December 6, 2025.
I’d visited the Mojave National Preserve once before and I distinctly remember loving the Rings Loop. But, it’s only a mile and a half long and we had all day to explore. While perusing the map, as I do, I noticed a peak nearby called Barber Peak. I looked up a few trip reports online and it looked like a short but steep and interesting scramble. I described the route to Aaron to get his advanced approval and he agreed to check it out with me.
Our hike began by descending the “rings,” which are metal loops attached to the narrow canyon walls with straight pins. It almost feels like you’re on a playground or obstacle course. It seemed like rungs would make more sense, but whoever decided to build this trail decided wobbly rings would do the job.
We quickly left that excitement behind and wound our way through the canyon. Upon exiting, we needed to find a break in the cliffs to our right to get to the horseshoe-shaped ridge making up the top of Barber Peak. It was quite obvious which way to go because there was basically only one way. We climbed up a series of ramps leading up, up, up among the cactus- dotted rocks towards the blue sky. Despite being December, it was HOT as ever. We took many breaks to drink water and rest. If any opportunity for shade presented itself, we took advantage of that too.
I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of my desert flowers showing off. Several species of buckwheat, some asters, some wishbone bush. Even the cacti, which was not in bloom, was fun to see. There are so many interesting plants that thrive in this dry habitat.
Once we gained the ridge, it was pretty easy going. The scramble turned into a ramble. We picked our own paths through the grasses and burned trees, looking for late blooming flowers and unusual cacti. At the summit, we paused to enjoy a snack and take in the views. Then, we turned to descend the other end of the horseshoe to make a loop out of it. There are advantages and disadvantages of loop routes. The main advantage is the novelty you get from crossing fresh terrain with every step. The main disadvantage is that you don’t have any experience with where you’re going. It is typically easier to route-find on your way up something than on your way down, so there’s a little extra effort involved with picking your way down a new line when you could just turn back and reverse the tried-and-true way you came. But novelty is my favorite thing so…on to the loop!
Everything looked more daunting from the top. What we could not see from our vantage point is that that our descent route would drop from one cliff band to the next via an unknown series of passages. Sometimes it was easiest to follow the ridge proper, other times it made more sense to bypass to the left or to the right. Often, it took a few tries to find the best route. All that routefinding slowed us down, and by the time we were almost at the bottom I was pretty over it. It was deceptively challenging and mentally taxing. Once we got off the peak, we made a beeline back to the canyon that led to the rings; we would not make a complete loop!
Overall, it was an absolutely beautiful day and we had the mountain all to ourselves. I enjoyed the quiet, sunshine and endless fields of cactus. And I know what feels annoying in the moment is all but lost in the memories. That experience builds up over time to make me a more skilled navigator in the future and helps me become more resilient when facing challenging terrain.
