Road Trips
Sunday, May 13th, 2012: 2012 Trips, Mojave Desert, People, Regions, Road Trips.
This year’s desert powwow was enlivened by two totemic groups: the media-industry fathers and sons, and the field biologists.
The boys had the time of their lives climbing the boulder-strewn slopes near camp, and fathers and sons together had fun exploring the old mining ruins. Farther afield, the scientists roamed for miles over the surrounding ridges and canyons with their field glasses and GPS units.
My biologist friends are also expert gardeners and foragers, and we all enjoyed extravagant evening meals, featuring sazeracs and the legendary desert lobster.
The fathers had a chance to talk shop at midday under the shade canopy while their sons scrambled about outside, seemingly impervious to the sun’s rays. And around the late-night campfire, after the others retired to their tents, the scientists shared war stories of species and bureaucracies.
Sunday, May 13th, 2012: 2012 Trips, Animals, Mojave Desert, Nature, Regions, Road Trips.
Spring is a great time to see desert wildlife, and we were blessed not only with abundant sightings, but with photos of animals that visited the spring on our land over the winter, since one of the biologists had placed a motion-sensor camera there last November.
Mountain sheep expert John Wehausen spotted a group of rams at the head of the gulch, and the other biologists encountered numerous rattlesnakes on their hikes.
I was lucky to run across a couple of rattlers, a gopher snake and two variable ground snakes. Plus, I saw several western tanagers on migration, a flock of Gambel’s quail, and lots of jackrabbits. Redtail hawks were out in force, and from camp we saw one chasing a raven across the inner basin.
During my later hikes in the San Francisco Bay Area, I ran into lots more snakes, lizards, birds and insects – plus a group of sea lions basking on offshore rocks.
Sunday, May 13th, 2012: 2012 Trips, Mojave Desert, Nature, Plants, Regions, Road Trips.
Several people remarked that this year’s spring bloom was below average due to drought, but I suspect that we were simply in the desert at the wrong time, in between the early bloom of annuals and the later flowering of perennials. Nevertheless, I spent my last day photographing what flowers there were, and I think they’re pretty impressive. What do you think?
Sunday, May 13th, 2012: 2012 Trips, Indigenous Cultures, Mojave Desert, Regions, Road Trips, Society.
Our land is in a mountain range that had special significance to the desert Indians, but it’s doubtful that our property saw much use by Native Americans. There are lots of mining ruins dating back to the 1870s, but whereas I’ve found prehistoric campsites, potsherds, and rock art elsewhere in the range, I have yet to run across artifacts in our canyon.
But my scientist friends hit the jackpot on this trip, finding a large agate scraper on the bajada, and a nice small arrowhead on the slopes.
The boys revisited an area up the canyon where the old miners disposed of their bottles and cans, and collected some nice pieces of purple and blue glass.
Protected: Picnic at the Bell 2012
Sunday, October 7th, 2012: 2012 Trips, Road Trips.
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