Breathtaking Rock Formations – Alabama Hills | Nightmare Gulch
We went on this 2 days road trip before Thanksgiving, it’s me and TT’s second visit to Alabama hills but first time to Nightmare Gulch. These was definitely two of the most stunning hikes we’ve done this year in 2017.
Alabama Hills
I kept telling Quentin about how cool Alabama Hill is until his ears started to bleed, we finally made this trip happen on Nov 18th 2017.
We followed the trail down and found some people doing top roping on the other side of those rocks. Yes, to find some outdoor climbs was our main purpose for this trip, and I was really happy that TT could come alone, because I couldn’t take him to Malibu Rock Pool for my birthday trip this year, it’s a wonderful outdoor climbing/cliff jumping spot but not dog friendly. 🙁
This geological formation looks as magical as how I remembered, even after visiting Iceland I still think Alabama Hills is pretty damn cool. The last time we came here was on a blazing hot day, the second visit in November the temperature is definitely more comfortable.
We did some serious climbs, sometimes I had to carry TT. I thought he would enjoy exploring around while we climbed, but TT was really worried about me whenever I was on the wall and wanted to come up to rescue me every time. I was quite surprised he did that, because TT usually hid behind me whenever scary things happened, such as a stranger popping out behind the door.
But when I cried, TT was never panic or showing any sign of being worried. He comforted me in his own way by providing his favorite toys and tried to convince me to play with him. I believe TT knows everything will be just alright as long as we are together 🙂
Mobius Arch Loop Trail
- Route : Loop
- Length : 0.6 mi
- Elevation : 42 ft
We went back to the car and drove to the Mobius Arch Trail, which is a 0.6 mile loop that TT didn’t visit last time. Sun started to sink, we arrived at the arch at great timing when the light passed through the rock formation at a perfect angle. We met lots of kind photographers squatting at the spot, they let me and TT took over the location for a few shots.
Pixel 2 gave me this glare whenever I pointed the camera to the sun, which Quentin’s Nexus doesn’t. I am still not sure if I should be annoyed or not because I got some pictures with dramatic glares.
The sun quickly rolled over to the other side of the mountains and left a big cone in the sky.
Let’s go back to the motel and eat shall we?
Nightmare Gulch Loop Trail
- Route : Loop
- Length : 8.8 mi
- Elevation : 1,230 ft
The next day we headed to Nightmare Gulch Loop Trail. Quentin actually found this place last time when we were traveling elsewhere, the Nightmare Gulch was a bit too far out of our way, but here we are now!
I fed TT Ziwipeak canned food during this trip but it gave him horrible diarrhea. The following morning he even threw up when he first got out of the car. TT has bad stomach issues since he was young, he will be having the same food fine for weeks and one day suddenly his body decided to reject it. Our vet told us this is not uncommon for puppies and will usually go away after they grow older. TT’s stomach did stop attacking him after he turned 3 thankfully. I am not sure what was wrong with Ziwipeak but will prorprily look elsewhere next time packing TT’s food for a trip. His bad diarrhea that day just reminded me how hard it was when TT was not even a year old.
Back on this trail, after walking up from the parking lot, you will see a sign pointing at opposite directions with different names, and none of them says Nightmare Gulch.
Being an over 8 miles loop hike, no matter which way you go you will be back to this exact same spot. We went to the right for no specific reason.
This is a relatively easy hike for the first few miles with a small amount of elevation at the first part, immediately rewards you by incredible geologic features and colors, like a mini version of Bryce Canyon.
You have nowhere to hide from the craziness rock formation scenery. I was stunned and didn’t know why I never noticed there is such a cool place only 2 hours drive away from LA.
Why did I even complain that I don’t know where to go for this entire year?
And also… What does “gulch” mean?
I got my answer after few hours.
We entered this area where the trail turned into loose sand, making it not easy to walk as fast, 15-20 minutes per mile as a normal hiking speed became more than 30 minutes long to move forward a single mile.
And we slowly lost track of time.
The only thing I was worried about was the time, I was sure walking in the dark here will become a true “nightmare” in a gulch.
I started to scream in my head a little bit while the sun touched the tip of the rock, and we were still in the gulch area. This loop trail doesn’t have a sign, the only people we met there walked back without finishing the hike. Without cell phone receptions we had no idea how far we went and how much further away the parking lot was.
Forgot how long we spent to exit the gulch, we found out there was way more to go. We also arrived at a pretty high lookout point, although the view was amazing but I don’t take any photos. The scenery it provided was way beyond magnificent. I didn’t think any picture could do it justice, also I was too tired to care about recording what I saw, we need to find the way back to the car before losing lights.
The sky was pouring out dramatic colors, this is what I caught on my phone after we came down from the vista point.
Lights and colors were constantly changing, we were like stumbling and losing our way on an artist’s huge palette. When I took this last picture, I couldn’t really see what’s in front of me anymore, I have to say my phone camera did an amazing job.
At least this is what I got from Quentin’s device, same location at the same time.
We found my car not too long after darkness caught up. I could hardly feel my legs and TT was absolutely tired. We had a plan to visit a nearby hotsprings after this hike but that was a miscalculation of time.
I didn’t know sand could slow us down this much. This hike only took us 4 hours, but felt like a bigger adventure than that. Truly exhausting but I love it!
Finally, this is our last post of the year, see you all in 2018 and happy holidays :3
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