“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.
Have you ever seen something so cool that it left you speechless? But then a few seconds later you just wanted to scream and perhaps do someone bodily harm? I have. It happened on September 4th, 2016 at approximately 4:40 pm.
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 MoreThere's a lot of stuff going on in the general area around the Desert Queen Mine. If you park at the small parking area/trailhead for the DQ Mine and Pine City, you've got gold mines, stone building ruins, vanished cities, dams, debris, sparkly rocks, amazing vistas and many signs of the local Indians who once passed through this area during their seasonal migrations. And all within a couple miles hiking distance. It's like a nexus of amazement.
Read MoreI was hiking in the Wonderland of Rocks recently (a favorite pastime of mine), searching for a particular rock. Okay, you're probably thinking, "a particular rock? There's eighteen hundred and forty-nine tragazillion rocks in the Wonderland, how is he going to find one particular one?" Well, I had a plan. And some good directions. And a map. Coordinates. And a GPS. And snacks. So I was pretty sure I would find what I was looking for.
Read MoreHave you ever said that to yourself and then thought, "probably a nest of rattlesnakes, or a hive of killer bees, maybe a mutant scorpion. I'd better not get too close." Or does the kid who lives inside you surface and say, "don't be a scaredy-pants, crawl under there and let's see what we can find!"
Read MoreJoshua Tree National Park, the California Gold Country, forgotten places in the Mojave Desert. These are a few of my favorite things.
