The Mojave Preserve stretches out across an expansive 1,542,776 acres and one day we drove over to an area called Hole in the Wall to hike around. We hiked Barber Peak Loop and up through Rings Trail for a total of 5.8 miles.
Barber Peak Loop is a fairly easy hike as far as it not being very strenuous with lots of elevation, but the path itself is jumbled rocks and feint in places, making it more difficult. Barrel cacti, Joshua trees, yucca, cholla, and juniper cover the hillsides as you circumnavigate the peak.
A stone staircase skirts volcanic ash deposits known as tuff and the contrast between the white and black stuck out in the desert. The walls of Barber Peak are steep, and the stark white Opalite Cliffs caught my eye as we hiked around. The trail on the backside follows a doubletrack and is less exciting but the best part is yet to come.
Banshee Canyon was as cool as it sounds with dramatic black rocks up above and huge towering volcanic formations in the narrows. If the wind is blowing you will hear eerie noises suggesting the mourning wail of the banshee in Irish legends. It was crazy that nobody else was out here!
This is where we joined up with the Rings Trail. This section was quite unique and we had fun exploring the canyon and all the “holes in the wall”. There are 2 sets of rings bolted into the side of the rock slabs to aid in climbing up out of the canyon. If this is too scary or challenging, you could always head around the longer way of the Rings Trail Loop and skip them. We climbed out easily and completed our hike.
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