Rich's Travel Photos

Feb 14, 2014 Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park is noted for interesting rock formations. Some can appear sensuous . . .

. . . and others ominous. This one is called “Skull Rock”.

Feb 13, 2014 Joshua Tree National Park

This afternoon, the setting sun enhanced the already colorful rocks at the campground.

Feb 12 and 13: Joshua Tree National Park

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.

Feb 10 & 11, 2014 Painted Canyon

More canyon hikes.

Today we slowed down to take a closer look at what inhabits the canyon. It’s amazing that feral bees survive in this harsh environment.

These lizards are plentiful but very fast and kind of shy.

Some flowering plants thrive.

Colorful minerals in the rock walls give Painted Canyon its name.

Feb 9, 2014: Painted Canyon

More canyons to explore today. Some wide, some narrow:

I was amazed to see that feral bees abound.

At low elevation, the canyon was warm at night, so I continued to play with my camera.

Feb 8, 2014: Painted Canyon

This is the Painted Canyon Trailhead. Busy during the day but ours alone from late afternoon until the next morning.

We got up early to catch the morning light.

A wonderful echo chamber in which to practice our recorders.

Feb 7, 2014: Painted Canyon

The road to Painted Canyon was unpaved, washboard sand. Driving 4 miles on it shook us so hard that several cabinet doors in the trailer opened and the contents dumped out. Furthermore, a metal hinge on one of the cabinet doors actually tore apart!

It wasn’t until the morning after our late arrival that we could see the beauty of our surroundings. We spend the day hiking through the canyons, and climbed up to the ridge tops between them.

Part of the trail required climbing ladders.

The evening light, bouncing off the orange an purple tinted canyon walls enhanced the lighting of our photos.

Feb 6, 2014: Santa Rosa Mountain Switchbacks

The high winds and a bit of over night rain in the mountains surprised us. A twisty road led our descent from the Santa Rosa Mountains to the desert floor.

These images are from a hike on Pinyon Flats.

Feb 4, 2014 Palm Springs and Pinyon Flat

Now in Palm Springs, it finally feels like we have arrived at our main destination. We arrive at the first backcountry camp area of our trip just at sunset.

We spent one night at Jurupa Canyon County Park—a pretty but very sanitized camping experience. We did, however, enjoy taking showers (finally) and doing a laundry.