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floral alphabet
On Draw With Me we did some speed dating of flowers, getting through the whole alphabet in about an hour.
for julie
route 66
We spent the last night of the trip in the Mojave Desert town of Barstow, and celebrated my birthday with Mexican food and a beer.
We drove home slowly the next day, doing more exploration en route. We stopped at the Tehachapi Loop but no train was passing at the time. Later we turned into the San Emigdio Mountains, ate a meal at The Perch in Pine Mountain Club, then took the dirt road from Toad Springs Campground down to Hwy 33. We got to our place after dark and Bodie was SO EXCITED to be home.
desert flowers
Word was that the Death Valley superbloom ended in early March, but I was confident there’d still be lots of wildflowers at elevation. There were so many!
roads less traveled
After camping at Wildrose, we took a detour to Aguereberry Point to see what are arguably the best views of Death Valley. We’re looking at the lowest point in North America — the white salt flats of Badwater Basin 282 ft (86 m) below sea level.
We took Harry Wade Road, a ‘remote and seldom-traveled route’, to the desert oasis of Saratoga Springs. The road was in surprisingly good shape and we arrived at the springs at least an hour before dusk, too early to see much bird activity. We might have waited there for the sun to get lower, but Bodie was NOT enjoying the heat (95°F/35°C) and we still had a distance to go before getting back on a tar road.
I have no illustrative evidence of the worst road we drove in Death Valley; suffice it to say that we could have died. No links, because I don’t want you to go there.
maturango
Years ago, I took a guided tour of Little Petroglyph Canyon, deep within the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake. It’s a truly amazing place, with over 20,000 documented Coso petroglyphs. These sculptures in the gardens of Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest are based on some of those images.
I’d love to take K back to the canyon, but they stopped allowing tours at the start of Covid and have never resumed them. I’m really glad I got to go when I did.
holly ash mine
On the way to Death Valley, we did a little off-roading in the El Paso Mountains Wilderness. We stopped at the abandoned Holly Ash Mine to stretch our legs. There were all these huge rusted metal cones lying around, generously pock-marked with bullet holes. This one had been painted with an imagined animal skeleton.
packing list
We went camping in Death Valley for my birthday. Sketches to follow!
poppy pods
I sowed a packet of southwest flower seeds some months ago. The California poppies were the first to bloom, but now the ‘regular’ poppies are ready to burst forth. These flowers remind me of my maternal grandparents, who grew them in their front yard in Sydney. I wonder what colours we’ll get? So far, there’s just one pink bloom.
hashiworks 