Bert Gildart: Writer and Photographer

©Bert Gildart: Eighteen million years ago, geological forces created a landscape at Mojave National Preserve in California that exists no where else in the world.

To better appreciate this condition the park has provided a trail that is unique in itself, called the Ring Trail. Because of the challenging conditions, grasps are needed to maintain balance as you scale a cliff that is honeycombed with holes that if reduced would resemble a huge wasp nest. Because of the features the trail provides in the course of a single mile, in the last two days Janie and I have now hiked it twice.

The bizarre landscape that is located adjacent to Hold in the Wall Campground resulted when rock and water were superheated to phenomenal ranges thought to have approximated 1800 degrees. That took place 18 million years ago, as first stated.

As pressures inside this gigantic pressure cooker of hard granitic rock built, they finally reached a point where they exploded, and when they did, water and rock were thrust into an much cooler surrounding. Almost instantly–within seconds, said the naturalist–the molten rock solidified, creating the pocked cliffs we see today. Wind, rain, heat and cold subsequently modified the honeycombed rock here and there adding holes.

And, so, today, we have Hole in the Wall campground and an adjacent canon known as Banshee Canyon; and through it threads Ring Trail. Because of its rugged and unapproachable appearance legend says it has attracted such outlaw groups as the James gang. Not all researchers, however, agree. The most likely story is that Bob Holliman, a well known gunslinger of the time, retired his ways and turned homesteader.

The trail is a delightful one and along the way we saw petroglyphs, created by the Chemehuevi Indians. Shortly thereafter we came to a narrow gap in the wall that appeared challenging, but proved otherwise because of the rings provided by the national park. Because most prefer to ascend rather than descend the narrow defile most hike clockwise, meaning that you pull up rather than hanging down.

The park has anchored two permanent series of rings into the sides of the narrow gap and they offer more grasp than do the rocks. The experience is just one of the many activities in which you can engage in this relatively unknown park, and because it appears as though each outing introduces new features, we may even hike it again.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 8:01 am and is filed under National Lands, Natural History/Conservation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.