LaBarge Box Canyon with a Side Order of Battleship Mountain

The First Water trailhead with an assortment of good information on trails, conditions, risks, etc...   From this point there are many cool features that can be reached but none better than LaBarge Box Canyon and although not on today's official itinerary, Battleship Mountain, a favorite of mine.  Our route to Labarge would go by the approach to Battleship and privately, I was plotting how to include a visit to it too.

We took the usual route that I have previously described, First Water, Second Water, through Garden Valley prior to descending that nasty rock trail where you can walk for a mile and never touch dirt, into Boulder Canyon, turning right there and crossing the creek bed multiple times before reaching the south end of the Battleship and then after one final creek crossing, watch for the cairn that signaled the crossover to LaBarge.  Above, with Weaver's Needle in the background-left, Phil and Jeremy are almost finished with their climb out of the creek to the saddle.

We began our descent and looking back, there was Battleship, waiting for our return. The prominent point on the right is the trail's end.  Looks so easy.

First though, we descended toward LaBarge.  Above is the opening to the "box".  An incredible place.

We enter the canyon with granite walls soaring above us on all sides but the entrance.  Funny how the image does not accurately show the steepness of the slick rock on which Jeremy is walking.

Walking deeper into the canyon, we pass a narrow wall where the canyon makes a 180 degree turn. 

Looking forward it appears the canyon ends at another wall but no, with one more turn, this time to the left....

...we could exit into the desert beyond but our way today is to reverse course, climb back to the saddle and with Battleship now on our right, we decide.....

....LET'S DO IT!  It's a fairly steep, 1/2 mile climb to the "ship's hull" where we stash unnecessary weight and....

....climb aboard the ship.  Yes, a wall but with enough of a gritty surface and hand holds so we can scale it.

Now on the ship, we can look once again at LaBarge but from a different vantage point and then.....

...looking ahead, we can see our destination, about 3/4 of a mile away.

The obstacles are, as I look back about half way into our visit with our able leader Phil passing.....

...many.  Although this is my 5th or 6th visit, I still have to butt hike down this section.  A fall would be fatal.

Another wall to ascend, about 14' with fewer handholds.  I noted that many of the cairns {man-made rock piles to show the way) have been swept away so we had to endure a few dead ends prior to finding the way as it is not obvious and frequently counter intuitive but finally, at about mile 7.....

....we reach the summit where we find an American flag and an ammo can with the trail register so we sign it, of course.

The views, 360 degrees, are fantastic, including this one with Canyon Lake in the distance.

We head back which includes a too long section on ball bearing slope.  Nasty conditions but worse yet....

....squeezing through this slit that had we sucking in my stomach.  A 34"+ waist would have to find an alternate way.  We finished with 13 miles and about 2600' of climbing.  Between the Window hike and this, the pounding from the trails has really taken it out of me.  It's not the climbing, it's the descents and accumulated impact that caused me to soak in the spa and did that feel great.