Blue Diamond Sidewinder - 10/16/21

Red Barrels at the Blue Diamond Cactus Garden

Sandstone Bluffs from Sidewinder Trail

Furry Burro ready for Winter Weather

Remember when we rolled down the window?

It was a beautiful day and the Three Belles plus Odie parked at the Wheeler Camp Springs Trailhead located between Oliver Ranch and Blue Diamond to hike the Sidewinder trails that never seem to disappoint in desert beauty. The fence is down around the parking lot and later, we talked to a couple of park guys that are working on replacing the fence. It will be nice. However, there is another problem in the same vicinity. The hiker gates that protect the Bird Sanctuary from marauding burros are gone. Someone has removed the east and west gates into the springs and the area on the west side is worn down with new trails that have mowed down the bushes. Tsk. Tsk.

Landmine Loop

DeSoto and the Blue Belles

Burro watching from the Ridge Top

Starting up the Sidewinder

We climbed up to the Landmine Loop and started hiking around the tertiary ridge. Surprisingly, there were not many other hikers and bikers on the trail yet. (It was Saturday!) As we hiked around the north side of the loop, we were searching for the wild burros that live in the hills behind Blue Diamond and in the neighboring Cottonwood Valley. As we neared the old DeSoto that sits in the desert on the previous Oliver Ranch property, we decided to go for a visit. We haven't visited the old car in a couple of years. It is covered with graffiti ... again. But, it is always fun to look it over. Back on the loop, we finally spotted about four burros up on the ridge to the left. One was giving us the evil eye! We took a couple of photos then made our left turn up to the sidewinder trail.

View south along the Sandstone Bluffs

Baby Burro and its Caretakers (Snort nostrils!)

Sidewinder Trail

Blue Belles and Odie

The Sidewinder trail took us up the west side of the ridge where the views are outstanding of the Sandstone Bluffs and the limestone/dolomite rock of the ridge. We saw a dark colored baby burro and its two caretakers down over the side. One caretaker was snorting at us! We climbed on up and started sidewinding the ridge all the way around until we were climbing up into the Crags of the Blue Diamond Cactus Garden. As we hiked through the garden, we noticed that a huge barrel cactus that had fallen a couple of years ago is alive and well! We went on out to the end of this ridge and stopped for our break. Odie enjoyed water and snacks. He's a very good hiker dog! And, his inclusion, today, was very much enjoyed by all of us.

Autumn Yellowed Bushes dispersed throughout Landscape

The Crags at the Blue Diamond Cactus Garden

Inside the Crags

Ralyn and Odie at Break

After our break, we continued zigzagging down the trail to the saddle, pulled a sticker out of Odie's paw, and climbed up to the next ridge called Hurl's Backdoor. The view of the city was the most clear that it has been since the California fires started a few months ago. We balanced the ridge until we junctioned with the Hurl and turned left to hike by the huge sandstone boulders. Curving around to the right, we descended the north side of the small canyon below and turned left onto the next sidewinder trail. This trail appeared to have been neglected by hikers for quite a while. However, burros are still using the byway. We looked up to our left and, sure enough, we were being watched again. This time, we saw 5 or 6 grazing or watching up among the rocks.

A clear day in Las Vegas

Sandstone boulders protruding from the Ancient Limestone Rock Fall

Descending from the Ridges

Find the Three Burros!

This part of the sidewinder loop has also been unmaintained. Since this is a yearly trek for us, we knew what to look for even though I still have a hard time in a couple of the washes. Anyway, we passed the dams and reached the Bird Sanctuary fence corner. At the gate, we saw that it had been removed and was lying in the sticker bushes below. This needs to be fixed. Back at the cars, we talked to the fence builders and headed home. This is always a beautiful hike!

Stats: 7 miles; 1100' gain; ~4 hours

Sandstone Bluffs from Sidewinder Trail

Gates at the springs have been removed. Need repair.

Hiking back to the Cars