“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.
There are a lot of big rocks in what the climbing community refers to as the "Lost Horse" area, and most have very unusual names. If you like rocks, this is a great place to spend some time. The main parking area for this location is signed "Hemingway," after one of the more notable chunks of quartz monzonite that stands nearby.
Read MoreMy first visit to Joshua Tree National Park must have been in the late '60s, (that's 1960s, not 1860s). Friends of my parents took me camping and we stayed at Jumbo Rocks campground. I think what fascinated me about the Monument then and which still does in the Park today, is the same thing which drew in over 1.6 million visitors to the park last year. The Rocks. Put simply, the rocks rock.
Read MoreIt was Thanksgiving weekend and I was in the area, what better time to visit Turkey Flats? It had been on my list of places to check out, along with the Sand Dune, for quite a while and the timing was perfect, as was the weather. I pulled into the parking area at the Pinto Mountain Backcountry Board and decided to check out the information signs before heading out into the desert.
Read MoreThe Monstead Tunnels in Joshua Tree National Park aren't any kind of secret, they're just not listed on any maps. Nor are they listed in any of the hiking guidebooks for J Tree. There is scant information to be found regarding their years of operation or production. Nothing much of historical significance is left on site and the tunnel openings have been "bat-gated" by the NPS for safety reasons. If you asked a Ranger about them, he'd probably reply, "what?" So why on earth would anyone even bother hiking a couple miles to visit them?
Read MoreJoshua Tree National Park, the California Gold Country, forgotten places in the Mojave Desert. These are a few of my favorite things.
