The Mojave Desert

“It’s alive and waiting for you. Ready to kill you if you go too far. The sun will get you, or the cold at night. A thousand ways the desert can kill”

— Harry Essex

The Mojave is a desert of wind, temperature extremes, Joshua Trees and solitude. When most people hear the word ‘desert,’ images of tumbleweeds, rattlesnakes and bleak desolation typically come to mind. In reality, the Mojave is anything but a wasteland. Amongst the sand and sagebrush lie many places of beauty and wonder, and of historic importance. Some are the result of time and the elements, some are the result of man and his efforts to live in the Mojave, both in recent and prehistoric times. Let’s go see what we can find.

December 10, 2013

Zabriskie Point, Death Valley

December 10, 2013/ Zabriskie Point/ Elliot Koeppel

As I was driving up to Dante’s View, I pulled into the parking area for Zabriskie Point. A short hike later and I was looking at one of the most impressive and starkly beautiful views in Death Valley. Spread out before me was a maze of wildly eroded and multi-colored badlands. Off to the northwest, Manly Beacon reached for the sky. White salt flats shone on the valley floor in the distance. A few steps in the wrong direction and I would be swallowed up by Gower Gulch. I jumped over the wall anyway to get as close to the edge as possible, to see what I could find.

Cali49

Joshua Tree National Park, the California Gold Country, forgotten places in the Mojave Desert. These are a few of my favorite things.

Cali49

Cali49

Mojave/395/Rt66

Cali49

The Mojave Desert

Cali49