Aftershock
Trail name: Aftershock
Trailhead location: 34o25'16.5"N, 116o26'6.0"W
Length: 1.1 miles
Elapsed trail time: 1 hour 30 minutes
How to get there: From the lakebed, take the road north through the gap in the low ridgeline to the east. Follow the main road up and over a small rise. Follow the main set of tracks through a mining area where several fainter tracks turn off to both sides. You will pass right next to a 40's vintage car body sitting in the wash (This car marks the junction of the exit of Aftershock and the main road). Stay left at any trail junctions until the road drops into a large wash. Take a very sharp left turn here and head up the wash. The Aftershock trail follows this wash back up to the top of the hill (at the old car).
The trail: Aftershock is one of the oldest of the Johnson Valley trails, being created shortly after Sledgehammer as a long, fairly mild tour of the Hartwell Hills area. Aftershock is still considered to be one of the mildest routes in Johnson Valley, even after the deletion of all of the dirt road "tour" parts, but don't let that fool you into thinking it is easy. The trail is a bit less constricting than its brother routes as it follows a large, sandy wash as it heads back to the north. The rocks can be mobile as they are sometimes bedded in deep sand that offers little traction. There are numerous solid rock ledges to scale and the trail gets increasingly difficult as it progresses. The trail creators dubbed a spot near the end of the trail "Depreciation Knob". The name can be highly descriptive if the right line isn't followed as the route scales steep, tight sections with several tricky turns. Apologies for the lack of photos but we started Aftershock in the dusk and finished it in the dark. |
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