Baby S slept terribly his first night sleeping in the camper van, so all of us got up early to catch the sunrise and hung around the camper van.

Dakota and S cheering on Baby S during his daily tummy time

Caught Dakota sleeping on Baby S’s jacket inside the Sportsmobile!

We had breakfast at the campsite and headed back to the Hole in a Wall campground to refill out water tank. This turned out to be the only RV water tank filling station available in the National Preserve. Kelso Depot ranger station only has a spigot to fill water bottles and canisters. We hoped to get some short hikes in with the family even though the wind picked up.

Water filling station at Hole in the Wall. The well water is drinkable but we had a filter attached to it just in case.

After filling up the water tank, we attempted to hike the Ring Trail but found out the trail was too narrow to go down with a baby carrier.

We had to stop and turn back after seeing the narrow rings descending into the canyon.

After the failed attempt to hike the Ring Trail, we decided to explore the Barber Peak Trail. The whole Barber Peak Trail was too long for us to hike with Baby S but we did what we could and looped back to the Hole in a Wall campground. Since Baby S seemed to be in a particularly good mood, we also walked the Nature Preserve Trail to learn the names of all the desert plants seen around the park. There were lots of in full bloom this time of the year after an especially wet winter. The color palette for the trail was especially beautiful with the yellow moss, the red rocks and the green brush. The weather was in the mid 60s with clear blue sky, it was truly a beautiful day to be out in the desert.

Barber Peak Trail

The rocks that gave the campsite the name Hole in the Wall.

We departed from Hole in a Wall and headed towards Rock Spring Loop Trail. It was a 20 minute drive and most of it was off trail. The roads were well paved and during the dry season, you do not need a 4 wheel-drive vehicle to get there. Unfortunately the wind really picked up by the time we got to the trail head. With Baby S sound asleep in the van, we did not want to wake him up and drag him out in the wind. L got out and walked to the Rock House to snap a few pictures before we headed south toward Kelso Depot.

The Rock House built by Bert Smith in the late 1920s after returning from WWI.

Read more about our Southern California desert road trip here.