“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 MoreOk, raise your hand if you've ever been to the Stirrup Tank area in JT. I see a few of you have. Those of you who didn't raise your hand, shame on you. If you enjoy desert hiking amidst and amongst enormous, oddly disquieting-shaped granite boulders (and who doesn't), then set aside a half day the next time you're in the park to visit the Stirrup Tank area. Odds are you'll have several squares miles to yourself, to explore and enjoy some amazing sights.
Read MoreI haven't been able to figure out who "Alister" was (perhaps an early-day rock climber/explorer?), but this impressive rock art site in J Tree's Wonderland of Rocks bears his name. I also haven't been able to figure out why it's called a "cave," as it's really more of a ledge up on a cliff with a nice overhang above it. But I've taken creative license with naming places I've discovered in the park, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it...
Read MoreI 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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It had been over ten years since I last saw any water in Barker Dam, so when I heard reports that the recent monsoons had filled the dam up, I knew I wanted to get out and take a look. Then Murbachi emailed me some photos he took on 9/11/2013 and I knew the reports were true. Hoping there would still be enough water in the dam to provide some nice photos, and in spite of the weather forecast predicting temps in the mid-90s, I set out for the park.
Read MoreJoshua Tree National Park, the California Gold Country, forgotten places in the Mojave Desert. These are a few of my favorite things.
