Slickrock and Shadow

150 Mile Canyon:  twisting muav limestone in beautiful white 150 Mile Canyon can be hiked as far as possible in less than 5 minutes.  It's short but sweet.  A bit of stemming is required to get over one large boulder chockstone.  That gets you into the sweet twisted white narrows you see in this photo.  This section is short because another boulder prevents further travel (see next photo).  Another suspended chockstone hangs high overhead.  See the last photo for that one.  It's pretty cool. Boulder Chockstone in 150 Mile Canyon Suspended high Chockstone Boulder in 150 Mile Canyon Gordon's hike rating: Hike Difficulty:                   ★★★★ Easy to the first boulder, technical to bypass Trail Condition:                   ★★★★ Rocky wash but very short Trail Hazards:                ...

Aiguille de Joshua Tree:  the Finger of Hercules Aiguille means "a sharp pinnacle of rock in a mountain range".  I discovered a very unique fingerlike pinnacle exists in Joshua Tree National Park in several pictures and when I finally discovered its location, I wanted to visit.  It is very easy to find in the Hidden Valley section of the park.  Walking to it is level and it takes less than 30 minutes to reach the base.  I climbed up a few boulders to reach this vantage point and then took my best shot.  I wanted to include the surrounding valley of Joshua trees to give it a strong sense of location. This formation is often photographed with a climber standing atop the pinnacle.  My fear of heights and lack of rock climbing skill made that option undesirable.  :(