinner of chicken, rice & beans. Very crunchy. (Our camp is marked by the green square on the map, and our trail for the next day is in purple)
The next day we
finally arrive in Juniper Flats. We are completely out of water, and there
is a moment of panic when I can't find where I hid the two gallons. After
about 30 minutes, I find it and it's ice cold from being in the rocks all
night. It's the best water we've ever tasted!
The end of
the trail! We can see the stoney face of Ryan Mountain in the distance. One
more mile past the Juniper Flats Backcountry Board, and we arrive in Ryan
Campground for our ride back to civilization.
Carl and I returned on October 19, 1996 to complete the rest of the hike. See how we did on the California Riding and Hiking Trail (Part II).
- Time: 3-5 hours
