“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”
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.
If you hike the Ladder Canyon Loop Trail, expect to travel between 5 and 6 miles round trip as you hike Painted Canyon, in the heart of the Mecca Hills. The canyon runs in a general north-south direction through some amazing colors and vegetation. The trail takes you up through some narrow cracks to the top of the canyons and then back down. It's definitely worth the trip.
Read MoreCadiz Summit dates back to 1883; it was named by Lewis Kingman, who was a locating engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It was one of a series of railroad stations built across the Mojave Desert (Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Esses, Fenner, Goffs, Homer, Ibis, Java, khartoum and so on). Back during those early years, Cadiz existed to supply water to the trains. And years later, when Route 66 was constructed, Cadiz served a similar purpose.
Read MoreLocated just a short distance off Route 66, Amboy Crater had been on my radar for several years, and the opportunity to finally have the time to make the hike coincided with nice weather. I hit the trail. With my feet.
Read MoreDriving along U.S. 395, I’d often seen areas that looked like they had been blasted from the depths of the earth, the rocks melted and strewn across the barren landscape. And doesn’t that thing over there look like a cinder cone? What’s that rumbling?
Read MoreThe Alabama Hills are filled with rocks, western scenes and arches. Lots of arches. If you like to hike, this is a great place to visit. If you are a western movie fan, this is a great place to visit. If you enjoy getting away from everything, yes, this is a great place to visit.
Read MoreThe Arch Loop Trail is a relatively easy trail to hike, well maintained and marked. There are a few portions of the trail that get your heart going a bit, but that's good for you. There is so much spectacular scenery to see along the trail - the Sierra Nevadas, rocky gulches and canyons, strange rock formations - that you might just miss the two famous arches if your not careful!
Read MoreI had decided to visit two of the "Big Three" arches of the Alabama Hills; Whitney Portal Arch and Mobius Arch. Fordham's book easily guided me to the trailhead for Whitney Portal Arch. T-Red was the only car in the area; I got my gear and set off to Find The Arch.
Read MoreThe first time I tried to visit the Devils Postpile, it was closed because of a government shutdown. That was in 2014. Luckily for me, the government was open on my next opportunity and so I was able to drop in for a visit.
Read MoreIn January of 1906, John Ramsey and John "One-Eye" Thompson were on their way to the newly discovered gold strike at Harrisburg. They were forced to camp overnight near Emigrant Spring due to a blinding fog, a rare occurrence in Death Valley. The next morning, the fog was gone and the two men noticed some nearby ledges that looked promising. After a quick survey of the ledges, they decided to forgo traveling to Harrisburg, as they promptly located several claims in the area. This was the beginning of the Gold Eagle Group and the beginning of the mining camp that became Skidoo.
Read MoreIt was back in July of 1905 that Pete Aguereberry and Shorty Harris ran into each other at the Furnace Creek Ranch, and possibly due to the heat, decided to head up into the Panamints to do some prospecting. When they arrived on the open plateau now known as Harrisburg Flats, one of the men (each of course claiming discovery) saw something that attracted his eye on the north side of a low, long hill. Pulling out a pick and chipping off a sample, the material contained free gold. The two men divided up the outcroppings, with Harris taking claims on the south side of the ridge and Aguereberry staking claims on the north side. They came up with a name for the camp which was sure to boom on the site, they called it "Harrisberry."
Read MoreIt was October. It was around 10:00 am in the morning and I had just pulled into the main parking area for Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. It was a mild October morning, the temperature was in the mid-80s. A light breeze was blowing. A nice day for a walk in the dunes. So I packed some water, put on my hat and commenced sand walking.
Read MoreThe "wells" were originally two shallow pits dug into the sandy floor of the valley basin. With the mining booms of Rhyolite, Nevada and Skidoo, the wells were a natural stopping point between the two camps. Stage and freight service between the two began in 1906 and by the following year, a small settlement had grown on the site. It was also the location of the first telephone office in the valley. J.R. Clark, a superintendent of construction on the Rhyolite-Skidoo road reported that Stovepipe Wells then consisted of a commissary tent, a boarding house, several additional tents, a corral and feeding stable and "accommodations in every respect for pilgrims crossing the hot sands. The spring is now inclosed and the water is consequently much improved."
Read MoreDublin Gulch is located on the southern edge of Shoshone, California. I wasn't able to track down a lot of history on the place, but here are some generalities which are most likely accurate. The caves are dug into solidified volcanic ash that reportedly came from a Lava Creek eruption in Yellow Stone National Park, over 600 thousand years ago. One account claims they were dug in the early 1900s, another puts their creation during the late 1870s when a silver boom at the nearby Noonday Mines was in full swing. Regardless of when they were created, they are pretty amazing.
Read MoreMining activity in the Clark Mountain Range dates back to the 1860s. It’s likely that prospectors found some color in this desert region, but copper would prove to be the ore to bring prosperity to the area. A man by the name of Johnny Moss is credited with discovering the Copper World mine in 1868, which he wouldn’t have known to look for if a Piute chief hadn’t given him a chunk of metallic copper.
Read MoreOk, next time you're driving over the Grapevine, take the exit and stop to visit Fort Tejon State Historic Park. I know you've seen the signs and wondered what it was all about. It'll take you less than an hour to walk the grounds and check out what's there. It's pretty cool.
Read MoreThe Salton Sea is actually the largest lake in California. It was created by accident in 1905 when a cut in the bank of the Colorado River resulted in an overflow that overwhelmed the canal which was supposed to contain the runoff. The river basically flowed unchecked into the historic dry lake bed of the Salton Basin for two years before repairs were completed. Oooops. Things happen.
Read MoreI recently had the opportunity to meet up with my cousin, Karen of the North Country, at the Salton Sea Visitor Center. There are a lot of interesting things and places to visit in the Sonoran Desert of southeastern California, and we had the entire day to see what we could find. Our travels eventually led us to East Jesus, which curiously enough, is located near West Satan.
Read MoreI was able to visit the magic mountain on a recent trip to the Salton Sea. I had first learned of Salvation Mountain from an episode of Huell Howser's California Gold. And after finally visiting the place, I'll have to quote Huell and say, "it's amazing!"
Read MoreIt's a two-for-one National Park deal! One entry fee got me into both the Painted Desert National Park and the Petrified Forest National Park. After paying my admission, the ranger asked me if I had any petrified wood in my car. I said yes, that I had bought some at the Rainbow Rock Shop in Holbrook. She asked if I had a receipt and yes, I did. I noticed a sign later when I left the park that vehicles can be subject to search, as they don’t want anyone poaching petrified wood from the forest.
Read MoreEveryone loves jackrabbits, it’s a proven fact. So how could I drive through Joseph City and not stop at the Jackrabbit Trading Post? I couldn’t. So I took Exit 269 and got off I-40 to go hunt jackrabbits. And maybe some rabbit stew.....
Read MoreJoshua Tree National Park, the California Gold Country, forgotten places in the Mojave Desert. These are a few of my favorite things.
