Feb 23, 2017 — Fortynine Palms Oasis had always been on my radar, but the popularity of the trail made it feel less appealing. Shawn and I set out to explore the canyons to its south, and it made for a really nice day of boulder-hopping in a remote area.
From the trailhead, we took the standard route on a well-maintained trail to Fortynine Palms Oasis, where we hung out for a while under the gorgeous palm trees. We continued south into Fortynine Palms Canyon, where we were immediately slowed down by boulder obstacles, but there weren't any more people. Along the way, we encountered a few Class 2/3 obstacles, water pools, water-carved rock, and sporadic palm trees. It was really a wonderful little canyon. It opened up into a wider section that resembled a valley, but it's hard to tell what's what in the boulder-strewn landscape that is Joshua Tree. A major wash continued south, where we were given reprieve from the boulder-hopping for a bit. After a bit of walking through this wash and enjoying the scenery, we headed east into a side canyon that would lead us to our chosen descent canyon. This side canyon led us east and became fairly narrow, with a lot of scrambling on Class 2/3 boulder obstacles and cacti-avoidance acrobatics. We made it to the major drainage that would take us northwest back to the Fortynine Palms Oasis, a wider canyon with nice views and occasional dryfalls and big boulders. Overall, our descent choice wasn't as slow-moving as other parts of the day, but we certainly weren't running.
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