Piano Valley Pictograph Site

Piano Valley Pictograph Site

I was wandering around the Wonderland of Rocks, looking for pictographs and petroglyphs. That involves climbing a lot of rocks, peeking under boulders, squeezing through creosote-choked passageways, getting poked by yucca and very rarely, having a rattlesnake sound its displeasure at my presence. But it's always fun to explore in J Tree, to see what I can find. And occasionally, I find what I'm looking for, which is like icing on a cake.

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Hidden Valley Pictograph Site

Hidden Valley Pictograph Site

Long before modern-day campers began coming to J Tree, olden-day campers lived and traveled through this land. They were the Cahuilla, the Chemehuevi and the Serrano Native Americans.  Did they enjoy the desert solitude and jumbo rocks as visitors do today? I'd like to think so.

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Zombie Woof Hunt

Zombie Woof Hunt

This is a tale of danger and deceit, a story of riches found and fortunes lost; a trail that led to the brink of madness and beyond. Take heed, stranger, and read on at your risk. For I have met the Zombie Woof and have been...changed. You have been warned. 

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A Day in the Park

A Day in the Park

I had the opportunity to head back out to J Tree recently; my last trip had been the past 4th of July, a blistering hot day spent exploring the Car Wash near Gold Rose Well. Let me say, the weather is generally much more conducive to hiking J Tree in October than it is in July.

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Wonderland Ranch

Wonderland Ranch

Whether you call it the Ohlson House, the Wonderland Ranch or Uncle Willie's Health Food Store, the pink ruins near the Wall Street Mill trail are certainly photogenic and definitely enigmatic. They cause me to wonder many things and take many pictures, ask many questions but find few answers. Which makes me return again and again to see what I can find. This is another of my favorite spots in J Tree.

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