Amboy Crater 2015

Amboy Crater was one of those locations where you think might be interesting but not really sure.  It is a cinder cone of an old volcano in the Mojave Desert.  This place is really in the middle of nowhere.  Let be spin back a bit and say that this trip was a father/daughter trip during spring break.  We did a little driving trip to explore Joshua Tree and Death Valley, thus Amboy Crater was on the path.  So here is a picture of the crater and its lava field as we approached.

Well my daughter wanted to climb to the top.  It was really a good thing that this was still winter and the temperature was not too high.  I can really see where people can get into trouble.  Also there are a couple of covered benches on the walking path to the crater.  This picture show a zoomed up picture of a person at the top and you can see the same wash area in the above picture.  This was my daughters destination.

The next two pictures is me in the same location as that person.  I was not sure I was going to make it.  Climbing on the lava can be rough since it is very angular.  The second of the two is a picture inside the crater.

Daughter is down in that spiral.  Me, I tried to climb down the inside side not following a the walking path since that was much longer but the drainage path.  Did I ever mention that I sometimes don't pick the wisest solutions.  (I did make it and a younger me would have enjoyed it.  My daughter just shook her head at her dad silliness.)

So while we where exploring, the California National Guard was practicing and nature was spinning.  An Osprey doing bombing runs and a little dust devil.

Overall, a very nice day and a surprising enjoyable stop.