Amboy Crater - March 2018
Soon after we left Hole in the Wall Campground in Mojave National Preserve, where it had begun to snow, we had dropped enough elevation that the snow had turned to rain and the rain had ceased.
We pulled into the Amboy Crater parking lot about 90 minutes later. Since we'd broken camp so quickly to escape the snow, we spent some time cleaning up the van and ourselves.
It was already 11:00 when I decided I did want to do the hike to the crater, a 3-mile roundtrip. Since we hoped to get a campsite in Joshua Tree National Park that night, I set a brisk pace out across the sand and lava. We reached the base of the cinder cone in 45 minutes.
The climb from the base to the break in the rim was steep and very rocky, with sharp lumps of granite and lava. We’d met a group of Danes in the parking lot, and passed the last two just below the top—one of whom was a 91-year old woman! A younger relative commented, “Whatever pills you take, I’m going to take!”
From the rim, we followed the path down into the crater, which has two bottoms.
As we crossed the dual bottoms to the other side of the extinct volcano, the wind was picking up and it was getting chillier. Scrambling over rocks on the path to the top, I looked at the increasingly dark sky and asked Doug if he thought we should continue. With a yea from him, on we climbed.
At the top, I wanted to put my fleece back on, but it was so windy I couldn't even get it off my waist. Then Doug nearly lost his hat. Still, we thought we’d walk around the crater rim back to the breach, where we'd started.
I took a few more steps and could barely stand in the strong wind. Then the wind literally knocked Doug down, breaking the camera on his cell phone in his back pocket in the process. He conceded and yelled we were going back. I scooted crablike down the first third of the trail. When I stood, my hat flew off—fortunately hitting Doug, so I didn’t lose it.
Doug estimated the wind to be 70 knots, or 80 miles per hour! Another couple we’d seen on the rim was also taking a path down.
We were relieved to get all the way down. We chatted with the other couple, Amy and Sherry, invited them to join us in the van for hot chocolate, then booked it back to the parking lot. We suggested to a couple just heading out that they might not want to go to the top of the crater given the powerful winds.
Back at the van, we popped the top and put the kettle on. Amy and Sherry soon joined us, and we spent a delightful hour or so trading tales of VWs and MGs, Alaska trips and other adventures. They live on a houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle—what a life! As we visited, the couple we had warned about the winds returned to the parking lot and commented, “The winds were ferocious!”
From Amboy Crater, it was a little over an hour to Joshua Tree, where we got the last campsite at Belle Campground.
The wind died down, the sky cleared, and another peaceful night descended.
Amboy Crater looms in the distance.
We were headed to Amboy Crater National Natural Landmark, the second stop on our winter desert trip. We were driving National Trails Highway, aka the Mother Road, aka Route 66, established in 1926 and running from Chicago to Santa Monica.
Driving Route 66, the Mother Road.
We pulled into the Amboy Crater parking lot about 90 minutes later. Since we'd broken camp so quickly to escape the snow, we spent some time cleaning up the van and ourselves.
It was already 11:00 when I decided I did want to do the hike to the crater, a 3-mile roundtrip. Since we hoped to get a campsite in Joshua Tree National Park that night, I set a brisk pace out across the sand and lava. We reached the base of the cinder cone in 45 minutes.
Hiking toward Amboy Crater.
Amboy Crater is a cinder cone—what was left after a volcano erupted about 6,000 years ago. Cinder cones are formed when lava breaks into fragments as they fall and form a cone, often with a break in the rim where lava flowed out. Amboy is about 250 feet high and 1,500 feet wide, and is surrounded by about 24 square miles of lava.The climb from the base to the break in the rim was steep and very rocky, with sharp lumps of granite and lava. We’d met a group of Danes in the parking lot, and passed the last two just below the top—one of whom was a 91-year old woman! A younger relative commented, “Whatever pills you take, I’m going to take!”
Satellite view of Amboy Crater.
Walking down to the bottom of the crater. Another path descends from the rim in the upper left.
On the far side of the first bottom. Note storm clouds & rain in the distance.
As we crossed the dual bottoms to the other side of the extinct volcano, the wind was picking up and it was getting chillier. Scrambling over rocks on the path to the top, I looked at the increasingly dark sky and asked Doug if he thought we should continue. With a yea from him, on we climbed.
View of the dual crater bottoms as I worked my way to the rim.
At the top, I wanted to put my fleece back on, but it was so windy I couldn't even get it off my waist. Then Doug nearly lost his hat. Still, we thought we’d walk around the crater rim back to the breach, where we'd started.
Looking from the rim to the break on the far side where we'd entered the crater.
I took a few more steps and could barely stand in the strong wind. Then the wind literally knocked Doug down, breaking the camera on his cell phone in his back pocket in the process. He conceded and yelled we were going back. I scooted crablike down the first third of the trail. When I stood, my hat flew off—fortunately hitting Doug, so I didn’t lose it.
Doug making his way down from the crater rim after being literally knocked down by high winds.
Doug estimated the wind to be 70 knots, or 80 miles per hour! Another couple we’d seen on the rim was also taking a path down.
We were relieved to get all the way down. We chatted with the other couple, Amy and Sherry, invited them to join us in the van for hot chocolate, then booked it back to the parking lot. We suggested to a couple just heading out that they might not want to go to the top of the crater given the powerful winds.
Back at the van, we popped the top and put the kettle on. Amy and Sherry soon joined us, and we spent a delightful hour or so trading tales of VWs and MGs, Alaska trips and other adventures. They live on a houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle—what a life! As we visited, the couple we had warned about the winds returned to the parking lot and commented, “The winds were ferocious!”
From Amboy Crater, it was a little over an hour to Joshua Tree, where we got the last campsite at Belle Campground.
En route from Amboy Crater to Joshua Tree National Park: changing skies and landscape.
The wind died down, the sky cleared, and another peaceful night descended.
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