Leakage from a Cluttered Mind

After breakfast we crossed the Colorado River into California at Earp, named for Wyatt Earp who lived there for a time. I hadn’t known Wyatt Earp had ever been in California. We found a geocache down by the river and one by the ruins of Earp’s house.

First time I’ve seen a sign like this

We drove east on highway 62 towards Twenty Nine Palms. On this day the landscape was less interesting until we got to Joshua Trees National Park. We spent a few hours enjoying the Joshua Trees and big rock formations.

This hasn’t moved in a very long time.

We exited the park on the south side and spent the night in Palm Desert.

Links:
— Photo gallery for Southern California desert 2016

We drove from Henderson to the Mojave Preserve in unsettled weather—lots of thunderheads and an occasional shower. Our destination was the trailhead to Teutonia Peak near Cima Dome. Despite the threatening sky, we shouldered our day packs and headed toward the peak. It was not our intent to summit Teutonia Peak, but simply to gain the shoulder and get a good view of Cima Dome.

Teutonia Peak

There were some nice wildflowers along the trail and we detoured a bit to check out some old mine ruins (structures all collapsed). Once we got to the top of the ridge we got a good view of Cima Dome. It’s only impressive when you stop to realize how huge and perfect the granite dome truly is.

Cima Dome

Just before we got back to the truck, it began to sprinkle. We ate our lunch in the truck and it began to rain heavily. Just across the road from the trailhead is the Mojave Cross and I really wanted a photo. This is a memorial to military dead, erected in 1934, but recently became a huge controversy by those who considered the marker a religious symbol that should not be on federal land. After lengthy lawsuits argued in various courts, a compromise was reached with a land swap that carved out a small portion as private land, and the cross was rededicated in 2012. The rain was steady and it seemed we couldn’t wait it out, so we donned our rain gear and got a photo in the rain.

The Mojave Cross

After getting the photos and gathering information for an earth cache, we retreated to the truck, turned up the defroster to try to dry out, and headed south to Kelso. The Union Pacific Railroad built a grand station in Kelso in 1924, but as diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives the need for a station at Kelso decreased. When the Mojave Preserve was created, the National Park Service restored the station and made it the headquarters for the Preserve.

Kelso station

We made quick stops at Kelso Dunes, Ludlow, and some route 66 caches before heading to a motel in Needles.

Links:
— Photo gallery for Southern California desert 2016