Distance: 1.8 miles round trip on use trail
Summit Elevation: 5560'
Prominence: 800'
Elevation Gain: 882'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.7
Round trip time: 1 hour
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: $30 National Parks Fee (1 car good for 7 days)
Difficulty: Easy
Leisa and I drove to Keys View, a walk up lookout. There were quite a few people at the lookout, but we walked away from it to the start of the use trail to Mount Inspiration (HPS #227). We followed the use trail up to the main ridge, then down a couple of hundred feet to the saddle below peak 5558. It was a short climb to 5558, and the use trail kind of disappears around the pile of boulders at the top. We went over/through some boulders which involved some minimal scrambling, but Leisa was not particularly happy about it, picking up some scratched legs getting over. I had not warned her about this section because I was not aware of it. Dropping to the saddle below Inspiration, we discovered a metal shed that had "fire hose" stamped on the side. The shed was locked and one of the strangest things I had seen in Joshua Tree. We continued the short distance to the summit which had a proper register, a benchmark and two reference marks. Views were again dampened by the partly cloudy skies. When we returned, we side hilled around 5558, but could not totally avoid climbing around/over a few boulders. When were approached the parking area, we met one other couple on their way up. It was a stark contrast to the zombie hordes on Ryan. Inspiration was short, but more fun than Ryan.
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