We made it to Joshua Tree National Park.
There are many hiking trails in the park. On our first hike we came across an abandoned home. They could have been ranchers or prospectors.
This was their pick up truck.
There was a wind powered water pump, for either cattle or
gold processing.
Not far away we came across a gold ore processing works.
Carts of ore were hoisted up the track and poured into this machine. First the
rock was sorted by size, then crushed by a gas powered stamp. The crushed ore
was mixed with mercury and then ground into a fine slurry. The mercury was used to
separate out the gold. The mercury was finally washed off the gold--a toxic and environmentally polluting process.
The landscape is littered with piles of eroded granite. The
process sculpts sensuous curves in the stone.
One large boulder had a hole in it.
These little guys were fast!
In case you've been wondering, here is what our campsite looks like.
