“Yeah, Desert Sky - Dream beneath the Desert Sky”
A drive through Joshua Tree National Park might take a couple hours, viewing the park from the road. An exploration of the park would take a lifetime. Joshua Tree National Park has over 550,000 acres of wilderness filled with a variety of plants and animals that make their home in this land shaped by strong winds, unpredictable torrents of rain, and climatic extremes. Every now and then, man intrudes in this wilderness and leaves his brief, passing mark among the surreal geologic features that cover the landscape. Let’s go see what we can find.
Park you vehicle anywhere (safely and legally), grab your hiking gear and start hiking in the direction that no one else would go. That's what I did and here are some of the things I found (in no particular order).
Read MoreHaving explored many regions of the park over the past few decades, I thought I'd put this post together about some of my favorite sites and sights. Narrowing it down to only 101 was challenging....
Read MoreA mid-day drive along an empty Pinto Basin Road, heat waves shimmering in the distance, the unforgiving desert seeming to grasp at both sides of the two-lane blacktop. It was like driving through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of sand. I was on a journey, a journey into a wondrous land. Then I saw the signpost up ahead and knew my next stop was Porcupine Wash. It was time to see the porcupine. This is what happened:
Read MoreThe skies were cloudy and rain was falling in some parts of the park, so I wasn't feeling like doing much hiking. I decided to drive from the west entrance to Cottonwood Springs to see what I could find along the way. It was a couple weeks past the peak wildflower bloom, but I thought I might be able to spot some color out in the gloom. And you never know what else you might find just a bit off the road.
Read MoreThe name of the horse that gave Lost Horse Valley its name is one of the many missing pieces in the jigsaw puzzle known as Joshua Tree National Park. Back in 1890, Johnny Lang and his father drove a herd of cattle into this area and set up camp. The next morning, they woke to find their horses gone. Johnny tracked them to the McHaney brothers camp (local cattle rustlers), and was promptly told "yer horses ain't here, ya better git lost." Johnny heeded their advice and returned to his camp. It's more than likely the McHaney brothers had stolen their horses during the night. At some point, the valley became known as Lost Horse Valley.
Read MoreJoshua Tree National Park, the California Gold Country, forgotten places in the Mojave Desert. These are a few of my favorite things.
