Red Lady of Joshua Tree

Day Fifty Two

Joshua Tree National Park is only a little over an hour from my home but today the drive there seemed interminable. My two boys just would not stop bickering. I love those kids but sometimes I just wish I could hike alone, or at least drive alone.

I took the boys to do the hike over in Hidden Valley. It's easy, interesting and I figured I could herd the boys like these cattle if necessary.

It's very hard for boys to stay on the trail in this area.

Boys! Get down from there this instant! Your mother would have a heart attack if she saw you up there. Oh wait, those aren't my kids. Never mind.

If things get too bad I can always tie them to this tree.

We survived the hike and then headed over to the Barker Dam parking area. We stop to watch a climber finish "The Flake" on Intersection Rock.

When we get to our next stop Harrison, my oldest son, doesn't want to go but wants to sit in the car. Fine with me. So I set out with just Nikolas. From the parking area, we head out to look for some different artifacts. We see some petroglyphs, like the one above.

We also go look at the Red Lady of Joshua Tree. This pictograph is in an area that is very symbolic and has great importance in Indian tradition.

The rock in the foreground has a ceremonial mortero. On the day of the spring equinox at twelve noon a ray of light pierces the rocks and enters the bedrock mortar hole. This symbolizes the fertility of the season to come.

Here is a closer look at the mother mortar. It is surrounded by cupules, smaller indentations that are generally associated with girl's initiation rituals. They were also used to grind paint for pictographs.

Here is another rock in the area covered with cupules.

We walked over to Uncle Willie's Health Food Store and found it closed for business.

There is a little storage area near Uncle Willie's,

where we find another bedrock mortar,

and another pictograph.

It's nice to see that the park is environmentally conscious with wind power.

I wish I could stay all day but I'm afraid by the time I get back to the car it'll look like this. We've kept Harrison waiting WAY too long.

I do love Joshua Tree. I cannot wait to go back but next time--I'm going alone.

Go East, Young Man

Day Forty One

Mount San Jacinto looking sublime under a fresh layer of snow.

The mountains were spectacular today with their new coat of fresh snow.  I was already to go up  and spend the day snowshoeing but one thing got in my way: life.  Yes, things do not always work out the way I want them to.  

First, I had to take the kids to school.  Then, the Tram does not open until 10 a.m. so I'd have to wait for that.  Finally, I had to be at work at 12 so my time was somewhat limited.  What to do?  I hightailed it east where I couldn't see all that snow.  I  went out by the Hayfield Dry Lake and I hike out to a little canyon there.  

After a couple of wrong turns I get to  the edge of the wilderness and head up toward the canyon I want to visit.

I see this large boulder with some petroglyphs on it.  Seems like I came to the right place.

Up high on this hillside, it looks like an old mine.  I'll have to come back and check that out another time.

As I enter the canyon I see this little dugout area and wonder if it's a mining test dig or has some other significance.

Just inside the mouth of the canyon is a nice panel of pictographs.  Pictographs are painted onto the rocks rather than etched into the desert varnish like petroglyphs.  They are under a little overhang and so have not been washed off although some have faded.

On this rock in the wash, there are two nice size bedrock mortars.  There is also a lot of sand on this rock.  I wonder.....

After a bit of excavation, I find other bedrock mortar, larger than the other two.

There are also a number of petroglyphs in the area.  Hopefully, when I get more time I can come back and explore a bit more to see what else I can find.

On the drive home, I get a full view of the beauty of our snow covered mountains.  I missed playing in the snow today but I got to explore a special place that I'm looking forward to returning to soon.

Goodnight Moon

Day Thirty Eight

Today's hike was not meant to be a moonlight hike, that's just how it turned out.  I headed south toward the Salton Sea looking for an old Indian Trail with some great rock art that I'd been on about fifteen years ago.  Do I remember where it is?  Sorta.

I drive through some vineyards and park the Jeep here.  As an afterthought, I grabbed the Jeep's GPS, marked the location and put it in my pocket.  It's a good thing I did.

I wander up the alluvial fan, going cross country, hoping I run into something interesting.

I don't have to hike more than ten minutes until I hit a trail.  It's not THE trail but it'll do.

There are a few petroglyphs along the trail, not THE petroglyphs I'm looking for but...

It doesn't take much imagination to figure out this represents.

I lose the trail when it drops into a little wash and go back to wandering cross country until I hit.....

A road.

From the road I am able to locate THE trail I'm really looking for.  It's getting dark but I know I'm not too far from THE petroglyphs so I keep going.

Here they are.  This is a nice little section of rock art located in the middle of nowhere.  I have tried to figure out why here, but cannot conceive the reason someone decided to create a museum in the middle of this alluvial plain.  There are tons of pictures and I know I'll have to come back during the day sometime.

I don't have a flashlight, only the light of my cellphone but I don't need it.  The moon is bright enough that I can follow the trail until I hit the road.  I play it safe and decide to follow it rather than going cross country in the pale moonlight.  The Jeep is about two miles away.  Good thing I brought that GPS.  I am within two hundred feet of the Jeep before I see it there shining in the moonlight.  It never looked better.  I fire it up and negotiate my way back to a real road  but not before I say thanks to the moon for its light and telling it goodnight.

I have posted more pictures on my Flikr account.  Find them here.