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