Cima Dome / Teutonia Peaks (a Mojave desert hike)

One of our favourite desert spots is the Cima Dome / Teutonia Peaks walk in the Mojave National Preserve. Simon went there in the winter and saw animal tracks in the snow. I've so far only been in the spring, but I've been trying to make up for lost time by taking visitors out to enjoy the cactus in flower, Joshua tree forest, other wildflower blooms in great profusion (especially desert sage) - and of course, the solitude.

Movie set? No, just a random view. 

It's cooler than Henderson, being higher up (the trailhead is about 4800 ft) , but the sun is still strong and the wind is often blowing - you need water and a hat and all the other normal desert hiking accoutrements (e.g. peanut butter snack.) A three mile round trip, including some steep stuff, not including optional side walks to the south ridge and the old silver mines.

Joshua tree will high five.

The walk takes you up a very gentle slope on sandy ground through Joshua tree forest. Patches and boulders of eroded granite, the iconic plants and the clean white sand underfoot, all conspire to give a movie-set unreality. If you harbour secret ambitions to cuddle up to a Joshua tree, here's a great spot. If you feel similar urges towards these cuddly-looking fellows, rise above it!

Mmm delicious cholla

Chollas, which look like cactus churros, have vile little micro prickles (glochids) which sink into your skin - this sounds fantastical but is, alas, true. My friend was still picking them out of her hand a year after her accidental encounter. Always assume that anything living in the desert has developed some defense mechanism.

Garden? Nope, just another random view

This part of the trail crosses a couple of old roads. For all the desert feels pristine here, and indeed you won't see the accidental or careless litter of a million visitors, actually the land is still recovering from decades of ranching. And of course, there are old mines all through this region. There's one just west of the trail, down an old sandy road that's being colonized by ants. (There's another mine visible from the top of the walk.)

The lower trail, which is easy enough even for people with sore knees, is followed by a steeper section that hairpins up through junipers, eroded boulders, and huge pancake cacti. A short scramble brings you down to a flat, though boulder-strewn, garden at the top, where there are broad and lovely views north and east. The closest peak to the North is Kessler, at the south end of the Ivanpah Mountains.

There's a gargoyle
... Probably ...
And a fine view over the valley to the New York mountains.

A gnarled juniper. After rain, this elder brother
will be guarding potholes - shallow pools of water in the rock

Although it's apparently a popular walk, I've seldom met anyone there. But other people have definitely indexed it in more detail than I have ... this one was my favourite.