Desert Spring Break - Monday
Monday turned into do-a-bunch of short hikes day.
We started off the morning, like every morning out in the desert, with the best oatmeal ever cooked over a campfire.
The first hike of the day took us up Ryan Mountain. Those of you who know me well know that hiking up mountains is one of my favorite activities and hiking up desert mountains in particular. I like that there's an obvious goal. I like being able to see big-picture vistas unhindered by things like trees. Here's a picture from the summit looking to the west to the San Bernardino mountains.
After descending from the mountain, we found a nice spot for lunch next to a large rock perfectly shaped for basking in the sun. Monday was the first day we could actually call warm, and this was the first time I could sit around in a tank top and soak in the warmth. It was, let me tell you, very exciting. I could feel myself burning, but that's ok. That was exactly why flew to the Southwest.
We occupied our afternoon visiting several of the mines and mills that litter this area. Back in the day, that is to say the first half of the 20th century, people flocked to the area in search of gold. Personally, I didn't really care about mines or mills, but these particular trails ended up have some of the prettiest Joshua Trees we came across. This is a tree we found on our way to the Wall Street mill.
Here's an old piece of machinery we found while exploring Desert Queen mine:
Finally we drove up to Key's View, which offers a fantastic view of the West.
From here you can actually see the San Andreas Fault, but it's not particularly clear in this picture.
Dinner was awesome. The wind was calm. All was good.
We started off the morning, like every morning out in the desert, with the best oatmeal ever cooked over a campfire.
The first hike of the day took us up Ryan Mountain. Those of you who know me well know that hiking up mountains is one of my favorite activities and hiking up desert mountains in particular. I like that there's an obvious goal. I like being able to see big-picture vistas unhindered by things like trees. Here's a picture from the summit looking to the west to the San Bernardino mountains.
After descending from the mountain, we found a nice spot for lunch next to a large rock perfectly shaped for basking in the sun. Monday was the first day we could actually call warm, and this was the first time I could sit around in a tank top and soak in the warmth. It was, let me tell you, very exciting. I could feel myself burning, but that's ok. That was exactly why flew to the Southwest.
We occupied our afternoon visiting several of the mines and mills that litter this area. Back in the day, that is to say the first half of the 20th century, people flocked to the area in search of gold. Personally, I didn't really care about mines or mills, but these particular trails ended up have some of the prettiest Joshua Trees we came across. This is a tree we found on our way to the Wall Street mill.
Here's an old piece of machinery we found while exploring Desert Queen mine:
Finally we drove up to Key's View, which offers a fantastic view of the West.
From here you can actually see the San Andreas Fault, but it's not particularly clear in this picture.
Dinner was awesome. The wind was calm. All was good.
posted by laura s at 4:12 PM
1 Comments:
That's a beautiful Joshua Tree picture!
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